It’s re-berth for Mojo

Marisa O’Neil

If you feel like you’ve lost your mojo, just head for Newport Harbor.

The Mojo -- a popular, 100-foot luxury yacht -- is the latest

addition to the stable of charter boats owned by Hornblower Cruises

and Events. It’s long been a popular boat, said company Chief

Executive Officer Terry MacRae It has even had a cameo as a

rendezvous spot on ABC’s television show “The Bachelor.”

“It’s a crowd pleaser,” MacRae said of the Mojo. “It’s got sex

appeal. It’s clean, crisp and stylish.”

The 1969 Ditmar-Donaldson has a storied history, boat aficionados

said. It was once damaged by a giant wave when actor George C. Scott

chartered the boat and took it out of a northern California harbor,

though he was told not to, said Ralph Rodheim, a harbor master for

Newport Harbor.

Bought last month from a private owner, the yacht was already in

service in the harbor. Before the purchase, Hornblower and other

companies chartered the boat for parties and excursions.

Hornblower had so many requests to charter the boat, MacRae said,

they decided it would be more cost-effective to buy it. The purchase

price was not disclosed, but replacing it with a new, comparable

yacht would cost several million dollars, Rodheim said.

In the second season of “The Bachelor,” Aaron Buerge took his date

on a cruise around the harbor aboard the Mojo. It’s also a popular

choice for celebrities, MacRae said -- though he’s not naming names.

The Mojo has been a regular in the Christmas boat parade, said

Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

And its former owners used to sail it to exotic ports around the

Pacific, he said.

The mid-sized boat seats 65 for formal dinners or 100 people for

cocktails, said spokeswoman Allison Rausch. It has three staterooms,

a sun deck and a full bar.

“She’s very contemporary,” Rausch said of the Mojo. “She’s like a

yacht you would see in Catalina.”

In fact, Catalina will be one of its ports of call when the

company starts offering day charters.

It was completely renovated in the 1990s and includes a main salon

with a television and VCR. It’s already booked up for nearly every

night in December, Rausch said.

It replaces another Hornblower yacht in Newport Harbor, the

Zumrota. That boat, formerly owned by Mae West, now sails out of the

company’s Marina del Ray docks.

Another of their yachts, the Wild Goose, used to belong to John

Wayne.