Is this a good-looking Nordhavn or what?

The first Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer has arrived in Dana Point, California, home of Pacific Asian Enterprises, and the first photos show one good-looking yacht!

Your faithful magazine crew cannot wait to sea-trial the newest Nordhavn for a feature report in the next Circumnavigator.

Click on the images for a larger view. More photos, including shots of the interior, are posted at the Nordhavn site.

Interestingly, the purchaser of Hull #1 has no sailing experience. His background is in go-fast powerboats, but he figures motorsailing will be the most cost-effective way to cruise the South Pacific. More, in the next edition of Circumnavigator that will roll off the press in September 2009.

Norfolk terrier circumnavigates!

Despite snoozing a lot, Zulu, a Norfolk terrier, has circumnavigated the world aboard the Nordhavn 46 Kanaloa. His owners, Heidi and Wolfgang Hass, have now circumnavigated three times--twice with Kanaloa. For news about Zulu and his remarkable owners, visit Trawlers & Trawlering. You'll read the full story in the next Circumnavigator.

Eye on the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal Authority maintains several webcams whereby you at home can watch your friends transit the waterway.

For example, here is a webcam screen capture showing the Miraflores Lock. The second vessel entering the lock from the north (Atlantic side) on Friday is Grey Pearl, a Nordhavn 62, captained by Braun and Tina Jones.

The Brauns are headed for Costa Rica to meet up with Sans Souci, the Nordhavn 68 mentioned in the preceding post. The two yachts will be transported by Yachtpath to Vancouver so their crews can enjoy the Inside Passage and Southeast Alaska this summer without having to slog uphill on their own bottoms.

Cover boat heads for Costa Rica

Sans Souci, the Nordhavn 68 that was featured on the cover of the most recent Circumnavigator, and is shown above in our weblog nameplate, is on its way to Costa Rica, with owners Ken and Roberta Williams aboard.

Our approximate 2,200 mile journey will take us along the coasts of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and ultimately to Costa Rica. There are plenty of boats that have traversed this route before. We will not be pioneering. That said, this is a very big deal for us personally. Although we’ve travelled long distances before, it has always been as part of a large group of boats, or in a location where there were lots of other boats around. This will be our first time to venture this far off the beaten track alone.

You can follow their blog here.

Updated specs for Nordhavn 75 Expedition Yachtfisher

Here are the updated particulars for Nordhavn's revolutionary Expedition Yachtfisher which will launch later this year:

LOA: 75'8" / 23.06 m
LOD: 72' / 21.95 m
LWL: 66'8" / 20.32 m
Beam: 22'4" / 6.81 m
Draft at half-load: 6'6" / 1.98 m
Displacement (empty): 185,447 / 82.79 long tons
D/L: 251 (half load)
Cp: .58
A/B ratio: 2.25:1
Fuel capacity: 4300 gallons / 16,277 liters
Water capacity: 600 gallons / 2271 liters
Engines: Twin Detroit Series 60 Diesels
Power output: 375 hp per engine, 740 hp total, @ 2,300 rpm
Estimated cruising speed: 13.5 knots
Estimated range at cruising speed: 3,000 nm

Incorrect information appeared on Page 50 of Circumnavigator 2008-09.

Gulp!

So you want to go to sea in a small boat, eh?

Check out the footage, especially from 2:45 onward. Those are 45-foot seas. That's a 350-foot ship. Location is unknown but it's likely in the high latitudes.