The fridge and freezer are filled, and the dry goods and spares are stowed. Tonight we set off for Alaska.

Most summers we spend a bit of time between the northern tip of Vancouver island and the Alaska border. This year is a little different for two reasons. First, we’re heading further north than in the past and will spend some time in Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve. The second thing that makes this trip a bit different is, weather permitting, we’ll be making the nearly thousand-mile one-way trip as an offshore crossing. It’ll take roughly 5 days to cover the distance running 24x7 off the coast of British Columbia and Alaska.

You might ask why we would want to make the trip running 24x7 offshore when the shoreline of BC is one of the most beautiful in the world. It truly is wonderful and we do love the area. We’ve even written a book about it (Cruising the Secret Coast). We’re skipping the coast and heading directly to Alaska as a way to enjoy Alaska by boat when we really can’t get enough time off work to do the trip at a more conventional, relaxed pace. The other reason to run directly there is it’s a chance to try running 24x7 and see how it goes. Think of it as an ocean crossing with training wheels. If it gets unpleasant, we can always turn right and head to BC. And, it will be an adventure.

We’ll be back the first week of September. Have a good rest of your summer.

Dirona has plenty of storage space—we’ve not yet come close to filling all the lockers despite living aboard. But it is a boat, and storage space is at a premium. So we’re always looking for ways to make the most efficient use of the space we have. When we visited the yard during construction, one of the items on our checklist was to add lockers in any inaccessible void spaces, or to modify standard lockers to make best use of the space available.  

As we organized the galley, one product we’ve found useful is Seville Classics iron expandable kitchen shelf. We’ve purchased five so far, and keep finding new uses for them. We initially got one for the locker above the washer/dryer that we use as a pantry:    

Then one for the dry-goods locker above the port counter:    

And another for the shelf below the port counter:    

And one for for our mugs and glasses cupboard above the main counter:    

Recently, we realized one would fit in the appliance garage behind the stove:

Seville Classics also has an iron two-tier shelf. By some fluke of luck, two fit exactly into our center overhead cupboard and really maximize our use of that space:

The shelves have little friction, so we’ve glued on non-skid material to keep things from shifting.

For dishes and coffee mugs, we are using Aspen from Crate and Barrel. We had Aspen coffee cups in storage from our house and brought them aboard the new boat. Before we put non-skid in the cupboards, the mugs had survived sliding and banging into each other so well that we decided to buy the plates and bowls too. So far they’re working out well. The bowls are a little on the large side, but are multi-purpose.

We purchased the shelves from our local Bed, Bath and Beyond store, but they also are available from Amazon.com.

We spent the July 4th Independence Day weekend anchored at the head of the Hood Canal (route map). We went mainly because we’d not anchored there before, and were planning to stay only for the 3rd. This, however, turned out to be a great place to watch fireworks. Private displays are illegal in most cities in the region, such as Seattle and Bellevue. But we’ve discovered that they are legal in unincorporated regions, and everyone seems to set them off. Last year we anchored off Penrose Point Marine Park, in unincorporated Pierce County, and enjoyed great local displays and distant public ones such as Tacoma's.

At the head of the Hood Canal, in unincorporated Mason County, the “pre-displays” on the 3rd were so good that we stayed for the next night. And wow, were we impressed—this was easily the best private display we’ve seen. The head appears almost land-locked at night, and houses ring the shore. It seemed that everyone was setting off some fairly high-end fireworks—the effect was a near 360-degree constant display. We’ll definitely be back.  

We’ve anchored in the Hood Canal a number of times, but mainly nearer to the mouth and always before the Great Bend. We’d travelled to the head at speed once on a day trip in the previous boat a almost a decade ago, but had never anchored there. The head is a just a long way—about 90 miles from Seattle. You have to travel 30 miles north to Port Ludlow and then 60 miles south all the way to the head. At this point, less than two miles of land separates the head of the Hood Canal from the head of Case Inlet in the south Puget Sound, but Case Inlet is only about 55 miles by boat from Seattle.

Surprisingly, we’re finding our short-term cruising range has increased with the 52 rather than decreased, even though it runs a good 5 knots slower. The difference between 14 knots and 8 knots is really not that huge anyway, in terms of distance possible in a day. The big factor is that the 52 is so much more comfortable to run for longer periods of time that we travel farther, and still arrive more relaxed and refreshed than before. Reaching the head of the Hood Canal felt like an easy run.

The week before last, our home was up in the air next to Emerald Harbor Marine's shop at Canal Boatyard in Ballard. Although we're happy to be back at Bell Harbor, we had a good week. Living aboard in the yard was an adventure, and we enjoyed exploring Ballard and visiting its many pubs. We'd lived on the 4087 while it was in the yard last fall, but the 52 is so much nicer. Grey water tanks make a major difference--we can shower on the boat and live almost normally so long as we minimize the waste water.

The boatyard is on freshwater behind the Ballard Locks. Our initial plan was to go through on Sunday night in preparation for a haul-out on Monday. But we decided to go early and spend the weekend on Lake Washington instead. Because locking through is a bit of a hassle and a time-burner, we don't go through very often.

We arrived at the locks late Friday evening (trip route). Depending on traffic, boats are directed into the small lock (30 x 150 ft, 8.5 x 45.7 meter) or the large (80 x 825 ft, 24.4 x 251.5 meter). We were travelling against the flow--boaters who keep their vessels on freshwater pour out on Friday night and return on Sunday. On busy weekends, passing through can take a while. The large lock had a full load of boats exiting, so we went directly into the small locks. The small lock is easier to manage for two reasons. Unlike the large lock, the guide walls in the small lock float, so lines don't have to be tended as the water level changes. The other, more important reason, is that fewer boats can fit inside the small lock. With our 16' beam, rafting is less likely with the roughly 12' left beside us. In the large lock, boats of all sizes are rafted 4 and 5 deep. It can get pretty hairy in there as everyone tries to navigate the confined and sometimes turbulent waters.

We're often asked how the 52's deeper draft has impacted our cruising, and in particular whether we'd still enter the many shallow-entry anchorages we describe in Cruising the Secret Coast. The deeper draft would only preclude entry from perhaps a half-dozen of them, and some we weren't keen to re-enter even in the 4087. So far, however, water draft hasn't been much of a concern, it's the roughly 30' air draft we've had to pay more attention to. This definitely was the case entering Lake Washington. Seven bridges cross the route from saltwater to Lake Washington, and another two cross the lake itself. We could safely pass under all but one, but most were close enough to warrant a careful look.

The first bridge we passed under was the Salmon Bay Bridge, just before the locks, with a 41' clearance. After the locks is the Ballard Bridge (44' clearance), the Fremont Bridge (30'), the Aurora Bridge (135'), the Ship Canal Bridge (127'), the University Bridge (42') and the Montlake Bridge (46'). The the Aurora and Ship Canal Bridges are fixed, and the rest are drawbridges. Running across Lake Washington are the SR-520 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, with a clearance of 45' at the west end and 75' at the east end; and the I-90 floating bridge, with a vertical clearance of 35' at the west end and 33' feet at the east end. The Waggoner Cruising Guide has an excellent map of the route with the bridge clearances clearly indicated.

Pictured below are the Salmon Bay Bridge on the left and the Fremont Bridge on the right. Depending on the water level, we might have just squeeked under the Fremont Bridge, but a sailboat was already waiting for it to open so we went through with them. One long and one short horn blast is the signal to open the bridge--the bridge tender responds in kind if the bridge can be opened, or with 5 short blasts if not. The large bridge visible beyond the Fremont Bridge is the fixed-span Aurora Bridge, the last bridge before entering Lake Union. When the bridge was opened in 1932, it completed the final link of U.S. Highway 99 between Canada and Mexico. The bridge was built to allow large ships to pass through, but not the commercial sailing ships of the previous era. A locally famous picture shows one of the last tall ships to exit Lake Union, the Monongahela, before the final span was put in place. The Aurora Bridge also is home to the Fremont Troll.

The Lake Washington Ship Canal connects the Ballard Locks with Lake Washington. The first leg, the Fremont Cut, runs from the locks to Lake Union. The Fremont Cut has a long tradition of maritime industry. Fisherman's Terminal there is home to most of Seattle's commercial fishing fleet, including boats from The Deadliest Catch. Foss Maritime's headquarters are nearby. Just beyond our eventual destination, Canal Boatyard, is Kvichak Marine Industries. Docked outside their facility were three beautiful pilot boats bound for The Netherlands. The capable-looking craft are powered by twin Cat C32 ACERT 12-cylinder 1,300 HP engines and have top speeds of 28.5 knots fully-loaded.

East of the Aurora Bridge, the Fremont Cut ends at Lake Union. The lake is wringed with parks, float homes, marinas and restaurants and has wonderful city views. (The picture at the top of this blog entry is looking south across Lake Union to downtown Seattle.) The lake also is home to Kenmore Air, with floatplane service throughout Washington State and southern B.C.

From Lake Union, we passed under Ship Canal Bridge and the University Bridge into Portage Bay. The final bridge on our route that day, the Montlake Bridge, spans Montlake Cut, the last leg of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. On the first Saturday in May, the waterways and streets surrounding the cut are packed with attendees and participants in Seattle Yacht Club's Opening Day Parade and the Windemere Cup rowing regatta. Regatta crews traditionally paint their team's names along the cut walls.

Spitfire kept a careful watch as we ran through the cut. We passed by, but not under, the SR-520 Evergreen Point floating bridge. The city of Bellevue is visible in the distance behind the bridge.

We anchored for the night in Cozy Cove near Kirkland, off the east shore of the lake. Multi-million dollar houses wring the shore there, but are far enough away that we still had plenty of privacy. On Hunts's Point to our east, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, singer Kenny G and cellular phone pioneer Craig McGraw own adjacent estates. The bottom left shot is the view looking north from our anchorage in the evening and the bottom right was taken late the next morning. Evenings typically are quiet on Lake Washington, but during the day boats of all sizes ply the waters. Water skiing and jet skis are popular.

Saturday was warm and sunny, ideal for a lake cruise. We'd not navigated from the fly bridge much yet, so this also was a good chance to test the equipment. Although the pilot house definitely has the best setup, we've setup the fly bridge to have much the same functionality available. In addition to basic controls and equipment, we have a Maretron DSM-250 display, and a Furuno MFD8 display that hooks into the NavNet 3D system and is a backup server for the Furuno BlackBox down below. Everything worked well, and we had a great time cruising up top.

We'd did a slow tour to the north end of the lake, then turned south and passed under the SR-520 bridge and along the east side of Mercer Island. The I-90 fixed bridge there, pictured above, has a 200' clearance. Coming back along the west side of Mercer Island, we considered anchoring in Andrew's Bay off the west shore, but it was literally packed with boats. We instead continued north and passed under east part of the floating portion of I-90 bridge, where the clearance is 33'. We anchored for the night off Luther Burbank Park at the northeast tip of Mercer Island. It felt a little exposed, but is the same as Andrews Bay with respect to the prevailing northerly winds, and we had it all to ourselves.

OOn Sunday, we passed under the west side of the SR-520 floating bridge, with 35' of clearance, and reversed our path back through the Lake Washington Ship Canal to the boatyard. Traffic through Montlake Cut was a lot heavier than when we'd come through on Friday night, but was typical for a sunny summer day.

We’ve cruised with two different cats: Gremlin was 10 years old before we introduced him to boating and Spitfire was a kitten when brought him aboard several years later. Both have enjoyed being on the boat and have seemed as content afloat as on land.

In our experience, cats need time to adapt to a new environment. They’ll want to inspect a new area and understand its limits. We’ve read of people who brought their cat aboard for the first time, stuck the animal below, then immediately started the engines and set off. This is not the ideal way to introduce any pet to boating. The animals will likely be frightened and resist further attempts to bring them aboard.

For both our cats, we brought them on board and spent the night at the marina first. We wanted to ensure they were comfortable with the new surroundings before doing anything else. For cats, cleaning or using the litter box is a good sign that they feel secure. Once they seemed relaxed, we started the engines a couple of times to accustom them to the sound. But we didn’t move the boat. Spitfire finds new sounds terrifying—he bolted from the room when we turned a blender on once. But he eventually got used the engine sound (and the blender.)

We monitor our cat’s location frequently, either underway, at anchor, or at a dock, and keep him inside if we are sleeping or away from the boat. We'll keep a hatch open overnight only if it has a screen. A collar bell helps in tracking his movements. This is particularly important for kittens. Like people, young cats take more chance, are less careful near the water, and can fall in. They do get smarter and more careful as they mature--Spitfire is a testament to both ends of that spectrum. The collar has a breakaway safety buckle that releases if the cat becomes entangled, reducing the chance of choking. For the most part, neither cat has exercised this safety feature, but we recently found Spitfire's collar dangling on a window latch above an open stairwell. We're not sure what happened, but were glad he was wearing that kind of collar. In case he does escape our monitoring and become lost ashore, he wears a tag with his name, our cell phone number, and our boat name. And we never sail until we know he is onboard. We've never had a problem, but have heard stories of people losing their pets this way.

On the previous boat and in our house, we used a standard-sized covered litter box and regular clay litter. A major disadvantage of clay litter is that the cats tracked it everywhere, along with very dusty paw prints. On the 52 we went with a new system, Tidy Cats Breeze. A special litter box holds non-absorbing pellets and solid waste, while liquid waste drains through to a diaper-like liner in a tray underneath. The liner lasts a week with no odor at all. And the pellets, because they aren't designed to absorb moisture, last at least 4 weeks (we've got them to last up to 6 weeks). The Breeze system has a number of advantages over standard litter systems, particularly on a boat. Cleaning the box is almost trivial--once a week we simply pull out the tray and replace the old liner with a new one. We clean solid waste out daily (we did that before anyway) and change the pellets as needed. Spitfire took to the box right away as soon as we'd set it up--we didn't need to follow the instructions for acclimatizing him. He occasionally kicks a couple of pellets out, but they don't track and are almost dust-free. Perhaps the best part, however, is how little storage space the refills consume compared to regular litter. In the picture above right, the large bag at the bottom is a 2-3 week supply of standard clay litter. Above it is a 6-9-month supply of pellets and a 10-month supply of liners.

Spitfire has adapted to living aboard as well as we have. While he may not appreciate the 52's many amenities, he loves the extra space and is constantly finding new places to perch and check out the surroundings. We love having him aboard and some of the systems we've developed help ensure that he has many years of safe, comfortable and relaxed cruising ahead of him.

Last weekend we presented our experiences in going through the design and build process for Nordhavn 5263. An updated deck is at Hamilton_TF10_BuildingTrawlerWebPost.pdf

In discussing purchase costs, we broke the total cost into three components: 1) base boat & standard equipment 2) factory/dealer options and 3) post-delivery items. The amount you spend above the base price depends on what is included in the base price and how you equip the boat, but often is more than people expect. We've seen estimates as low as 10% over base. We made some major customizations so, for us, the extras were a substantial portion of total price. Factory options were 25% over the base price and post-delivery items were 30% over the base price.

One of the difficulties we had in comparing prices of new boats across builders was the difference in base configurations, and option prices and types. With some builders, for example, the get-home option is a fully-independent wing engine with separate propeller and shaft, whereas with others it is a hydraulic system that simply powers the main shaft through a generator in the event of a main engine failure. To compare more accurately, we requested quotes of like configurations from several builders. This also helped in comparing prices between new and used boats. Initially we felt that used boats were not good value compared to the base cost of a new boat. But once we'd factored in the items above the base price, used boat prices appeared much more competitive. This is particularly true in a weak economy.

If you do plan to request price quotes, be aware that if you approach a company without choosing a salesperson, one is assigned to you and this can be difficult to change later. Get feedback from other owners and explicitly choose one to work with before approaching the builder. The salesperson can have a major impact on the project, particularly if you plan major customizations. Jeff Merrill was deeply involved with the 5263 project from start to finish. We incorporated many of his suggestions that we’d otherwise have overlooked, and he supplied us an extensive boat photo library that continues to be an incredibly useful resource.

In the deck, we list the major customizations, equipment changes and upgrades that contributed to the the factory option costs of 25% over base, but only those that are a little unusual. We didn’t include common factory options such as a wing engine, although those costs are reflected in the 25%. The post-delivery items listed in the deck is reasonably complete. Many we had anticipated, such as the life raft and kayaks. But some we hadn’t considered were blinds, floor covering, and custom stainless work.

Last week we answered this blog comment:

Given you have all these changes taking into consideration the PNW waters, I am wondering if you feel you have had to compromise at all on design given you are introducing the idea of taking it out on the open ocean. In other words, one of the things my husband and others have said is that the Nordhavn is designed for Ocean crossing and is "overkill" for someone who just plans to stick around the PNW/B.C. waters.. maybe Alaska. For example ...Nordic Tugs or American Tug... are much more OPEN floor plans with wider walk around, etc. I find it very interesting that you have guide books and are tremendously experienced in this area and ended up with this boat. What if you never ended up "Passage making", would you still be happy you went with a Nordhavn? Some concerns... smaller windows... smaller side decks... more up and down... gosh, wish I was attending your seminar!  

Thanks!
Jackie Schmidt

Here's a more detailed response:  

Great question, Jackie. We bought the boat because we wanted a safe vessel with ultimate flexibility. It’s exciting to know the boat can go anywhere in the world. If we never leave this area, however, the boat still is ideal for us. The deep draft and weight means the boat doesn’t get tossed around much in big wind and waves. Being out in small craft advisory weather and simply not noticing is a degree of comfort we truly enjoy. And running comfortably in a gale, without stabilizers, is even better. The 52's draft also gives us a stand-up engine room with plenty of room to work and lots of fuel capacity. We’ve used the boat pretty much every weekend since taking delivery, and love not having to fill the fuel tanks all the time. Our previous boat, a Bayliner 4087, had narrow thigh-height rail-only side decks, similar to the boats you mention. We’d not feel comfortable out there in heavy weather. On the 52, the side-deck is wide, above waist height and covered top and side, allowing for reasonably safe and dry movement outside in rough conditions.

We can't ever get more than 4 weeks off work in a year, so going to Alaska is really difficult. With the new boat, we've decided that this year we'll probably make the trip by running 24x7 for just over 4 days up the outside of Vancouver Island and through Hecate Strait. We’d feel less comfortable doing that in a boat that wasn’t so well-built and designed for heavy weather. If we want to bring it around to the east coast, we can do that easily whereas our last boat just didn't have the range. We had all these crazy plans of going super slow and having two hundred gallons of diesel bladders. But in this boat, instead of the trip being crazy or difficult, we can do it any time.

Even when we're not traveling during the work week, the boat is enjoyable. The Sub Zero fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer, heating system, entertainment system etc. make it a really great place to call home. The boat feels bright and airy, with plenty of storage space. We’ve not even come close to filling all the lockers and storage areas, despite living aboard. The stairs give the living areas a bit of separation from the staterooms, making it feel a bit more like a house. With the day head we’ve installed in the salon, there’s a lot less up-and-down anyway. The boat has excellent outdoor living space also--something that was important to us--with room for tables in the cockpit, boat deck and fly bridge.

The more time we spend on the boat and learn the systems, the more we appreciate the attention to detail that goes into it, from both a design and workmanship perspective. This is a boat that will last a long time. The owner’s manual is customized to the boat and incredibly detailed. And as we’ve gotten to know the Nordhavn community better, we’ve learned that many folks are on their second, third or even fourth Nordhavn. That says a lot right there. Although some are travelling the world, many are just enjoying a strong, safe, well-constructed and beautiful boat.

Flexibility to go anywhere is the appeal, but so far all of its use has been in this area and we're loving it.  

We have three Lenovo ThinkVison L1900ps for navigation monitors. They have a low-profile bezel and controls in the front, so can readily be flush-mounted into the pilot-house dash. The display is crisp and clear, and we're very happy with them. But we found they were a little bright for night running, even with the screen brightness turned down and the chart plotter in night mode. So we needed some kind of dimming cover.

We wanted something that would be simple to use, and in particular wouldn't require dimming the monitor itself. We couldn't find a commercially-available product, so we asked Tap Plastics for a quote on building custom covers. The price turned out to be quite reasonable: ~$25 for two 1/8" pieces of transparent solar grey acrylic bonded together to form a corner.

We had one built as a test and it fit perfectly. The monitors were still a little bright, however, so we added AT-5 (Limo) auto tint film to the covers and that solved the problem. With the covers in place, the monitors are acceptably dim, even with the chart plotter in day mode. And should we want additional light-reduction, we can change to dusk or night mode. The screens fit snuggly over the display and stay in place without attachment, although we do plan to add velcro attachments to secure them in rougher water.

We've found the covers handy when moored as well. We usually have a couple of monitors on to display weather and other data, but they are a little bright for sitting in the pilot house in the evening with the lights dimmed. Instead of turning off the monitors and losing the information display, we can just drop the covers in place.

Below is a shot taken before and after the cover is in place, with no adjustment made to the display brightness.

The seminar schedule for Trawler Fest in Anacortes, WA has been posted. This year we’ll be presenting on Thursday May 20^th at 10:30am on our experience in purchasing, configuring and building a Nordhavn 52.

We attended our first Trawler Fest back in 2001, and began a trawler shopping process that culminated earlier this year in the delivery of a Nordhavn 52. It’s the first fully-configured Nordhavn 52, and hull #1’s always bring lessons. We have heavily customized the boat based upon our experiences cruising year-round in the Pacific Northwest for the past decade, with plans for world cruising. In this talk, we’ll describe lessons learned in going through the selection, configuration and build process, and provide advice for those considering a purchase.

For those interested in a more detailed view, PAE will be displaying 5263 throughout the show.

Lynwood Center, tucked into the corner at the west end of Rich Passage, has become one of our close-to-home favorites. It's nearness to the ferry routes and other traffic in Rich Passage make it an unusual anchorage. When we first stopped there, we expected that ferry wakes in particular would toss the boat a fair bit, but the anchorage is surprisingly calm (we surmise through a combination of the ferries slowing to take the corner and their east-west wake cancelling out the north-south wake.)

Diving birds provide constant entertainment, and on clear days the anchorage has a great view to Mount Rainier, but we especially enjoy watching the traffic through Rich Passage. Most memorable was a navy submarine that passed through from Bremerton with an impressive escort of two Coast Guard cutters, three high-speed Coast Guard RIBs and two large Navy tugs.

Public shore access is close by at the Schel-chelb Estuary, owned by the Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation District. You can land there and walk a short distance to Lynwood Center. We stopped once at the bright and airy Treehouse Café for an excellent thin-crust pizza with a microbrew on tap. Lynwood Center also has a small grocery store, a movie theatre and a couple of other restaurants. Returning, we discovered that the tide comes in a long way. James had to wade out in his jeans, in cold winter weather, to rescue our stranded dinghy.

Last weekend we anchored there in the new boat for the first time. We had expected the 52 to roll significantly more than the hard-chined 4087 when a wake did come through, but so far we've been pleasantly surprised.

Anchoring notes: Anchor in 3-4 fathoms in the bight along the north shore at the west end of Rich Passage. North and southeast wind protection is good, but southwest winds blowing across Port Orchard can force substantial waves into Rich Passage. The Schel-chelb Estuary (see http://www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us/shoreline_access_guidebook.aspx) is at the north corner where the road passes over a culvert.