"We’re always looking for new ways to have fun,” says Lucy Rawlins. Years ago that meant leisurely drives through Newport Beach, California, in a vintage VW bus. (See our story “Good Vibrations"). Today it usually involves an adventure aboard Lucy and husband Rick’s favorite means of escape—the family’s prized fishing and cruising boat. With a stern platform for swimming, a sunbathing deck, and a virtual floating tiki hut inside, Mahalo practically defines good times.
Because they keep Mahalo (“thank you” in Hawaiian) moored in front of their new home on Balboa Island, the Rawlinses cast off early and often. Rods, lures, and a glass-walled bait tank swarming with live mackerel mark this as a serious fishing vessel. Despite its hardworking fittings, though, the boat accommodates Lucy’s easy entertaining style. At the end of a day at sea she throws a flower-print tablecloth over the bait tank, transforming it into a buffet for cocktails and snacks.
“When I come home from college,” says their daughter, Allison, “I feel like I’m going on vacation.”
Inside Mahalo's main cabin, tropical colors fill the space. Fabrics on pillows and window coverings burst with ocean hues and depictions of exotic hibiscus flowers and Hawaiian rain forests. Wooden counters and inlaid tabletops provide a backdrop for the family’s quirky tiki paraphernalia: a refrigerator covered in grass cloth with bamboo handles, a cupboard packed with an assortment of tiki cocktail glasses, and bamboo shades covering the windows. In case the theme is still unclear, a ukulele hangs above the counter. Below, a sign declares, “The tiki bar is open.”
The Rawlinses don’t leave the tropics behind when they motor back to the dock on Newport Bay. Throughout their modern Cape Cod–style house, designer Dan Marty introduced a more subdued tropical style, with grass and bamboo textures that appear on lamp shades, wallpaper, and rugs. In one bedroom, framed aloha shirts stand in for staid artwork. And black-and-white photos scattered in rooms and hallways depict surfers and beach scenes. (Many of them are prized family images: Lucy was born and raised in nearby Newport, and Rick vacationed on this island when he was a boy.)
Still, it’s the massive patio outside the house that attracts the most attention from this water-friendly family. Allison, 21, and Grant, 13, admit that they’d rather hang out on the porch and grill steaks than dine out. “We have everything we want right here,” Allison says. “Food, family, friends, and the water.”
