In its most recent hard-hitting exposé on presidential candidate Marco Rubio, the New York Times laid bare the horrifying fact that the senator not only received an $800,000 advance on a book he had written but yielded to the temptation to squander a tenth of it on a “luxury speedboat.” The Rubio camp advises that the boat, shown at the left, is an EdgeWater 245CC Deep-V Center Console, described at the company website in distinctly non-luxurious language:
With its deep V hull, the 245CC is ready, willing and able. It’s unsinkable, with all composite construction, roomy cockpit and a trailerable beam. Hook her up and hit the seas with this deep v hull boat. Safety-minded family boaters and avid anglers will love this boat’s deep v hull, perfect for those choppy seas. Mix the comfort features of the 228CC with the looks and offshore capabilities of our 268CC and the result is a deep v hull boat of unmistakable distinction.
The specs indicate that this utilitarian-sounding vessel is 24-1/2 feet in length and 8.6 feet along the beam (the nautical term for a sailing vessel’s widest point). Here is another picture that will give the uninitiated reader a sense of the boat’s luxurious roominess:
In short, calling this craft a “luxury” boat is taking liberties. It’s not as though Rubio went out and splurged on a boat like this:
Actually, he couldn’t have if he wanted to because this beauty, which is 76 feet long, cost its owner $7 million. Now this sloop, which boasts two cabins and a pilot house fitted out with a wet bar and chilled wine storage, is genuinely luxurious. The taxes on it alone — $437,500 — would have eaten more than half Rubio’s advance.
The owner, meantime, cleverly avoided paying taxes by docking the yacht in Rhode Island, which neighbors his home state. His name is John Kerry. According to the Boston Herald, Kerry had promised in 2010, the year he bought the boat, that he would eventually pay his cash-strapped state the sales tax but never got around to making good on that pledge:
Now there’s a story for the Times. When will its award-winning team of investigative reporters get around to writing it?
Cross-posted at The Lid
