← Share · Vancouver & the Salish Sea

Photo: A boater — Taken by the poster

We have crossed paths with LONIAN and HODOR several times in our local waters. One summer evening remains especially memorable. Their crew were out on the water enjoying some of the many small boats carried by the two vessels, while we were nearby doing exactly the same thing. Later that evening, we all watched the fireworks from the water. For a few hours, one of the world's great superyachts did not feel like something distant or untouchable — it simply felt like another neighbour sharing the same harbour. What we saw LONIAN is an 87-metre Feadship, one of those yachts that is difficult to forget once you see her on the water. Her dark Majestic Blue hull, muscular bow and enormous open aft area give her a very distinctive presence. Built in the Netherlands and delivered in 2018, she was designed for owners who prefer spending long periods at anchor, close to the water and away from marinas. Her design includes 22 openings to the outside, a beach club, swimming pool and helicopter capability — a yacht built not simply to arrive somewhere, but to live on the water. But what makes LONIAN especially interesting is the vessel that often travels with her: HODOR, a 66-metre catamaran support yacht. HODOR is essentially the working half of the operation — carrying tenders, equipment, supplies and expedition infrastructure so that the mothership can remain focused on guests and life aboard. The concept turns two vessels into something closer to a small private fleet. Why here? Vancouver and the British Columbia coast make a lot of sense for a yacht operation like this. Once a yacht leaves Vancouver and heads north, it enters one of the great cruising regions of the world: the Salish Sea, Desolation Sound, the Inside Passage and eventually Southeast Alaska. Here, the experience is not mainly about moving between marinas. It is about remote anchorages, fishing, diving, tenders, wildlife, mountains, islands and long stretches of wilderness. A support vessel such as HODOR becomes especially useful in waters like these because it dramatically expands what the entire journey can do. LONIAN has been publicly documented cruising in Vancouver before, including a Vancouver sighting reported in 2022, together with references to HODOR as her support yacht. And that is part of what makes our waters so interesting: Some of the world's most remarkable yachts do not simply pass Vancouver. Vancouver is one of the gateways to where they really want to go.