Clavinova Cruises Puget Sound

If you're boating on Puget Sound, you may hear "Hungarian Rhapsody" or even "Talk Of The Town" wafting across the water. That's because Jim Wiborg's birthday present to his wife - a luxurious 77-foot yacht - holds a very special gift for him, too: a custom-fit Clavinova CLP611 digital piano next to the fireplace in the cozy salon off the back deck.

Wiborg contacted Frank Clinton of Clinton's Music House, Tacoma, WA, to discuss his plans. The two men - former classmates at Tacoma High School and University of Washington - decided the CLP611 would best suit his requirements. Says Wiborg, "It fit perfectly, - with only 1/4 inch to spare!" After two years of construction, 300 guests attended a launch party last spring.

The CLP611 is wired to the yacht's sound system so music can be heard throughout the yacht, sure to delight the intimate gatherings of family and friends who join the Wiborgs on Puget Sound cruises. And the dark rosewood grain finish of the CLP611 makes it as beautiful to gaze upon as it is to play.

Wiborg says he wanted "a piano that felt and sounded like my mother's." The CLP611, renowned for delivering the quality of a concert grand to a home - or yacht - did just that. Wiborg took piano lessons on his mother's baby grand when he was 6 years old and practiced 12 hours each week until age 18. Although the grand is in his home, Wiborg's successful business career and growing family (4 children and 14 grandchildren) left little time for music. "Now that I'm retired I'll be playing more again for my own pleasure and will be getting back into practicing. I'm really looking forward to it," he says.