An introduction
La Mer is a Jack Hargrave–designed Hatteras 53 Motor Yacht: the model many consider the most successful mid-size motor yacht ever built. Since 2020 her owners have worked through her system by system. The fuel system was rebuilt, the air conditioning was renewed, and the electrical system was updated with a modern inverter and lithium bank. She also has new reverse-osmosis drinking water, AIS, canvas, flooring and more, with every dollar on a receipt.
She has the space, sea-keeping and solid hand-laid hull that made the 53 a legend. She is ready for the Bahamas, the ICW, the Great Loop, or a life aboard.
“After five years of owning, cruising, living aboard, and improving La Mer, we’ve decided it’s time for her to find her next owner.”
Erik & Patrick, her owners
The pedigree
In 1959, North Carolina textile man Willis Slane set out to build a sportfisherman that could handle the notorious inlets off Cape Hatteras. His company helped pioneer large fiberglass yachts, and the name Hatteras came to stand for overbuilt hulls and honest seamanship.
Naval architect Jack Hargrave drew the 53 Motor Yacht, and it stayed in production from 1969 to 1988. Roughly 350 were built as motor yachts, more than 600 counting every variant, which made the 53 the company’s most popular model. La Mer was launched in 1977, when the yard was owned by AMF.
Fifty years on, 53s are still cruising the Bahamas, the Loop and the inside passage. The way they were built is the reason. Few have kept their paperwork as well as La Mer: her original owner’s manual and copies of the 1977 builder’s blueprints are still aboard.
Provenance
Her U.S. Coast Guard official number, 587692, has followed her since the 1970s, across two flags, from the Florida Keys to Québec and home again.
Hull HATAM4970977 is completed in North Carolina and documented with the U.S. Coast Guard as O.N. 587692. Her first name is Our Toy.
She cruises under this name through several documentations before taking the name Annie J, with her hailing port at Key Largo, Florida.
She is sold through Atlantic Yacht & Ship in Dania Beach to an owner from Baie-Saint-Paul and registered under the Canadian flag at the Port of Québec.
Her current owners buy her on the hard at Hoffman’s Marina in Brielle, New Jersey, and start a full recommissioning.
Hoffman’s Marina completes $29,334 of yard work and relaunches her. An independent SAMS-accredited surveyor inspects her on October 29, and in November she runs past Lower Manhattan to winter in Mystic, Connecticut.
She is returned to U.S. documentation as LA MER. In April she leaves Mystic and runs south to St. Augustine, Florida.
Her Certificate of Documentation is renewed for the 2025–2030 term.
The refit · 2020 to present
The heart of the boat. Contaminated fuel was removed, and the tanks were cleaned and swabbed. The fuel delivery system was then rebuilt from the pickups to the injectors.
The original 32-volt Hatteras system has new batteries, and a modern 12-volt house system with an inverter and lithium bank now runs alongside it.
More than $10,500 has gone into keeping her comfortable from Florida summers to New England shoulder seasons.
Fresh water you can drink from the tap, and new heads that work the way they should.
Set up for cruising: modern AIS, all-chain ground tackle and a fully re-equipped safety locker.
Original Hatteras Afromosia teak joinery with updated flooring, galley and bedding, and new canvas.
Gallery
From the galley and staterooms to the run south past Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Tap any photo to view it full size, and scroll down for video.
Firing up the Detroits, the run down from New England, and cruising the St. Johns River.
Video walkthroughs and more photos are on Instagram and Facebook.
Specifications
Survey & records
In October 2021 a surveyor accredited by the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors (SAMS) inspected La Mer in the water for condition and value. That was before most of the upgrades listed above.
The next chapter
We would rather you hear it from us. These are the projects on our own list, so you can plan the boat you want with a clear picture of where she stands.
The original Onan is out of service. We have a 7.5 kW genset ready to install, available to the buyer for $1,250.
The port-side 32 V battery bank needs replacing.
The fuel senders are not working. We had planned to upgrade to digital tank gauges.
Seals, hoses and a pump rebuild will bring the fitted stabilizers back into service.
We planned to move from 32 V to readily available 24 V: alternators, starters, bilge pumps and a modern windlass.
Bottom paint, strainer rebuilds and seacock replacement are best done together at the next haul.
The remaining two heads, flooring in the aft cabins, new headliners in the master stateroom and master head, and refreshed paint on the aft deck and transom.
A watermaker and an electronics package to current spec.
Inquire
La Mer is lying in , and can be shown by appointment. Sea trials are available to serious buyers, subject to survey.
Asking 2021 survey value: $100,000
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$1,450