Royal Passagemaker 52
Above: Stained mahogany and white paneling create a classic yacht theme. An open galley with good lighting gives the galley crew
a view of the sea and the pleasure of being able to chat with guests.
pilothouse were infused in one mold as well. The
flybridge and boat deck were infused in one shot,
including structural deck beams. Parkinson said a
variety of coring and glass combinations were used
to meet engineering requirements established by
Marshall’s staff.
Parkinson built Fine Romance in a small shop near
Sooke. Later, he moved his business to a property
he leased from the Canadian navy on Esquimalt
Harbour at Victoria and constructed a large assembly
building. Military requirements forced him to relocate,
so he returned to a 29-acre property at Sooke that
he is developing as a full-service repair yard and
boatbuilding facility.
David and Linda, who live in Grand Ledge,
Michigan, and have lots of experience boating on the
Great Lakes aboard an Ocean Alexander yacht, are
great boat show fans. But, after seeing a Park Isle ad in
PMM, they canceled a planned trip to the Miami show
and flew to Victoria to meet Parkinson.
Construction took two years, several months longer
than what had been predicted when they signed the
construction contract. But they got what they wanted:
a traditional, truly functional yacht with fairly simple
systems. “She is self-contained,” David said. “We don’t
need docks.”
David and Linda suggested design features to
Marshall, who worked them into the construction plans.
They chose a two-stateroom layout and specified that an
office go into space normally reserved for a third sleeping
area. David grins a little as he completes the story:
Marshall’s plans continued to show an office, with
berths. Finally, David said, “I went to Greg and told
him nobody sleeps in my office.”
The owners flew to British Columbia every four or five
weeks to check building progress and to confer with
