Mahalo, she of the sea

All of the Hampton yachts are finished beautifully (this picture from Hampton's website). 

Deb and I decided we would make Mahalo a pretty colorful boat. I really wanted to emphasize the "island feel" of Hawaii. Any colorful reference to the sea is welcome. 

With that in mind, I wanted to add an abalone detail in the salon, in between the windows and air handlers.  Turns out finding sheets of abalone is pretty challenging. It's basically used for decorating guitars and fishing poles. So you can get little dots, or thin strips. 

Eventually I found a source. I bought four samples, different colors. Decided on this one (natural). Was able to buy 6x8 inch pieces, which we took to Shanghai and worked out how to do it with owner Jeff and his crew. I wanted it to look inlaid into the wood.

And voila! The inlays came out great and will be just another reason Mahalo is a unique boat.

We are very appreciative of HYG's willingness to customize Mahalo.  (You did see the turtle post, didn't you?)