The Marlow 70E MKII yacht takes center stage and performs eloquently. It deserves a round of applause.
It’s not one thing that determines the boat you buy. There’s certainly a first impression, but it’s not until you get down to the brass tacks and see what she’s made of that gets the checklist started. The sea trial is an important test to feel how a boat behaves at sea. It’s also a time when seasoned boaters get a sense of whether the boat will fit into their lifestyle, including comfort, ease of operation, and dependability in the boat’s systems. When the cruising couple I spoke with recently told me of their decision to build a new Marlow 70E MKII, they added one more factor—the relationship with the builder.
“I really came away with a good feeling because of their flexibility and design as much as anything,” say the owners about their first meeting with Marlow Yachts. “Some of the other boats that are this style, you know, you can choose different carpet, you can choose the color of the fabric, but you couldn’t choose a lot of the things that we wanted.”
The really significant options were already incorporated in the MKII design, such as a large engine room and enclosed bridge. “I wanted the engine room I could walk around in, that was a big deal, and I wanted an enclosed glass command bridge, and I wanted a day head up there,” he adds. “They were willing to do all of that and more for us, and that went a long way with me.”
As Times Change; Transitioning to the Marlow 70E MKII.
The couple spoke with anonymity (and not all things can translate to print), but it was easy to see they were happy and loved the cruising lifestyle. “We’ve been boating most of our lives and when the kids were small, we had lake boats,” they both say at once. “Then, as the kids moved away and went out on their own, we bought our first ‘big’ boat (a forty-two-footer),” he continues.
Like many boat owners, they consider themselves going through the natural progression of stepping up to larger boats from the 42 to express cruisers in the 50-foot range and up to a 70-foot motoryacht. They enjoyed them all, and over time, they learned what features made their experiences special.
The decision to buy their first Marlow, a 49, wasn’t made lightly. The owners did their due diligence and looked at other builds, but on the recommendation of a friend, they reached out to Marlow and made their first appointment. It was during the sea trial that the owners realized how well the boat handled.
“I liked the ride. The visibility was good. The engine room was good, and the boat felt solid,” says the husband. “That was a lot of our decision-making to go for the first one. We went with a forty-nine because we didn’t want to get anything, at that time, too big…that we couldn’t take care of, keep clean, polish the stainless, and do all the work. That was important also. We were both still working quite a bit. You have a passion for the water and a love for boating, but you have to sometimes go to work to pay for that too.”
The owners were delighted with the features on their first Marlow and enjoyed it for five years. As the family grew, so did perspectives. “My son decided that he wanted to do more entertaining and more boating, so we decided to partner up,” says the dad. “So we ended up with something a little bigger.”
Step onto the Marlow 70 Explorer MKII
I have to admit when I first saw the owners’ new Marlow 70 Explorer MKII from the marina office, it had the classic Marlow profile, but there was something different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but then realized it was the owners’ way of matching the metallic stone gray color of the hull with particular trim lines for each level above the deck. It wasn’t white on white, and with the added black mask window treatment, the yacht looked…well, slimmer.
“We did a lot of playing with the design on the computer for the look that we were looking for, a sleek, modern look for a trawler—a modern trawler, you might say,” says the husband.
And that carries on into the interior as well. “Typically, what you see in a lot of boats is a lot of wood,” he continues. “We used a lot of whites on the walls inside, which we felt brightened it up.” In addition, a lighter teak and ebony wood was used for the floors, a warm golden wood for the cabinetry and accent panels give the interior a soft and natural feel, and the white fabrics along with white with gray etched quartzite countertops articulates a clean, elegant style.
Then there are the windows. They’re wide, tall, and surround the boat on each deck. They not only allow light in to brighten the interior, even on cloudy days, but they also provide big views of the surroundings.
“I’m a big window person,” says the husband. “It’s not like a lot of these boats where you see glass everywhere, but it’s definitely different than traditional trawlers.” In the master suite, for example, the owners worked with Marlow to design the windows so when they sat on the side of the bed, they could look out and enjoy the view.
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Accent lighting is another aspect of brightening up the interior and it’s evident throughout the boat. It adds a unique effect to the modern trawler look the owners desired. Multiple options light up each room differently, but with the same purpose—to see or to create a mood, from under and around the beds, behind accent panels, around mirrors, lining hallways and stairs to the specially made headliner lighting in the salon and the enclosed bridge.
The owners saw a design of recessed strip lighting across a ceiling that diffused the light for a softer glow and asked if it could be done on the boat. “I just thought they were the coolest things,” says the missus. “I mean, just very modern, very sleek. It just made the room, and Marlow went to work.” The LED RGBW lights easily change color for the mood or for nighttime piloting. Even the engine room has custom RGW lighting.
Another modern feature that is rarely found on board is that all the heads have heated floors. The master bath also includes a steam shower. Marlow Yachts works with all owners to customize the boat to their liking. These owners travel with their cat, and Marlow was able to design and build into the accommodation deck a customized litter box. It has access doors from the hallway and from the master suite—luxurious living.
As You Like
The Marlow 70E MKII provides its owners and guests comfortable living quarters on every deck. Accommodations below offer a full-beam midship ensuite master, a VIP queen cabin forward, and cabins both to port and starboard. Storage cabinets line the hallway and include room for a full-size washer and dryer. There are also quarters for a captain accessible from the cockpit or garage door off the aft swim platform.
On the main deck, the owners opted for a huge galley with island forward. As I mentioned, experienced boaters usually know what they want and don’t want, and besides the large windows surrounding the galley, these owners decked it out with optional Sub-Zero refrigeration/freezer drawers, full-size dishwasher, induction cooktop, and convection oven. A large U-shaped settee with table for conversational dining sits aft and divides the galley from the salon. “It feels like a home,” says the missus.
The galley deck is raised two steps from the salon to provide more headroom to the forward accommodations below. Mounted on the backside of the galley dining settee is the flat-screen TV that conveniently opens to reveal cabinets for all the entertainment equipment.
The salon is a roomy living area and leads to the same-level cockpit that has an aft bench with table for alfresco dining. A small entertainment center with refrigeration is tucked to starboard while the stairs leading to the upper deck are to port. Walkaround access to the bow is protected with a solid tall rail as part of the Portuguese bridge. This version does not walk completely around and has two doors up front to reach the bow because the owners wanted to include a large lounge area for sunning and relaxing in the center. Remove the filler cushions and a table becomes available for numerous uses. The bow area also has plenty of room for anchor work, and the missus, with the help of a Yacht Controller, can control the boat while bringing up the anchor, which includes an anchor wash below the pulpit to wash away any mud—much easier than using a separate hose and hand signals directing the one at the helm.
Speaking of the helm, there’s a reason they call it the command bridge. On the Marlow 70E MKII, whoever sits in the chair truly has the conn. Besides the 360-degree view through the surrounding windows, experience led the owners to choose a navigational equipment package from Garmin. Most helms are customized with the gear desired by owners, and because they were planning to spend more time on board and cruise longer distances, the helm sports three 22-inch and two 12-inch multifunctional displays for charts, radar, sounder, cameras, FLIR and A/V controls. All systems have backups to the backups. One camera is located in the engine room to keep an eye on the power equipment, including the twin 1,150-hp Caterpillar C18 engines.
“This boat will run very comfortably at nineteen or twenty knots, and the fuel burn is not significant,” says the husband. “I did find out on a couple of occasions that it’s very smooth at that speed. And if you want to really get somewhere in a hurry, you can run twenty-five or twenty-six knots. Most boats that can typically get the kind of fuel burn at ten knots, typically won’t run that fast and get up and go if you need to go. In fact, we ran some hours at seventeen to eighteen knots, and the fuel burn was very minimal.”
Why The Marlow 70E MKII Is The Top Choice For Seasoned Boaters
For these owners, the Marlow 70E MKII new build was their perfect choice. The ability to work with the builder to make the modifications they knew would make them comfortable was key. “We’re able to live aboard longer periods of time, and certainly travel more and be able to have another couple or family on board and not feel like you’re on top of each other,” they both say in chorus.
They were happy knowing that they got that as well as the performance they were looking for all in one package. They looked at the boat with an experienced eye during the orientation before they actually took delivery. “We did our first trial run with the boat for a couple of days just to get a feel for it and we’re very happy…and that you can print.”
-by Steve Davis
