oyster 66 yacht

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• By David Hughes
• Updated: October 4, 2007

Capt. Graeme Maccullum and I chatted in the bright, airy saloon of the Oyster 66 AnnaCay , looking out over Falmouth Harbour in Antigua. “Why not cross the Atlantic, drop down to Trinidad and then head on down the South American coast?” we speculated. “You could stop at Devil’s Island, go up the Amazon, then on to Rio and Cape Horn.” For this newest of the company’s bluewater cruising yachts, the thoughts were not just pipe dreams. This yacht could make such a trip comfortably, safely and fast, in hot or cold weather, seas rough or smooth.

The Oyster design team, working with Rob Humphreys, has produced a thoroughbred in the 66. Like all Oysters, she was designed and built for offshore cruising in comfort and safety, run by the owners or crew. I recently completed a circumnavigation aboard my Oyster 55, Miss Molly, and was more than interested to see how the 66 stacked up in sailing and comfort. I wasn’t disappointed.

We cast off from Falmouth in gusty wind and squalls headed for Nonsuch Bay, a trip that involves bashing into the Atlantic for a few hours. We set the mainsail by pushing buttons-the Hood rollaway main is hydraulically driven, the outhaul electrically controlled. We set the high-clew yankee, again from the cockpit, using the Reckmann hydraulic furling gear. Exactly the right trim via the huge Lewmar electric winches sent us off, easily and safely. Shouldering aside great chunks of Atlantic, we powered quickly up to 8-plus knots-to windward, no less. If only I had been in this boat instead of my 55 beating up the Red Sea. Eleven grinding days spent navigating to windward would have been polished off in half the time.

Sipping cold ones from the cockpit cooler under the substantial dining table, we eased ourselves 10 or so miles out to sea. The large center cockpit, twin wheel positions and quarter seats aft provide a number of nice spots to enjoy the thrill of sailing. We eased the sheets and reached down to Nonsuch Bay before the tricky piloting started. Pressing buttons again to trim the sails, we settled down to a speed of 10-plus knots. Most big boats reach well, and the 66 is no exception, but I was impressed she held her line as well as she did when the big quartering waves tried hard to squirt the stern sideways. This exemplary behavior is the result of her fairly heavy displacement (83,774 pounds) coupled with a modern underwater shape, keel and rudder. The underbody is deeper than those of lightweight flyers but shallower than traditional cruisers, and does not have flat surfaces to pound. The keel has twice the chord length and maybe half the span of a high-performance racer/cruiser, but the shape is effective. A ballast bulb at the tip lowers the center of gravity for good stability while reducing drag. The skeg-hung rudder is large enough to take big bites of water for quick, accurate steering response.

We had an excellent chance to test her maneuverability when we lost the boardsail mast overboard. We had to quickly furl the yankee, sheet up the main, check for lines in the water and start the engine to swing back on a reciprocal course. The small emergency provided an opportunity to angle the Oyster 66 using her powerful bow thruster, and she maneuvered well, even in the rough seas.

The 66 has a spacious saloon with an elevated seating and table area that will accommodate about 10 people. Seated here, you have a panoramic view through the large windows with none of the claustrophobic feeling of being shut away in a cavern. I remember sweating belowdecks on my own boat during interminable tropical squalls between the equatorial waters of Indonesia and Malaysia. This saloon would have made those days more fun.

The navigation station on the saloon’s starboard side has a large chart table with space above for a navigation/communications suite. Down a few steps to the lower saloon area are the galley and a pair of armchairs, perfect for reading or quiet conversation. The master suite back aft has a queen-size berth, a settee, two large hanging lockers and a lot of drawer space. Port and starboard double cabins forward of the master share a single head to port. All the heads have VacuFlush toilets, are finished with a wood-trimmed Formica laminate that’s easy to clean and have full standing headroom, ample locker space and Avonite faux granite around the sinks.

Forward of the saloon are two double cabins, both with en suite heads. These could be used as crew’s quarters or guest staterooms. I would ask Oyster to craft a slightly smaller cabin to starboard with upper and lower bunks, allowing the port double-berth cabin to be a little wider. The crew could use either or both if guests didn’t need the double. Up in the forepeak are a cavernous sail locker and the usual anchor locker. Watertight doors may be fitted forward and aft to comply with MCA regulations. AnnaCay has these heavy doors because she is set up for charter, but they are not strictly required for purely private use.

Oyster uses two English yards to fit out the 66s, and their grasp of production quality control is impressive. The joinery detail, specially commissioned for Oyster by Dick Young Designs to celebrate the new millennium, features shadow-gap joints, custom Oyster 2000 logos on locker knobs and checkerboard floor panels. A variety of wood finishes are offered, cherry and American oak among them, but I prefer the traditional teak. No shortcuts were visible, even under the floorboards and behind panels.

The galley, however, could do with a little rearranging. It has a big stove, fridge and freezer, as well as numerous cupboards and drawers, but the washing machine takes up a lot of useful stowage. This machine would be better situated elsewhere, and Oyster will accommodate such requests. In fact, Oyster scores high when it comes to giving the buyer choices. The company offers custom design within the constraints of the hull moldings and bulkhead positions.

AnnaCay ‘s hard-bottom inflatable is launched via electric davits one person can operate. A lazarette right aft held fenders, spare parts and such, as well as a dive compressor, three sets of gear, a sailboard and rig, two sets of skis and other toys. The forward stows light-weather sails, a spare anchor and a deflated second dinghy-with room for more.

After a restful night on board, we dodged back to sheltered water before a tropical front brought high winds and squalls. Running under full yankee and mainsail in about 22 knots with the usual quartering swell, we held the speed above 8 knots with no stress. We could have pushed a bit, but comfort was the order of the day. The 66 slipped along easily.

Back in Falmouth Harbor, we repaired to the Admirals Inn. As the rain lashed down and the wind howled, I decided I would have felt fine had I still been at sea. The Oyster 66 is strong, with a solid laminate hull and beefed up balsa-core deck. She sails beautifully and is supremely comfortable to be aboard.

There’s no question, the design team has fulfilled its brief.

Contact: Oyster Marine USA, (401) 846-7400; fax (401) 846-7483; [email protected] ; www.oystermarine.com .

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66 Oyster Sailing Yacht Walkthrough [Boat Review + Video]

Take an extensive tour of the 66 ‘ oyster [quest] in long beach, ca with dave millet.

This article is a transcription of the 66′ Oyster video from Denison’s Youtube Channel . Tune in daily to discover the latest yacht video walkthroughs from the world’s largest yacht video collection. Watch the full video below:

We’re here today in beautiful breezy Long Beach, California to take a look at one of the finest cruising sailing yachts ever created – the Oyster 66 . Come with me now and let’s take a tour.

Some notable features on this Oyster 66, starting at the bow the Reckmann hydraulic furlers for making your life simple when you’re ready to go sailing. As we move towards the mast, we see that there’s self-tacking gear on the deck for the solent with a pendulum sheet.

One of the most important things about this Oyster 66, the brand new carbon fiber rig and Park Avenue boom by Max Spar of Italy. Accompanied by standing rod rigging out of stainless, it weighs half what the original package did and makes sailing this boat even more of a dream.

One of the great features about the Oyster 66 – giant center cockpit. Seating for at least 10 of you and your friends, a large cockpit table with leaves that flip up, a huge icebox inside the cockpit table and to finish it all off, 2 nice helm stations with carbon fiber wheels.

We’re here in the salon of the Oyster 66 and what a beautiful salon it is. There’s ample seating for 8 to 10 guests, a nice expandable table, panoramic views wherever you look and the forward port and starboard windshield sections open to allow fresh air whenever you need. The galley is equipped with a lot of counter space, cavernous ice boxes and freezers, a double stainless steel sink and a large oven and stove.

This Oyster 66 has 5 staterooms. Forward we have 2 guest staterooms, both with ensuite heads. As we tour the vessel, note the water tight doors. Oyster has always been focused on safety for you and your family. Aft of the salon towards the rear of the vessel, we have two more staterooms port and starboard. Finally, we have the master stateroom all the way aft. She’s full beam, has a dressing table, nice TV, full-size queen walk-around bed, a very comfortable stateroom.

Thank you for joining me on this tour of the Oyster 66 . I hope you’ve enjoyed it. My name is Dave Millett with Denison Yachting in California. Please contact me for a personal tour with any questions, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Inquire About the 66 Oyster Sailing Yacht [SENISA]:

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Oregon wants to protect eelgrass. But the state isn’t stopping mechanical oyster harvesting from ripping it up on public lands

E elgrass – a humble but critical part of a healthy estuary ­– faces threats across the globe from development, pollution and warming oceans.

But in Tillamook Bay, state wildlife officials and fishermen say Pacific Seafood operators are raking up eelgrass through mechanical oyster farming.

It’s happening because older, “legacy” oyster leases have allowed farmers to conduct commercial activity on Oregon’s public land – in perpetuity – without any environmental restrictions.

Eelgrass is an aquatic plant that grows in underwater meadows along the shallow floor of the bay, where the freshwater of five rivers mixes with the Pacific Ocean. It provides an important habitat for fish, crabs and other marine life, reduces erosion, and serves as a buffer against ocean acidification by capturing carbon.

Public agencies agree that preserving eelgrass is important. In the state fish and wildlife department’s Oregon Nearshore Conservation Strategy , eelgrass is recognized as a “species of greatest conservation need.” At the federal level, NOAA fisheries has deemed eelgrass a “habitat area of particular concern.”

And yet, Scott Gordon, whose home in Cape Meares overlooks Tillamook Bay, sees healthy, uprooted eelgrass washing up regularly in the summer.

“I can watch those guys dredging out there. You can see a cloud of silt going all the way out the bay when they do that,” Gordon said. “That happens pretty frequently and yet, nothing.”

Mechanical oyster farming involves dredging: essentially dragging a giant rake across the bottom of the bay to tumble and harvest oysters.

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has determined that this form of oyster harvesting harms eelgrass, so no oyster leases approved in the past three decades have allowed it.

But it’s still happening in Tillamook Bay on old leases, some granted a century ago, predating any modern environmental regulations.

Under Oregon law, those oyster leases – which can be inherited or sold – never expire. They’re still good today.

Over the past two decades, Pacific Seafood, one of the largest seafood suppliers in the United States, has been buying up these “legacy leases” to mechanically harvest oysters.

A spokesperson with Clackamas-based Pacific Seafood, who declined an interview for this story, said the company is operating legally within the bounds of its leases, and that eelgrass floating in the bay is normal.

Of the 2,352 acres of commercially farmed oyster beds in Tillamook Bay, 1,766 acres are leased by Pacific Seafood, and 1,532 of Pacific’s acres are legacy leases with no environmental restrictions.

Normally, a complex web of state and federal agencies is involved anytime dredging takes place in the bay. But when it comes to mechanical oyster harvest, no agency is providing oversight.

The head of the state wildlife department’s shellfish program says it’s out of his agency’s jurisdiction.

Officials with Oregon Department of Agriculture, which oversees the oyster lease program, say they’re powerless to do anything because statute doesn’t give them authority to reevaluate the terms or impose expiration dates on existing leases.

“(Oregon Revised Statute) 622 does not give the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) the authority to regulate mechanical harvesting on legacy leases,” an agency spokesperson wrote.

Tim Juarez has fished the waters of Tillamook Bay as a professional guide for 35 years. But lately, his friends aren’t asking where the fish are biting.

“They go, ‘Hey, how’s the grass?’ And that’s not a joke,” Juarez said. “People do not like coming to Tillamook Bay because of the grass.”

Juarez isn’t just worried about the loss of eelgrass as fish habitat. When it’s ripped up, the eelgrass forms floating mats that tangle fishing lines and clog boat motors.

Now, Juarez, Gordon and a group of sport fishermen have formed a group called Friends of Tillamook Bay to raise awareness about the issue. They have the attention of Tillamook’s state representative, who is considering legislation to ban mechanical harvesting of oysters in Oregon all together.

“What other industry can you name where there’s permits issued without an end date, with no review process?” Gordon said. “It’s a unique situation here.”

A HISTORY OF OYSTERS

Oregon’s oyster farming industry is small, with only about 15 oyster farmers in the state . Across Oregon, a total of 3,850 acres of public “submerged lands” are leased for oyster farming, producing about $2.7 million worth of oysters. (For comparison, Oregon’s largest fishery — Dungeness crab — was worth an estimated $85 million in 2023.)

The only oyster native to the West Coast, the Olympia oyster, was over-harvested to near extinction in the late 1800s. Today, nearly all of Oregon’s commercially farmed oysters are Pacific oysters, a variety native to Japan.

Two methods are used to harvest oysters. The first is by hand: Oysters are grown in crates, buckets or mesh sacks placed in the bay. When they’re ready for harvest after a few years, a crew wades out during low tide to collect the containers.

The second is mechanical. These oysters are dropped directly onto the bottom of the bay, often in eelgrass meadows. During a high tide, a boat will drag a large steel harrow over the oysters to break up the oyster clusters and lift them above the sediment surface. When it’s time to harvest, a bag on the end of the harrow scoops them up.

“These rakes essentially rip eelgrass out of the sediment,” said Annie Merrill, the ocean and estuaries manager at Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition . “This can lead to reduced eelgrass shoot density and biomass. It can leave patchy areas of eelgrass that might have otherwise been a large functioning meadow.”

Tillamook Bay is home to two-thirds of all public land oyster leases in the state. Longtime oyster farmer Jesse Hayes said the bay’s low salinity makes it an ideal oyster habitat.

“It’s because of the five salmon-bearing, cold, freshwater rivers that run through Tillamook,” said Hayes, who operates Hayes Oyster Company. “The oysters are very fat and happy and have a very distinct, mild, savory flavor.”

He would know. His grandfather, also named Jesse Hayes, was one of the first to start commercially growing Pacific oysters in Tillamook Bay in 1928. The younger Hayes still hand-harvests oysters on some of his family’s legacy leases.

LEGACY LEASES

Legacy leases are typically a single sheet of paper with a description of the plat area and little else. Contrast that with modern oyster leases: A more recent one, approved in 2021, was a 165-page document that included permits, environmental impact studies, a public comment period and review by state and federal agencies.

Since the 1980s, oyster farms have been under the purview of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which approves oyster leases on public lands. Because of eelgrass concerns, all oyster leases that have been approved in Tillamook Bay since at least 1993 have stated “no mechanical harvest.”

A review of all the oyster leases in Tillamook Bay, provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive via a public records request, shows Pacific Seafood began purchasing legacy leases in 2001 – including many from Hayes Oyster Company. In some cases, the lease plats were subdivided, with Pacific taking a portion and Hayes keeping some for its own use. The newly subdivided leases were approved with no environmental assessments or public comment.

The state does not record leases’ sale prices.

In the years following, sport fishermen watched as Pacific Seafood brought in a boat with a harrow to mechanically harvest the company’s oysters.

“This is done not just to harvest them in the end, but also repeatedly over the summer to keep the oysters from sinking into the mud,” said Merrill from Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition . “It’s done over and over again, throughout the summer, until they’re eventually harvested.”

NO OVERSIGHT

The Department of State Lands, which has jurisdiction over Oregon’s submerged lands, has never approved a “remove-fill permit,” typically needed for dredge operations.

An official with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, which reviews activities on state lands that require federal permits, said the agency was never consulted about Pacific’s operations.

Nor was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which authorizes dredging activities related to commercial shellfish aquaculture .

In a letter dated Feb. 20, 2024 , the corps notified Pacific Seafood owner Frank Dulcich that the agency had no records of Pacific obtaining corps authorization for shellfish mariculture on 10 lease plats in Tillamook Bay. The letter makes no mention of enforcement or penalties for failing to have a permit, and the mechanical harrowing continued over the summer.

Corps spokesman John Morgan said the agency sent more than 40 “outreach letters” this year to companies throughout the Portland District that appeared to lack authorization for activities regulated by the River and Harbors Act and Clean Water Act.

“We’re going through our due diligence in asking those companies to provide corps with the documentation necessary to fulfill the requirements for the necessary permits,” he said.

The corps has authority to issue fines but does so on a case-by-case basis, Morgan said. He could not confirm whether Pacific Seafood had responded to the letter, or what actions had been taken in their case.

Lacy Ogan, a spokesperson for Pacific Seafood, stated in email, “We operate fully within the terms our existing leases using industry-leading best practices that are supported by third-party sustainability certifying bodies like Best Aquaculture Practices.”

Asked specifically about the corps letter, Ogan wrote, “We are in the final stages of preparing and submitting our applications and are working with the (corps) to obtain coverage for our operations in Oregon.”

Best Aquaculture Practices is a certification process managed by the Global Seafood Alliance, an international, nonprofit trade association for seafood producers. BAP-certified producers follow processes for “safe, responsible and ethical farm-raised seafood.” Pacific Seafood’s oyster farms in South Bend, Washington and Humboldt, California are listed online as BAP-certified , but not the Tillamook location .

David Dietz, manager of standards oversight for the Global Seafood Alliance, said BAP certification doesn’t specifically bar mechanical harvesting, but it would “be unlikely” that an operation dredging across eelgrass would get that certification. BAP-certified producers must have a “wildlife interaction plan” that lessens impact on the natural environment where aquaculture takes place.

Hayes, who has been farming oysters in Tillamook Bay all his life, says the eelgrass is fine. The Pacific Seafood spokesperson said eelgrass regularly washes ashore in areas without mechanical oyster harvesting, “naturally sloughing off in this estuary, just as it does in all estuaries, including Tillamook Bay.”

And while Pacific Seafood is currently the only oyster farmer mechanically harvesting in Tillamook Bay, Hayes said his company did have a dredging boat up until about 1990.

“The fishermen and ODFW don’t really have a clue what they’re talking about,” Hayes said. “I can see where they’ve plowed and tilled the land back there, and it does cut the eelgrass, and then it floats around and washes up on the beaches, which is alarming to those fishermen. But we’ve noticed too that there’s so much eelgrass on the bay, it’s not even funny. I’ll venture to say that where those eelgrass beds were plowed by Pacific Seafood, that the eelgrass has come right back.”

As for the fishermen’s complaints about tangled lines due to floating patches of eelgrass, Hayes has little sympathy.

“Boo-hoo,” he said.

But studies have found a correlation between mechanical harvesting and loss of eelgrass , including one research project done in Tillamook Bay.

As part of her master’s degree thesis at Oregon State University, Merrill tracked oyster growth in different parts of Tillamook Bay over the summer of 2021. In the process, she found that areas where mechanical harvesting and harrowing took place were home to the least-dense eelgrass meadows , with a max density of 88-100 shoots per square meter, compared with 116-156 shoots per square meter in other areas.

“The areas that I have seen mechanical harvest occur in Tillamook, there’s still eelgrass everywhere, the eelgrass is just much lower in shoot density in comparison to other meadows in the bay,” Merrill said. “It’s patchier.”

Steve Rumrill, the head of the state wildlife agency’s shellfish program, noted that not all eelgrass that washes ashore is cause for alarm. Eelgrass naturally dies off in the fall. But what the fishermen are seeing — green grass with roots attached, floating in patches during the summer — is not natural die-off.

“Some of that is also probably due to the harrowing that’s taking place,” Rumrill said.

Merrill and Rumrill said more research needs to be done to understand the relationship between eelgrass density and the frequency of mechanical harvesting and harrowing. One study found , for example, that infrequent “pulse” events of harrowing actually encouraged eelgrass growth. And other environmental factors contribute to a general decline in the number of eelgrass beds on the West Coast.

Patchier eelgrass beds are concerning to Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar, who worries about the health of the out-migrating smolt salmon that pass through the bay.

Studies have also shown that areas of healthy eelgrass translate into greater populations of Chinook salmon . Juvenile salmon that have eelgrass beds as a place to rest and feed before heading to the sea are more likely to return to spawn as adults.

And salmon, Skarr said, “are a crucial part of our economy here.”

A 2019 study produced by Travel Oregon , the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, Oregon Office of Outdoor Recreation and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife found that in Tillamook County alone, sport and recreational fishing generated $48 million in local spending and supported 356 jobs.

CHALLENGING A NEW LEASE

In October 2021, a legal notice ran in the back of the Tillamook Headlight Herald newspaper seeking public comment on a potential new oyster lease. Pacific Seafood wanted to farm oysters on 66 acres in a popular Tillamook Bay fishing spot known as the “the Ghost Hole.”

New oyster lease applications are a rare thing – this would be only the third since 2001 in Tillamook Bay.

Finally, the fishermen could have a say on Pacific’s oyster operations.

“That is when things kicked into gear,” Juarez said. “We got on the computer, and we started calling and just telling everybody about it.”

The Friends of Tillamook Bay shared the notice on iFish, a popular online forum for sport fishermen. By the time the public comment period closed the following month, the Department of Agriculture received more than 100 written comments – all of them opposing Pacific’s application.

ODFW had a chance to comment, too, recommending the proposed lease be denied.

“Eelgrass beds are directly affected by physical disturbance and removal of the emergent blades and roots-rhizomes during mechanical dredging and harrowing operations,” the agency wrote. “The maintenance and growth of eelgrass can also be indirectly affected by increased turbidity and elevated loads of suspended sediments associated with disturbance of the unconsolidated sediments during dredging, harrowing and mechanical harvest operations.”

In the end, the Department of Agriculture approved the lease, but on the condition that no mechanical harvesting take place. Pacific Seafood subsequently withdrew its interest, and a lease was never officially issued.

The process felt like a victory for the fishermen.

“It was wonderful because we saved a piece of the environment,” Juarez said.

LOOKING FOR A LEGISLATIVE FIX

Jack Smith, who’s been a fishing guide in the area for 45 years, can’t understand why his industry is subject to evolving environmental restrictions but legacy oyster leases are not.

State agencies “have no trouble putting restrictions on me like ‘barbless hooks’ and ‘one rod,’” he said. “They have no trouble a week or so into a season saying, ‘We’re closing you down because you’re catching too many fish.’”

Skarr, the county commissioner, said she spoke to the agriculture department about the local concern over the mechanical harvesting.

“Their suggestion was that the legislative fix for this is to require a review of the permits every five years,” she said. “Right now, it’s mechanical harvesting, but five years from now, with climate change moving forward the way it is, we don’t know what the next critical issue might be that would say, ‘Hey, this is no longer a good use of public land.’”

Several conservation groups are also looking to create greater protections for eelgrass, Merrill said, which could include new legislation.

Earlier this summer, a group from Friends of Tillamook Bay met with state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook Republican. They showed him videos of eelgrass floating in the bay and told him how it was hurting their fishing expeditions.

Javadi expected it to be an issue the Department of Agriculture could handle.

“Initially I thought, well, come on, guys, you make rules all the time, just make a new rule,” he said. “But if the statute is prohibiting them from doing it, then they can’t make a rule. Therein lies the frustration.”

Instead of proposing a bill to put all oyster leases on a timeline for review, Javadi is considering legislation aimed specifically at mechanical harvesting. A new law could ban it permanently, or perhaps seasonally, to give the grass time to grow back for salmon spawning seasons.

“If we’re really worried about the eelgrass, and it really is just the mechanical harvesting that’s impacting it, let’s start with something simple,” Javadi said. “Let’s make sure we’re aiming at the right problem, and we don’t create a statute that maybe goes a little too far. It doesn’t give the agencies any extra leeway to do anything differently as far as permits.”

That would be enough for the sport fishermen, who don’t want to see the end of oyster farming. Oysters themselves are great for the bay – and for eelgrass. They fertilize the eelgrass and filter the water.

And, as a human food source, oysters are a great source of protein with an overall low environmental impact.

“Oysters are something that’s really good for the bay and really good for the environment,” Smith said. “It’s just that one particular method that is bad. What we’re doing is trying to get them to change to a more responsible method of harvest.”

— Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Here is Oregon . Reach her at [email protected] .

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©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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OYSTER WORLD RALLY

Entries for the Oyster World Rally 2028-29 are now open. Embark on the sailing adventure of a lifetime

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The pursuit of perfection continues

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Experience exhilarating sailing, luxury and style on an Oyster charter

New 565 Series II

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Experience exhilarating sailing, luxury and style on an oyster charter. personal, exclusive and uniquely oyster.

Oyster 825 iSNL

Discover this exceptional late model 825 with a unbeatable spec and a bespoke layout.

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ENTRIES OPEN

Embark on the sailing adventure of a lifetime. entries are now open for the oyster world rally 2028-29.

Follow the Oyster World Rally 2024-25 fleet live

Winner of European Yacht of the Year 2023. She is a new breed of luxury 50 foot yacht, offering effortless shorthanded sailing capability.

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A beautifully proportioned 60 foot, luxury liveaboard bluewater cruiser, offering effortless shorthanded sailing capability.

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Oyster Obsession

All the Best Oyster Recipes and Half-Shell Toppings!

Half-Shell/Raw Oysters

Oysters moscow shooters.

Your Oyster Recipe of the Day: Serve up some luxury with Oysters Moscow Shooters. Ice cold oysters topped with sparkling wine, a drop of lemon, black caviar, and cool sour cream are proof that you can’t put a price tag on love. The only way to make these more decadent is to have someone feed them to you. Ahem.

Oysters Moscow Shooters Recipe

Ingredients.

• Sparkling wine
• 3 Teaspoons sour cream
• 6 Teaspoons American black caviar
• Fresh chives for garnish (optional)
• Shuck six oysters and place them on ice.
• Add ½ teaspoon of Champagne or other sparkling wine to each.
• Add a drop of lemon juice to each.
• Top each oyster with ½ teaspoon of sour cream and 1 teaspoon caviar. Note: Try to place the caviar on the oyster flesh, out of the liquid. The wine and juice can cause the caviar to separate.
• Garnish with chives.
• Serve immediately.

Adapted from The Spinning Plate blog.

More Oyster Shooter Recipes

More Half-Shell Oyster Toppings

Check out “Mindful of Oysters on ‘Forgotten Coast'” on Philly.com to see how they prepare oysters Moscow at Up the Creek Raw Bar in Apalachicola, FL.

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Hilfiger goes full nautical for Fashion Week, with runway show on former Staten Island Ferry boat

Wu-Tang Clan performs as guests record and models present creations from the SS25 Tommy Hilfiger collection on the MV John F. Kennedy, a decommissioned Staten Island ferryboat, in Manhattan, on Sept. 8. Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

Tommy Hilfiger loves celebrating New York City and its landmarks. He also loves a nautical theme – and a big surprise.

So for his New York Fashion Week show on Sunday night, the designer brought all those elements together in his typically splashy way, inviting guests aboard a decommissioned ferry boat and giving them not only a runway show but a rap-filled finale.

The live musical performance, which electrified the fashion crowd, featured Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Raekwon from Staten Island’s own Wu-Tang clan weaving through the runways and seats as they sang. The soundtrack was curated by Questlove, who also served as DJ for Hilfiger’s February show at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station.

“We’re inspired by nautical this season,” Hilfiger told the Associated Press before the show. “But it’s nautical, preppy, collegiate, all-American and modern. So we needed to show it either on the water, on a boat or near the water. Then we found out the Staten Island Ferry was available.”

The boat, called the John F. Kennedy, served as a Staten Island Ferry until it was decommissioned in 2021. It was bought the following year by investors including actor-comedian Pete Davidson and Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost, who both grew up in the New York City borough.

“We are really the first people to utilize it [the ferry] for an event,” Hilfiger said. “We’re really excited.”

Hilfiger’s Spring 2025 collection featured nautical style stripes 'inspired by sailing heritage,' the label explained, and casual styles like capri pants and oversized knits. Caitlin Ochs/Reuters

Jost was delighted to see the boat being used for the purpose he imagined. “It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “It’s one of the few days where I’ve been on the boat and been like, `Oh, say, this is nice. This is how it can work.’”

“I took this exact boat every single morning to high school,” Jost added, explaining why he’d bought the boat. “And when it was available, I just loved the vibe of it.”

Hilfiger’s Spring 2025 collection featured nautical style stripes “inspired by sailing heritage,” the label explained, and casual styles like capri pants and oversized knits. There were Hilfiger’s much-loved varsity jackets, trench coats, club blazers, and polos. Accessories included bandanas around the neck. “It’s the New American Prep wardrobe,” the label said in a statement, “fusing vibrant Ivy League style with everyday coastal functionality.”

Waiters strolling between the ferry seats served guests champagne, beer, hot dogs, soft pretzels, and custom boxes of caramel corn with a Hilfiger logo and Statue of Liberty pins inside as a prize.

Brooke Shields was having an emotional evening. Her daughter, Grier, was taking a break from her freshman year at college to appear on her first fashion week runway.

“I got very emotional,” Shields said. “It was her first show and this is something she wanted to do. And I said, `You’ve got to go to college, but it’s a Sunday, so it’s okay.’”

Actors Shay Mitchell and Madelyn Cline were among the admirers of the collection.

“Incredible, as always,” said Mitchell. “I want every piece. The accessories were phenom, and how do you end a show better than what he did?”

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