When a 125-foot super yacht was pinned against a reef in Indonesia's island archipelago, the massive hull partially sunk and being slowly reclaimed by the sea, its owner wrote off the vessel as a total loss. Pretty much anyone would.
But not Dan Stabbert.
The Seattle shipbuilder has spent decades refurbishing the unrefurbishable, earning a reputation for doing what others believed was impossible: transforming ruined boats into stunning showcases.
STABBERT MARITIMECenturion after her overhaul. Thanks to Stabbert, that South Pacific wreck became one of the most famous expedition superyachts in the world. Known today as the Centurion, the vessel has taken thousands of people to some of the most remote corners of Alaska, the Canadian northwest, Mexico and Costa Rica. Moreover, it stands as the crowning achievement of Stabbert Maritime, a family-owned business based on the north bank of the Lake Washington Ship Canal that operates a fleet of expedition charter yachts, and the Stabbert shipyard, which has engineered those spectacular conversions and restorations.
If the Stabberts are old hands at managing a top-line charter fleet, they are even more experienced in managing a fleet of hard-working commercial boats. Stabbert-owned and crewed boats have done everything from surveying for nearly all of the Pacific Ocean's submarine fiber optic cable, to searching (twice) for Amelia Earhart. Its research vessels also performed survey work for the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in the Aleutian Islands. They've towed targets for ships and submarines and discovered new undersea volcanoes.
Dan Stabbert was the driving force.
SEA-LEGS ON A TODDLER
Many of us had our first boating experience when we were young; some of us when we were very young. Stabbert probably still has most of us beat. Barely a day old, Stabbert and his mother boarded a seaplane in Seattle and headed to Alaska, where he would live aboard a ship for the next 18 years. Today Dan is the chief executive and patriarch of Stabbert Maritime.
TOM TRIPPDan Stabbert out on the water.
It was Stabbert's first home – the Willis Shank, a converted WWII minesweeper – and his father, who taught him about operating and maintaining a working boat. He earned his engineer's license when he was 17. After years of living, and working, aboard the Shank, he started his own company, Venture Pacific Marine, and grew it into the multi-faceted company that Stabbert Maritime is today.
Stabbert says his wife Cheryl was the one responsible for getting him onto dry land. They married at the age of 20. Shortly after, Dan bought his first home ashore. Still, the sea was never far away. The Stabbert family has taken several extended trips and nearly all of the Stabbert children have worked at sea – aboard either commercial ships or the yachts in the Stabbert fleet.
Today family members play key roles in the company. Cheryl Stabbert has been the focal point for the interior designs of the yachts the company has converted or refurbished. Their daughter Lindsay manages the day-to-day operations of the charter business. Another daughter, Chela, is crew manager for the commercial fleet, which is mostly involved in offshore support for the oil business in the Gulf of Mexico. And son Daniel is a project coordinator, who has contributed to both the commercial operation and the shipyard projects.
SUCCESS STORIES
In the last decade, Stabbert has performed some remarkable yacht transformations starting with the 100-foot, Burger-built yacht Katania. Katania had a heavy gauge aluminum hull that would be a rare find today. She was completely overhauled, given new engines, generators and a dramatic, welcoming new interior. She still plies the northwestern waters in premier charter service.
