Sarasota’s sapphire waters and gentle coastline provide a perfect playground for the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed aboard private yachts. Welcome aboard to lavishly appointed staterooms and gleaming decks of varnished hardwoods, where owners host intimate dinner parties, cocktail hours and fabulous vacations to exotic ports of call. And while yachts are defined as any boating vessel longer than 32 feet, they may actually be less about mere length than about taking the full measure of life. Certainly their owners all have a good story to share. Say hello to a handful of Sarasota yachtsmen and their ravishing seaworthy beauties.

            When John Tendall was five years old, his parents tied a dinghy to their dock on White Bear Lake, Minn., and allowed their young son to float around during cocktail parties in the back yard. Those happy hours playing on the water may have been designed as babysitting, but they sparked Tendall’s lifelong love affair with boats. Today, Tendall and his wife, Michael, navigate Sarasota Bay and beyond in their gleaming new 42-foot Meridian yacht and enjoy the good life with the wind at their backs and the crimson sunsets spread out before them.

            “I named her Archangel, for my wife,” explains Tendall, “and I’m just thrilled with everything about her. Her lines are good, she handles beautifully, and her styling is elegant. The open feel of her salon appealed to me; and for her size, she offers a great deal of living space. We can take her out for an afternoon and have lunch someplace or head for the Bahamas and spend a month. She’s the boat I always wanted.”

Archangel is Meridian model No. 391, featuring two spacious berths, a dinette and fully equipped galley, an ascot pit and a salon with luxurious couch and club chairs all above the water line, with walls of beautiful windows framing the view. Two sliding doors offer easy access from exterior decks to the ship’s interior living area, and a rear seating area is under cover. Tendall added a Bimini top to expand exterior space under cover and special-ordered all cushions and upholstery in solid white vinyl in lieu of the standard blue and white stripe. He also changed out the electronics and installed a customized package that includes a complete weather system with satellite coverage, radar and full color in order to track storms and monitor conditions.

 Meridian just came out with this model in December of 2005, and Tendall  took delivery of his beautiful new acquisition in August. He spends countless enjoyable hours aboard Archangel, polishing the woodwork, coiling lines and setting her to rights, and has hired a deckhand to come in twice a month to clean and wax the exterior. And while he’s been spotted in a blue blazer and silk tie in classic yachting style, Tendall is more often found in khaki shorts and Docksiders, at the helm and setting his own course.

“I’m a casual guy, and I do not wear ascots,” he says with a laugh. “If you see me dressed up, I’m probably taking my wife to the awards dinner at the Bird Key Yacht Club or the holiday cruise banquet at South Seas Plantation.”

            Currently, Tendall is acting commodore of Bird Key Yacht Club, an extremely lively group of boating enthusiasts who head out to sea every month for planned excursions. “We sail up and down Florida’s west coast,” Tendall explains, “heading north to yacht clubs in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater and then south to Useppa and Sanibel. Anywhere from 10 to 26 boats take part in these excursions, as we try to find interesting places to visit and different locations to experience.” 

Typically, marinas cluster the BKYC fleet together and members hold potluck suppers preceded by “docktail” parties. Many boaters, the Tendalls included, carry little fold-up bicycles on board and, once settled in their slips, set out on land for sightseeing trips, dinner reservations and exercise. Travels to distant destinations are usually accomplished with two or three boats grouped together, at speeds that satisfy captains and increase fuel efficiency. Some like to run in the Gulf if weather permits, while others prefer making the journey via the Intracoastal Waterway, or “inside.”

Formerly a sailor, Tendall kept his 41-foot Morgan at a St. Thomas marina and sailed the cool blue waters of the British Virgin Islands for a week or two every spring and summer. Now he keeps his yacht right behind his house and can take her out whenever he wishes. The Tendalls are currently planning an extended trip to the Florida Keys and the Bahamas, and Tendall has been pleasantly surprised by his wife’s enthusiasm.