More of this Feature • Part 1: Palmer Johnson’s Inevitable • Part 2: Palmer Johnson’s Inevitable • Inevitable Specs • Inevitable Deck Plans
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Ask most custom-yacht owners why they commissioned their vessel, and you’ll get a range of answers from “I wanted to incorporate my own ideas” to “I wanted more room for my family” and even “I always wanted a yacht from Yard ABC.” Ask them the more pointed question of what inspired their current vessel’s look, however, and chances are their answers will all be strikingly similar. They will readily admit that they borrowed elements of her exterior styling and/or interior design from other yachts they’d seen in their travels.

The Floridian gentleman who took delivery of the 131-foot Inevitable late last year is such an owner. While he was the happy owner of a yacht in the 90-foot range, there was something about a 127-footer a few slips away that kept drawing his attention. That yacht was the Palmer Johnson Our Way, a classic-looking trideck. So when it came time for him to commission his next yacht, “their way” became “his way”—the same traditional styling embodied by Our Way was outlined in the bid packages sent out to various yards worldwide.

While the owner selected Palmer Johnson to build her, that’s not to imply that he received a carbon copy of the 127-footer. Rather, he delineated some specific technological attributes and aesthetic features to make Inevitable his own.

One of the biggest technological stipulations was that the all-aluminum Inevitable had to comply with the MCA Code, since he intended to charter the yacht. The Code governs the safety of yachts measuring more than 24 meters (about 78 feet) that fly the flags of Britain, British territories, and now the Bahamas as well as yachts that charter in those territories. This was Palmer Johnson’s first attempt at meeting the Code, and the construction and design teams found ways to make some of the stipulations serve everyday purposes, too. For example, fire doors are required throughout the yacht; while they could have been the bare-metal type that automatically deploy in an emergency, instead they’re wood-paneled pocket doors that disappear when open. In addition, the MCA Code specifies that staterooms must have two means of escape. While a watertight door in the guest stateroom forward and to starboard below decks yields emergency access into the crew laundry room as a means of escape, it also lets the crew easily enter the guest area and tend to their rooms while they’re above decks.

Another firm specification for Inevitable was specific sound levels for various rooms. With the engines at 1250 rpm, the levels in the owner’s stateroom had to be 55 dB-A, the wheelhouse levels couldn’t exceed 65 dB, and the levels in both aft guest staterooms needed to be 60 dB (65 dB is normal conversation). To achieve the contracted terms, Palmer Johnson “floated” the entire interior (supporting soles and walls on flexible mounts so they “float” within the structure), used lead lining within soles and overheads, and employed rubber mounts on machinery. The decibel levels the yard measured during sea trials proved its efforts paid off in spades: While the engines were turning 1700 rpm at WOT, the sound levels in the rooms were 49 dB in the master, 51 dB in the wheelhouse, 58 dB in the aft port guest stateroom, and 60 dB in the aft starboard guest stateroom.

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