Description
The Mary Norma is a one-of-a-kind custom steel-hulled Bermudan schooner designed in the early 1950s by renowned Canadian naval architect J. Murray Watts as a seagoing gaff schooner for offshore cruising. The plans were purchased by John Bailey of Marine City, Michigan, who oversaw its construction over six years by Marine Woodwork & Services in St. Augustine, Florida, with the rig by Johnson Sails in St. Petersburg. Launched in 1997 at a cost of approximately $1 million, it features a revised cutter-rigged flush-deck layout with deck-stepped masts for easier handling, emphasizing luxury, seaworthiness, and self-sufficiency for bluewater voyages. The double-ended hull, robust 3/16" mild steel topsides, and 1" plate keel shoe make it exceptionally strong, while the teak-trimmed interior sleeps 6 in three cabins with three heads. Powered by a Perkins M90 diesel (90 hp), it cruised extensively in the Caribbean before being laid up in Fort Pierce, Florida, for 7 years (as of the 2010s listing).
