Courtesy of Yachting Image
By Jonah Hinebaugh
The Bella Vita, a nearly 250-foot luxury yacht, docked in St. Petersburg last week.
The yacht features all kinds of amenities for people to “Ooh” and “Aah” about, including a movie theater, spa, hot tub, gym, water skis and waverunners.
It pegs itself as a yacht for “the adventurous, daring or those with insatiable wanderlust.”
It can accommodate 12 people and a staff of 22 between its six “staterooms” and six decks.
But why am I telling you this? It’s pointless.
It’s a far-off dream that most people would even step foot on that thing. It’s the epitome of overconsumption and excess — a spectacle someone uses to turn heads and pretend to be cultured because they have no other worthy qualities beside the ability to piss away money for a stupid boat.
Imagine this: You make $57,000 a year – the average salary in Florida, according to PayScale – doing whatever you do. If you’re single, you probably live a comfortable life, have a decent apartment, maybe even a cat.
Now say you want to vacation on this water vehicle. It would take only 11 years to save up for a weeklong getaway in the winter. That’s right — a week in the Caribbean would cost approximately $650,000. I should mention it would take that long only if you didn’t feed yourself or your cat, pay rent or utilities or use a single penny of that salary while you save.
Going in the summer would cost $721,000, only a small increase of $71,000 – no big deal.
But it’s the high life, baby, and you could do whatever you want — like binge-watch all of the “Fast & Furious” films before trying to explain to a staff member you could definitely do all of the stunts Vin Diesel does.
Maybe you consider yourself a bit more sophisticated; I mean you are on a luxury yacht, right? Perhaps staring at the bookshelf for a few hours before getting bored might suit you.
Personally, I think it would be enjoyable to feed the seagulls from the highest point of the ship.
But let’s remember: That won’t be us.
Instead, we’ll be on the ground here in good ol’ St. Petersburg, where rent prices drive out local businesses in lieu of gourmet biscuit places and more “unique” fashion boutiques that are definitely not the same as the one two businesses over.
A beautiful place, where sewage gets dumped in the bay and overpriced apartment complexes crop up more and more frequently, despite 28 percent of people in the county being cost-burdened renters, according to a report by the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies.
No amount of drone shots of water skis skirting around the yacht or slow-motion footage of white people with Rolexes drinking champagne will ever make this thing special. It should enrage you that people are able to afford this nonsense.
All it does is further cement the notion that having more money than you can spend makes you a soulless vulture who can’t find happiness or fulfillment anywhere other than hoarding wealth from those who need it – the majority of us.
It’s a yacht screaming for a supervillain at the helm – which, let’s be honest, anyone that can afford this thing (probably) is.
But maybe exploiting us is this beautiful life, or “Bella Vita.”
It’s too bad that the the writer of this article is so bitter and disillusioned with his position in life that he has locked himself into a state of no hope and career paralysis. Most folks with drive and perseverance would look at something nice (like this yacht) and think, “You know what, I’m gonna have that some day”. Not Jonathan. It’s easier to complain about and shame those that DO have…. instead of doing something to change his miserable lot in life.
There is such thing as too much. Aspersions cast on those who call it out aren’t clever or useful. It takes drive and perseverence to hold a place in the middle class. Excesses fueled by greed are more corrosive than beneficial to an egalitarian society.
Yachts like this supports me in a career making $80/ hour. Many people have a great career because people can afford to buy yachts like this. Can the writer even fathom the 1000s of small businesses that are supported by the yacht industry? More than a 100 in the bay area alone. Writer go home. People in the bay area that own large yachts have been making my life better for over 16 years. More money than I would make with a liberal arts degree from USF.