Camas couple chart a course for luxury with high-end cruises

Luxury experiences are in demand. Clark County now has a nautical player in the industry, offering private, chartered voyages down the Columbia River with a personal chef and bartender.

Lux X Charters opened last month and already has hosted one intimate wedding.

Steve Ehrsam, who co-owns the business with his wife, Alexandra Mendoza, calls it the ultimate luxury experience.

Lux X Charters currently offers sunset cruises with a full-service bar, a champagne welcome service, passed appetizers and a four-course pre-set dinner.

The boat seats six customers for charter cruises, Ehrsam said.

The company prefers to pick up and drop off at the Columbia riverfront Holiday Inn dock on Hayden Island, but the yacht can dock at a number of places locally.

Most of the food is prepared onboard by a private chef, and drinks are served by a bartender who has designed six cocktails specifically for the boat.

A captain and first mate also are onboard.

Customers are largely free to wander the boat, although they can’t hang out on the bow while it’s moving. The boat moves leisurely during the dinner, charting a path from Camas to the mouth of the Willamette River.

“It’s about the dining experience, not the exhilarating speed experience,” Ehrsam said.

The price to charter the boat for a three-hour sunset cruise is close to $6,000.

Growing industry

High-end travel is booming globally, despite economic uncertainty. So is private dining.

Morgan Richez — co-founder at Morgan & Mallet Group, an international household, hospitality and yacht staffing company — said demand for private chefs is climbing all over the world.

“It’s not just for wealthy people,” he added. “We can see now on the market, even … high middle class — they hire a chef because now this is accessible.”

The trend is particularly strong among businesspeople, who use private dining as a networking opportunity.

Private dining is more luxurious than eating in restaurants, Richez said. It allows
people to gather more details about their guests and impress them.

Private dining is a way to show off for clients, Richez said.

“I think this is the best way to develop a business,” he added, “to say, ‘I am a big entrepreneur. I make a lot of money, so please invest in my company, because I can do a lot of things.’”

Personal wealth continues to rise globally. About 1 million new millionaires were created last year, with roughly half of those in the United States, according to the latest UBS Global Wealth Report.

Clark County’s median income also has jumped since the pandemic.

The county hasn’t historically been an area with a tremendous amount of wealth, particularly compared to cities in California or on the East
Coast. But Ehrsam said Lux X Charters sees a large audience to cater to here, with more employees from Bay Area tech companies living in Camas.

Richez said Washington and Florida’s tax climates are drawing wealthy people from California and New York.

A lifelong dream

Ehrsam’s yacht is named Ventidue — which means 22 in Italian. Coincidentally, Ehrsam and his wife moved to Camas from California’s Silicon Valley in 2022.

The water drew the couple, both tech industry veterans.

“We wanted to be on the water every day,” Ehrsam said. “We’re semi-retired and getting to do something really special that we always dreamed about doing.”

Ehrsam grew up on ski boats and yearned for his own yacht. He thought he could combine that lifelong dream with his experience owning a high-end luxury smart home business.

“I know how to cater to the top 1 percent and deliver a service that’s beyond recognition,” Ehrsam said. “So I just thought, ‘Let’s take that experience and bring it to a yacht.’”

Ehrsam initially thought such a business could be done only in Seattle or Miami until he started researching the Columbia River market. The area seemed to be hungry for this type of luxury experience, he said.

Ehrsam said the business is really about the experience, whether that be for intimate weddings and anniversaries or salespeople wanting to provide memorable experiences for clients.

Mendoza and Ehrsam both said the region’s verdant beauty attracted them here and offered an ideal backdrop for their business.

“The first time we took that drive, right up the (Columbia River) Gorge — I could never forget that,” Mendoza said.

“We laugh about it, because the Big Sur area in California … is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world to drive,” Ehrsam said.

“It’s pretty,” he added. “But it’s nothing like this. It really isn’t.”

The beauty of the area, he said, is why so many Silicon Valley residents are moving here. The couple hope the river’s beauty is a boon for their business.