Riviera 565 SUV owner Emmett Boyle admits he felt ‘like a little kid reporting to his mother when something good happens at school’ … but was compelled to write the following words of appreciation to the dedicated Riviera team:

“My wife (Debbie) and I are sitting in a slip at Old Bahama Bay – we have now been at the dock for two days and by far we have the most beautiful vessel in the marina.  If we sit in the cockpit, people stop and ask what kind of boat it is … and tell us how beautiful it is.”

Emmett and Debbie Boyle enjoy some relaxation time aboard their Riviera 565
in the Bahamas

Here at Riviera, we just love to hear these types of reports, and we love to share them with members of our global family of Riviera and Belize owners, and amongst ourselves as we continue to strive to help our owners achieve what we like to call: ‘the ultimate boating experience’.

Luxurious, sporty and adventurous, the 2015 565 SUV Brown Eyed Girl is Emmett’s second Riviera – he previously owned a Riviera 4400 Sport Yacht, which he also purchased new from Riviera dealer Grande Yachts International.

“We are just ending our second day here – we left the Palm Beach inlet yesterday morning with a lot of heavy clouds, gusting wind and rain, pointing Brown Eyed Girl eastward into a rather choppy ocean,” said Emmett.

“The weather report said (waves of) 2-3’s (feet) with a four-second interval and an east wind of 15 knots. My interpretation as the day developed was 3-4’s with an occasional 5. The four-second interval was just about correct.

“Initially I figured that the further we would travel the better conditions would evolve once we got away from the storms in Florida.  That was wrong – it was a consistent situation for the entire crossing.”

Emmett says he and Debbie have now made the 56Nm crossing of ‘The Stream’ from Palm Beach FL to West End on Grand Bahama Island in four different boats – this one was his first in his 565, which was on display at the Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show in February.

“I need to report that my Brown Eyed Girl totally impressed the hell out of us with her ability to manage a moderately difficult crossing,” says Emmett.

“The stability in the water, the comfort in the helm seats and the effect of the hull design was significant and noticeable.  A couple times we had water go over the hardtop and an ocean of water drench our windshield … but the boat acted like it was at its comfort level.

“As far as occupants go, we could not have been more comfortable or secure.  We ran at 1830 RPM at 19-20Nm per hour which totally suited the boat for the conditions. When we got to West End the place was packed with boaters who wanted to go back to Florida but considered conditions too bad – many of them asked us about our crossing and I almost felt ashamed I had nothing to complain about. We saw no other crafts going or coming in our crossing.

“For a shake-out cruise, our boat is even more than we expected, inside and out.

“The bed’s great, the showers are good and we impressed ourselves (as well as our audience in the marina) docking, using both joysticks.”

Living on the east coast of Florida, prior to buying his first Riviera, Emmett and Debbie had owned several other boats.

“Based on the enjoyment and positive results that I had with the 4400, I was committed to buy another Riviera when I moved up in size,” he says.

“My wife and I spend extended periods of time traveling and staying on Florida’s east coast all the way down to Key West and several weeks every summer in The Bahamas.

“There really is no comparison between a Riviera and American-made sport yachts that claim to be blue-water boats – I can say with a great deal of confidence that my Rivieras have been and still are very seaworthy, dependable, blue water vessels.”

The Riviera 565 SUV Brown Eyed Girl sits gracefully in her berth at Old Bahama Bay.

Emmett expressed special thanks to Riviera’s international sales director Chris McCafferty, and to factory-trained professional Cameron Dewhurst of the Riviera Stuart office, as well as Ned Dozier from Riviera dealer, Grande Yachts International.

“I have tremendous faith and experience with these gentlemen and their staff – no one could have done more to aid us in our appreciation and enjoyment of our 4400 than that these people and it was as a result that I did not hesitate to continue the relationship with this new purchase.

“Through a friend, a boat captain, I was introduced to Ned Dozier from Grande Yachts several years before I was ready to look seriously at buying a larger boat. Once we met Ned, spent time with him and established a friendly relationship, the more impressed we became with his knowledge of boats in general, his enthusiasm for Riviera and his overall attitude of satisfaction of his customer.

“The entire experience of negotiating the purchase of this 565 SUV with Ned, Chris and Cam has been a great deal of fun.

“All these gentlemen know your product and truly want us as customers to be 100 per cent satisfied. We spent a great deal of time discussing options and asking general questions so that we could be satisfied that we would get exactly what we wanted for our pleasure and travel.

“We now have our boat – it is as much as we bargained for, if not more.  Its handling, responsiveness, as well as the electronics and general design … equals and even betters what we were looking for.

“And as an engineer, I compliment Riviera in its design and technology.  I don’t think there is a better boat on the water.”

Emmett says he felt compelled to give credit where credit is due.

“Thank you all for putting us in this wonderful Riviera – we now know it’s a big boat because Debbie and I washed it better-than-thoroughly last night at dinner time and must have removed a ton of salt crystals off every surface, after which we had our first BBQ on our grill and it cooked perfectly.”

If you would like to take a tour of the Riviera 565 SUV, please click here >>

Jump on board Emmett’s 565 SUV with The Boat Show below >>