The story of “SV MNUW”

The idea of bringing a South Seas schooner to Yap was hatched between Bill and a good friend of his, Mr. Peter Howard of Maui, Hawaii.  Bill scoured the world to find the right ship, find the right person to re-fit the ship, and secure all the clearances needed to purchase and bring the ship to Yap.  From South Texas to South Sulawesi, from Northern Madagascar to Northern Borneo and from the Eastern Caribbean to Eastern Sumbawa, Bill searched high and low for the right vessel.  Finally, the deal was signed in a law office in Ginyar, Bali under a ceiling fan with tropical birds singing in the garden, selling the traditional Buginese cargo ship “Bunga Berkat Usaha” to the Manta Ray.  The keel of this ship was laid in 1898 in Indonesia and for most of its life, it was used as a cargo vessel within Indonesian waters. In the construction of this vessel, only ironwood and the finest teak were used. For the refitting of the ship only the finest choice teak was used again to keep within the tradition of the vessel.

In September 2001, Bill, his eldest son Nathan, Bill’s brother-in-law Ben Tured and his son Maru, along with Fredy Gull (the brewmaster of our Stonemoney Brewing Company) made the arduous voyage from Surabaya Indonesia to Yap.

Renamed Mnuw (in the Yapese language Mnuw is the name of a rare sea hawk that is seldom seen but yet famous in Yapese traditional lore), the ship was moved to Sumbawa Besar and placed in the hands of an Australian rogue by the name of Jimmy Blee.  Jimmy is famous throughout Southeast Asia for his work with the world-renowned Aman Resorts hotel chain.  Between spending weeks with Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger and shooting a movie with  Gena Davis, Jimmy found time to raise a sunken ship, rebuild her into a first-class live-aboard dive boat and start a marine business.

Come and see for yourself the beauty and splendor of a fully intact antique selling vessel and drop by for a visit. We are more than happy to take you on a grand tour.