Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/327657
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ROY SCHOENBERG We can safely say that Roy Schoenberg knows the difference between port and starboard. He didn't in the beginning, but he does now. Good thing. He owns pretty much the farthest thing from a starter boat—a full-throttle-or-bust, 35-knot (that's fast!), 64-foot-long Azimut yacht named Latitude. After growing up and becoming a doctor in Israel, Schoenberg came to Boston and earned a mas- ter's degree in public health at Harvard Medical School, but switched gears to start American Well, the nation's largest telehealth network. The work- days are intense—24/7, says Schoenberg. But after finding Latitude, his weekends are bliss: motoring to Newport, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Block Island, the Hamptons—anywhere, really, that Captain Schoenberg fancies. Land ho? No. HOW DID YOU FIND LATITUDE? When I was in Nantucket, I saw a beautiful boat. I went to the dealers and said, "Listen, I have no clue about boating. Help me to get to the point that I can get a boat. Long story short, I am completely addicted to boating. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE BOAT? It's smiling if you look at it. It has a personality. It wants to run on the ocean more than you do. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO LIVE ON THE BOAT? One of the amazing things about boating is that it can be a completely different world from one day to another. One day, it's you and close friends and smooth sailing to a secluded place, sitting on the f lybridge, feeling the breeze. Then, on another day, it's 35 people in bathing suits, dancing up and down and jumping in the water. The beauty is that people change when they are on a boat. This isn't about showing your wits or knowledge or how much money you make. You can be yourself. You get liberated. WHY DON'T YOU WANT A SUMMER HOUSE INSTEAD? Oh, there's no comparison! The fact that the world can change around you—it's like a moving fortress of your own. Then having people join and having other boats tie up? The social part is unbeatable. DO YOU CHANGE WHEN YOU'RE ON LATITUDE? I feel like I'm taking off from life. I have had some of my deepest conversations with my best friends on a boat. I have made some of my biggest decisions on a boat. I probably have had the best night's sleep on a boat. THE DREAMBOAT ROY SCHOENBERG, MD, MPH LEFT: Roy Schoenberg at the wheel of Latitude. BELOW: Deck-hopping into the big blue Atlantic. BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 99