See Nordhavn in Miami

One of the best boats shows in the world takes place in Greater Miami from February 11 to 15. Actually, there are two shows—and Nordhavn will be on display at both events.

At the Miami International Boat Show, Nordhavn will show a Nordhavn 47 (photo) in Slip 318 at Sealine Marina. At the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach, Ramp 16 on Indian Creek Waterway at Collins Avenue, you'll be able to see the new Nordhavn 75 Expedition Yachtfisher and the venerable Nordhavn 62.

In Miami, Nordhavn will unveil its all-new design for a contemporary-styled 78-foot luxury passagemaker. Dan Streech and Jim Leishman, co-founders of Pacific Asian Enterprises and creators of the Nordhavn make, will be on deck.

See you in Miami!

Stylish new 78-footer from Nordhavn

You’re in the market for a world-class, travel-anywhere motor yacht, you appreciate a boatbuilder with deep expertise in engineering and proven prowess on the oceans of the world, but you can’t quite get your head around the industrial-grade, expedition-look of Nordhavns?

Pacific Asian Enterprises has just the boat for you: the stylish Nordhavn 78, a new design that fuses ocean-crossing capability with European styling in a pretty passagemaker. Click on the above image for a larger view.

“This design will appeal to a whole faction of clientele who tend not to prefer the traditional expedition-type look of a Nordhavn,” says Jim Leishman, PAE’s co-founder. “The N78 will evoke a contemporary European feel without losing the dynamic of being a Nordhavn.”

Key to the design is the emphasis Jeff Leishman, PAE’s chief designer, has placed on outdoor living, starting with the flying bridge. The new 78 will feature a Jacuzzi, wet bar, barbecue and a large open deck area perfect for entertaining. Meanwhile, the foredeck—a typical lounging hotspot on most European boats—has been designated the ideal outdoor “chilling space.” The cockpit of the 78 has been opened up, too, to further enhance entertaining possibilities.

The Nordhavn 78 will come equipped with twin 425-horsepower engines, have ocean-crossing capabilities with a range of 3,000+ miles and superior fuel efficiency. The interior will feature an updated, modern design aesthetic that includes sumptuous owners’ accommodations and two superb guest rooms all with en suite heads, as well as crew quarters and off-watch quarters.

Although the lines of the new 78 will have a European flair, PAE feels the yacht will appeal to international and American markets alike. “The beauty of this design is that it’s a Nordhavn, so you’ve got comfort and confidence while under way, but the benefits will be realized when you’re not passagemaking,” notes Nordhavn Europe’s Philip Roach. “The added elements will really allow you to enjoy your time on board once you’ve arrived.”

The first 78-footer will be launched in 2011. For additional information, visit nordhavn.com and watch for a full-blown preview in the next Circumnavigator.

Circumnavigator goes interactive

A digital edition of the 2010 issue of Circumnavigator now is available. Click here to read it online or download to your desktop.

A digital edition is quite an improvement over a PDF version of the magazine.

One of the significant advantages of the digital version is that all links to websites are active. Just hover your cursor over a website address anywhere in the magazine and you'll see the URL appear. Just click on it and away you go.

The other neat thing is that the Contents pages are interactive.

When you have the digital edition open on your screen, try out the menus across the top—Contents, Pages, Archives et al—to experience the full power of the medium.

The digital edition will enable us to introduce video clips and sound in future magazines—a feature that will be included in the 2011 issue that will appear in the fall of 2010.

Earlier editions will soon be digitized and available here and at www.nordhavn.com.

There are no plans to end the print edition anytime soon.

A fourth Nordhavn for adventurer-filmmaker Sprague Theobald

No sooner had Sprague Theobald (right) completed his transit of the Northwest Passage with Bagan, his faithful Nordhavn 57, when he placed an order for hull #3 in the new Nordhavn 63 series.

He told us he loves the 57 but with further adventures in mind, he needs a larger boat so he can have a dedicated video editing studio aboard. PAE is designing the space into the new boat.

The 63 will be the fourth Nordhavn Sprague has owned. After the way the 57 came through when ice crunched all around her for days, there was no question in Sprague's mind about where to shop for his next passagemaker.

Bagan is for sale in Seattle while from back home in Newport, Rhode Island, Sprague is in discussions with several television networks about the documentary he shot while in the Arctic.

Visit Trawlers & Trawlering for a report on his great adventure. Check out the trailer for the upcoming film on Sprague's own site. Watch for the next Circumnavigator for a full feature on the transit by the first production powerboat.

That's a rendering of the new 63 in our banner above. We cannot tell you how much we look forward to sea-trialing this beauty from the board of Jeff Leishman at PAE.

Passion endures

Eight of the 13 Nordhavns at the Southwest Rendezvous raft up in front of Dana Point Yacht Club.

The economy may be down but the passion for all things Nordhavn continues to run high.

More than 200 owners and would-be owners showed up for last weekend's Southwest Nordhavn Rendezvous in Dana Point, California, where PAE is headquartered, for a program of featured presentations, seminars, boat tours, vendor displays, eats and drinks.

It was great to make new friends and renew acquaintances such as Jim and Susy Sink, first to circumnavigate in a Nordhavn, Eric and Christi Grab, the newest circumnavigators in a Nordhavn, Sprague Theobald, who transited the Northwest Passage with his Nordhavn last summer, and Ken Williams, who led three Nordhavns across the North Pacific from Alaska to Japan this year.

Go to nordhavn.com for more photos and a report on the event. See also the commentary on the rendezvous posted by Ken Williams on his blog.

—Georgs Kolesnikovs

Sound advice for Nordhavn Dreamers

Judy and Milt Baker cool off in mid-Atlantic while en route to Europe.

If you're interested in someday owning a Nordhavn, you should join Nordhavn Dreamers, a Yahoo discussion group started by Callum McCormick.

Circumnavigator senior contributing editor Milt Baker recently posted a message that everyone with Nordhavn aspirations should read and heed:

Circumnavigators Lin and Larry Pardey have spent their lives living and cruising in small boats. They got it right when they said this in one of their early books:

"Go small, go simple, go now!"

Cruising in a Nordhavn is terrific, a truly wonderful experience. But it isn't necessary or even desirable to wait until you can afford a Nordhavn to go cruising. Buy a smaller, simpler boat as your "learning boat," and spend time fixing her up, maintaining her, and, most of all, gaining experience cruising her. If you buy a quality brand in good repair to start with, your efforts will be repaid many times over and you'll gain the experience to (a) pick a better Nordhavn (new or used) when the time comes, (b) become self-sufficient operating and maintaining your Nordhavn, and (c) truly enjoy your cruising your Nordhavn far and wide.

Judy and I bought our first yacht, a Tupperware 22-footer, more than 30 years ago. Since then, we've owned a three sailing yachts and four motor yachts and have cruised them near and far, a total of over 100,000 miles. We've made just about every mistake a cruiser can make but we've enjoyed the trip and it's been a great and learning experience. By the time we could afford a Nordhavn we had a well-defined and tightly focused idea what we wanted in an ocean-crossing power boat and how it ought to be outfitted. Since taking delivery of Bluewater four years ago, we've tested her on intracoastal, coastal and offshore passages, cruised the Bahamas and the Caribbean, crossed an ocean, cruised the Eastern Seaboard and the Mediterranean, and four years later are still happily cruising the boat six months a year. We've put about 22,000 miles and 3,300 engine hours on her and we look forward to a lot more.

In case the message of this little sermon isn't clear, let me be succinct. Don't wait for the perfect boat because it exists only in your mind. If you cannot afford a Nordhavn, buy another good yacht that you can afford, then get out there and start cruising. Do that and you and your admiral will likely learn a great deal and enjoy the experience. If you do enjoy it like so many of us do, you'll find a way to work your way up to larger, more capable yachts. If you don't, you're not out much money!

But if you don't get out there and do it sooner rather than later, you're putting the whole dream at risk. So get moving!

--Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater, Hilton Head Island

The Nordhavn 47 Bluewater was the lead boat for MedBound 2007 organized by the Bakers.

Northwest Passage challenge under way

The Nordhavn 57 Bagan is being prepared for an attempt on the Northwest Passage.

When you read Sprague Theobald's candid blog, you sense the challenge of transiting the treacherous Northwest Passage is well under way--even though he hasn't left the dock yet.

Worries are many, sponsorships are few, expenses are mounting, there are lists for the lists of things to do before departure on June 15 from Newport, Rhode Island. Relentlessly, Spraque and his crew are pushing forward, preparing his Nordhavn 57 Bagan for the Northwest Passage and circumnavigation of North America.

Here's where to follow the great adventure as it unfolds. A Q&A interview with Sprague appears at Trawlers & Trawlering.

If you're anywhere near Newport, the official Nordhavn send-off party will take place at Goat Island on June 12, 7-11 p.m.

The upcoming edition of Circumnavigator will be going to press soon after Bagan departs for the Arctic, so our feature coverage of the voyage will appear in the following issue.

Bagan is going to have company in the Northwest Passage as there are six yachts in all aiming to transit the top of North America this summer. Only two, Bagan and Polar Bound, are motor vessels.

David Scott Cowper
Polar Bound
Custom 48-foot trawler yacht (power)
http://www.cruising.org.uk/about/honorary/DavidCowper.shtml

Tommy Cook
Capt’n Lem
Corsair F-31 UC (sail)
http://www.arcticsolosail.com/index.php

Cameron Dueck
Silent Sound
Amor 40 (sail)
http://www.openpassageexpedition.com/index.html

Eric Forsyth
Fiona (sail)
http://www.yachtfiona.com/fnn.htm

Mark Schrader
Ocean Watch
Custom 64-foot cutter (sail)
http://www.pacsci.org/aroundtheamericas/

Blake August, a Circumnavigator contributing editor, is tracking all participants in Northwest Passage 2009 in a thread at TrawlerCrawler.net.