I just built my new MJM 35 (see the picture above). It was easy, and it was fun. You can build yours too.
I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for MJMs for many years now. Even before I tested their then-new, four-outboard 53z in July, 2019, in Newport, Rhode Island, I’d driven all their new boats, all inboards, all designed by Doug Zurn. (I’ve also had another soft spot for Zurn’s classic Down East designs ever since I met him during the launch of Billy Joel’s 57-foot commuter Vendetta in 2005, which Zurn also designed. In fact, while we were chatting, Joel, a boat freak, took Zurn by the arm to question him in some detail about the trailing angle of the coach roof.)
On that test of the 53z, I was with Bob Johnstone, who founded MJM in 2002, and my Cruising Odyssey partner, George Day. With the four 400-hp Mercury outboards delivering the power, the boat hit about 50 mph, pretty impressive for a beautiful, luxurious fully equipped cruising boat. “It’s the first time I’ve driven a 50-mph boat,” George said, beaming. (His usual speed is indeed a bit slower; he’s sailed around the world.)
Since then, Bob Johnstone has retired, and his son, Peter, is running the company in Washington, North Carolina, where MJM has expanded its line to include what it calls “a modern Carolina Downeast” style. The MJM fleet now runs from 35 to 53 feet.
And they’ve started a terrific feature, called Build a Boat, where you can start with the basic boat and then add all the colors, amenities, power and accessories that you want. Here’s how it works:
Go to the MJM website, www.mjmyachts.com. On the first page, select Build a Boat. Then you have three choices: The MJM 35, 38’ 2”; MJM 4, 46’ 8”; or MJM 3, also 38’ 2”, but with more of an open, day boat design than the 35.
For a trial run, I picked the 35, primarily because it was closest in size to my old much-beloved Grand Banks 36, but also because it looked like it would give me more weather protection for boating near my home in Connecticut.
The basic price for the 35 was $699,000, with twin 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards, a joystick, skyhook, autopilot and bow thruster. Now came the fun part. There were 17 color options; I clicked on Stars & Stripes blue. Then I chose a white cove stripe, a white boot stripe, red hull bottom, and buff non-skid.
The next page deals with power, where there were no options – still the 300-hp Mercs. The price of my new MJM 35 was still $699,000.
But the next page had all options, providing the fun, or the death-knell, depending on your point of view. It had five parts: Deck, Systems, Navigation, Interior, and Additional. I started clicking away.
For the deck, I chose Sunbrella roll-up curtains for the bridge deck, $3,500; Synthetic teak in the pilothouse and cockpit, $20,526; Stainless steel bow rail with LED spotlight and burgee staff, $13,158; aft cockpit Bimini, $8,363.
For systems, I chose a16,000 BTU Dometic air conditioner for the pilothouse, $10,411; 8,000 BTU Dometic air conditioner for the cabin, $7,782; Drop-down, HD-ready 32-inch Glomex TV, local antenna, $4,158; Freezer drawer in cockpit serving bar, $1,947; 3.5kW genset $19,839; Engine, fresh-water flushing system, $2,314.
For navigation, I chose the Garmin Fantom 18 radar, $6,179; Co-Pilot Garmin GPSMAP, $5,926.
For the interior, I chose the V-berth filler for conversion to double berth, $1,635, and the microwave/convection oven combination, $1,553.
For additional options, I chose the commissioning kit, $4,737.
With all that, my ready to ready-to-cruise, ready-to-enjoy, new MJM 35 topped out at $811,028, and it would be ready for a complementary owner orientation in North Carolina. Now if I had only bought Microsoft back in 1985…Read more: http://mjmyachts.com
