"Admiral" Ron Joyce is grinning like a kid on Christmas morning as he escorts reporters through his luxurious 161-foot yacht.

Built by Trinity Yachts in Gulfport, Miss., it's worth about $30 million to $40 million -- give or take a few tidbits -- and is probably the poshest craft to ever sail into Hamilton Harbour.

Known as the Destination Fox Harb'r Too, the boat was christened in the Gulf Coast earlier this year and had passed through Halifax before arriving in Hamilton about 10 days ago.

It has full-time crew of 10, including a gourmet chef, and Joyce has just promoted himself to the rank of "Admiral" of the fleet.

It boasts two Caterpillar diesel engines with more than 2,000 horsepower each, a range of about 2,500 nautical miles on a full tank of fuel and a cruising speed of 17 knots (about 19.5 mph or 31.5 km/h).

"Not bad for an ex-cop," he muses as he points out some of the unique features of his boat.

After wending through the galley and four guest staterooms, the tour winds up in the old seadog's lair at the front of the craft.

Known as the "master stateroom," it befits an old salt who rose from humble beginnings to become a captain of industry by co-founding the Tim Hortons doughnut empire.

From a series of small windows that form a half circle around the front of the room, Joyce has a panoramic view of the gritty end of Steel City, where he walked the beat for nine years after he left the Canadian navy in the 1950s.

It's only a few kilometres away from Ottawa Street North, where he and Tim Horton opened the first of more than 1,000 doughnut shops 44 years ago.

The room has a patina of luxury and comfort that would rival the Hefner mansion -- minus the bunnies.

Joyce fiddles with a remote control gadget for a few seconds. The curtains sweep across the windows, the lights dim and a large television screen pops up.

At 77, Joyce has enjoyed most of the trappings that come from financial success -- from private planes to luxury mansions.

But to an old sailor, the Destination Fox Harb'r Too has special meaning. He fell in love with the sea while serving as a Morse code operator in the Royal Canadian Navy.

As a sailor, he travelled the world, survived some treacherous seas and did a stint in Korea on the destroyer HMCS Iroquois.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time," he said during the tour. "I'd like to do this in my senior years. I can afford it. I love the water.

"I'm truly enjoying the yacht," he added. "It's a one-off. You don't often see a yacht like this in Hamilton Harbour."

For the next few years, Joyce will ply the waters between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. There aren't too many places in the world that he hasn't been.

Last Christmas, he went to Kandahar to support the Canadian troops. He handed out coffee and doughnuts and went on night patrols with the soldiers.

Asked if he had any dream destinations left, he immediately replied: "Antarctica."

Unfortunately, he'll have to arrange some other form of transportation, because Destination Fox Harb'r Too wasn't designed for such extreme parts of the world.

But in the middle latitudes, you can bet your last ration of grog it'll keep "Admiral" Joyce afloat for years to come.

plegall@thespec.com

905-526-3385