Liberty in Johnny Depp Movie

BOATING
by Margie Smith
Ready for their Close-Ups
Upcoming film The Rum Diary will star not only Johnny Depp, but also some of St. John’s classic yachts.
I
have to go over to St. John to see
a man about a boat,” announces a
character in The Rum Diary, Hunter
S. Thompson’s autobiographical
novel about American journalists
working—and drinking—at a scrappy
English-language newspaper in San Juan
in 1958. Fifty years later, that’s exactly
what happened as Hollywood scouts,
in search of the perfect yachts for the
upcoming film adaptation, found just
what they were looking for right here
in Love City. Move over Johnny Depp! St.
John beauties Heron, Liberty and Patient
Lady—all making their silver screen
debuts—will be sharing the spotlight
when the movie opens in 2010.
Heron (nearest)
Inset: Hunter S. Thompson
and Mr Depp
“It was fun!” says Robin Clair Pitts,
co-founder of St. John’s KATS (Kids and
The Sea) and owner of Liberty, a classic
1924 John Alden schooner. “They treated
us like movie stars for a while.”
Liberty sailed from Coral Bay to the
location site in Puerto Rico, along with
Patient Lady, a traditional vessel built
on St. John’s East End. Patient Lady was
making her maiden voyage, says Pitts,
adding, “but Heron was the star!”
Heron is a familiar part of the landscape
at Maho Bay, in season. The 52-foot
wooden gaff schooner, also an Alden
design, was built in Maine in 2003 by
captain and shipwright Twig Bower, who
lives aboard with wife, Bonnie, and their
two daughters, 11-year-old Elissa and
9-year-old Rachel.
While Patient Lady and Liberty provided
an authentic backdrop for a 1960s-era
Caribbean harbor view, Depp and co-star
Amber Heard were actually aboard
Heron for several scenes.
Owner Robin Clair Pitts and the
crew of Liberty before setting
sail for Puerto Rico and their
featured roles in Johnny Depp’s
next movie, The Rum Diary.
Photograph: Jennifer Hunt
“
“We hung out with him a little bit,” says
Bower of superstar Depp. “He was a
real nice fellow. Low key, with a good
sense of humor.”
Bower is a bit concerned that the boat
might not appear “shipshape” on the
big screen. The boom had to be raised,
for example, in order to accommodate
the actors and all the action on board.
On the plus side, the director kept the
name Heron.
All of the adults had parts as extras
as well, spending hours in hair and
makeup and getting fitted
for costumes. What was
supposed to be a six-day
shoot turned into three
and a half weeks – there
was, says Bower, “a lot
of sitting around, then
everything happens all at
once.”
While all the locals
had high praise for the
Tinseltown professionals,
there are also plenty of
props for St. John’s own.
Pitts says she was more
awestruck by the excellence of
Liberty ’s captain and first mate—
husband and wife team Thatcher Lord
and Vicki Rogers—than she was by
Johnny Depp.
More boat porn!
“They treated Liberty like a queen and
me like a princess,” she says.
Even Johnny Depp, it seems, recognizes
the good life enjoyed by people here.
Bower says when his daughter Elissa
gave Depp a Heron T-shirt, the actor
gave her a big hug and said he wished
he could share her lifestyle, living on
a boat.
Readers wanting their own taste of
the lifestyle will have a chance when
Heron, currently summering in Maine,
resumes charters out of Maho Bay
around Christmas. And for the truly
serious: Liberty is for sale—offering
a rare opportunity to own a piece
of yachting, and now Hollywood,
history.
Margie Smith is an avid sailor, a (not)
frequent (enough) visitor to St. John
and a regular contributor to the Sun
Times. You can read her personal blog
at msmargarita1.blogspot.com.
Captain Jack has quite a nice boat of his own.
He sometimes keeps it near his own private
island, Little Halls Pond Cay, located about 60
miles south of Nassau. Drool over these specs:
Overall Length W.L. Length Beam O.A. Draft Displacement Propulsion Speed Fuel Capacity Gearboxes Range Electricity Generation Construction Main Engines Speed & Fuel Consumptions Range 43.6 m (143-1)
34.5 m (113-2)
7 m (23)
2.4 m (7-10)
213 tons
2 x 480hp
Caterpillar 3406 C
14 knots max
12 knots cruising
36,000 litres
Twin Disc
(at 11 knots) 3000 nm
2x 50kW Caterpillar
1x 16kW
Steel Hull Aluminum,
wood and composite
Superstructure
2 x 480 hp
Caterpillar 6 cylinder
diesel engines
Crusing spedd about
12.5 knots
2.240 n. miles approx.
AUGUST 2009
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