HISTORY
The Illusion was originally purchased by a Mr. Henry Hermansen and Mr. Helmer Kent of New York in 1964.  Originally dubbed the "Freya", she lasted only two years under her original owners, due to the death of Mr. Hermansen.  In 1966 she was sold to a Mr. Edward c. Oelsner, also of New York, who kept the "Freya" until 1975.  In February 1975, Walter and Dotty Moser purchased the "Freya".  Redubbing her the "Illusion", the Mosers were to be her owners for the next fourteen and a half years.  Together they created a truly incredible story:
    Walter and Dotty had both always loved the water and dreamed of sailing the world in a beautiful boat, but had never really considered their dream a possibility because of their careers and busy lives.  However, when both Walt and Dotty were 49, two very bad things happened.  Dotty was diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, and Walt suffered from a massive heart attack.  Both were given less than a year to live.  At this point, things like careers and success seemed much less important to them both and they set out to make the most of their remaining time together.  They both quit their jobs, liquidated all of their holdings, and bought a boat; the Illusion.  Leaving their entire life behind, they moved onto this little boat and happily sailed away.  For the next Fourteen and a Half Years, the Mosers sailed all up and down the Eastern Seaboard, the entire Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas.  Living off of a diet consisting mainly of fish that they caught themselves and bathing in the ocean every day, the Moser's lived every day as if it were there last.  During that time, they met another couple, Jack and Sam McAlister, who lived in Niceville, Fl. and who invited the Mosers to come and visit them.  In June, 1990, they docked up at a small dock in Niceville and found their friends.  Shortly thereafter, Walt became severely ill and passed away.  After having been given less than a year to live, but living happily for over fourteen more, it was time to go.  Dotty found herself unable to continue sailing the Illusion, and really being unwilling to live aboard her without her husband, decided to sell the boat.  So it was that in July of 1990, the Illusion traded hands again to Mark and Kay Yount of Niceville, Florida. The Illusion would stay in Niceville under the Younts for the next nine years, being given the love and attention that she had earned the fourteen years before.
    The Illusion was used mostly as a day cruising boat in Choctawhatchee Bay during that time, a very fitting retirement for the old girl.  Mark totally refitted her, cleaned her up and made her beautiful again. She stayed under his care until May of 1999, when she was purchased by us, James and Holly Riches, to begin a new life as the flagship of Merriweather Sailing.  Now she's awaiting her passengers to explore the wonders of Destin and the Gulf of Mexico.

SERIOUS SHIP STATS