We arrived in Baie de Taihoae on Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, 31 days and 2,550 nm after leaving Honolulu (trip log map). We had stopped at Palmyra Atoll and Fanning Islands for 11 days, for a total of 20 days at sea. We left Honolulu with 2,350 gallons of diesel and consumed 1,964 gallons en route, 1,864 to the main engine and about 100 to the generator.

Conditions were mostly in our favor on the 950-mile run from Hawaii to Palmyra, but were against us on the 1,394-mile run from Fanning Island to Nuku Hiva. On that last leg, the wind blew steadily on the bow 15-25 knots, typically around 17 knots, with an opposing current of 1.0 to 2.3 knots, mostly in the 1.7-knot range. Overall, our average speed for the entire run was 5.61 nm/hour with a fuel economy of 4.13 gph or 1.36 nm/gal.

To clear into the country, we had worked with an agent, CMA CGM Papeete. This helped in several ways. First, non-EU citizens must either post a bond equivalent to return airfare home, or purchase a refundable ticket in order to enter the country by boat. CMA CGM provided a bond exemption so long as we had proof of health insurance and that the insurance would cover the costs of flying us back home in an emergency (our Divers Alert Network travel insurance was sufficient). Second, diesel fuel can be purchased duty free, but the exemption must be processed in Papeete. CMA CGM's local agent got us cleared through the day we arrived and we received our fuel exemption the day after. Third, we needed to pre-order with the local fuel dock in Taiohae for large quantaties of diesel, as they only have a 13,200 gallon capacity and we'd use 10% of their fuel. And finally, while Jennifer can speak a bit of French, having someone to help with translation was useful as well. Coralie Mante of CMA CGM Papeete was very responsive and helpful in preparing for entry, and Kevin of Yacht Services Nuku Hiva was fast, efficient, and friendly in processing us on arrival.

We took on 1,170 gallons of diesel at the fuel dock, but could have taken 1,364. They were short on fuel, so we couldn't quite fill. Tying up to the fuel dock was interesting. The fuel dock has a cement wall and the surge was substantial, so a side-tie risks damaging the boat. Instead, boats needing small amounts of fuel often ferry them by dinghy in jerry cans. Those needing larger amounts typically med-moor to the wall, where the boat is anchored and backed into the dock and tied standing a few feet off the wall. In the picture below, we've got a 75-foot line from each stern corner to a bollard ashore, and a large Aere inflatable fender protecting the swim platform. The fuel hose runs from the dock, over the swim platform and into the cockpit.

We've always maintained our boats with minimal bilge water and kept the bilges clean so the engine room doesn't smell. We check the bilges as part of our regular engine room checks, so we can spot water leaks right way if the level increases, and mechanical leaks are obvious if an oily sheen forms on the bilge water surface. Despite having our previous boat for thirteen years and not finding all the water leaks, neither one of us can figure out why there needs to be an inch of water in the bottom of the bilge.

We have a dripless packless-shaft seal, instead of the conventional stuffing box that drips water by design, so we have no regular drips of water into the bilge. Most are just the minor leaks that occur in most boats. They can be hard to find, however, as many show up only in rough water where we can't be out investigating the source of the leaks. Still, it seems that we ought to be able to find and fix them all. In measuring the bilge water with a total-dissolved solids (TDS) meter, we found it was a mix of fresh and saltwater. Not all was coming in from the sea--some must be coming in from rainwater or boat washing, as our freshwater tank wasn't losing any water.

Over the past three weeks, we decided to go after the leaks more seriously to try to get a dry bilge. Here's what we found:        

1. The cockput gunnel gangway socket drain runs into bilge        
2. The cockpit shower door leaks water in rough seas into the starboard aft cockpit locker        
3. Vents on the starboard aft cockpit locker door leaks water in rough seas       
4. The hatch from the cockpit to the lazarette leaks a bit of water in rough seas
5. The propane locker drain hose leaks into the lazaratte at the entry to the locker and at the thru-hull        
6. The thru-hull for the propane locker drain has no ball valve and plastic connection are in use       

The gangway socket drain accounted for much of the freshwater in the bilge water. Every time rain fell, or we washed the boat, that socket would fill with fresh water that would run into the bilge. But boarding seas would bring saltwater in as well. Instead of draining into the bilge, we installed a small thru-hull in the cockpit below the socket to exhaust into the cockpit.

To seal the cockpit shower door, we fitted it with insulating foam. We'd already installed a piece of marine board sealed with 5200 marine adhesive over the leaking vents in the cockpit door, but the door is somewhat curved and the marine board had lifted away slightly. So this time we built a gasket from non-skid shelf liner to put between the vents and the marine board, and sealed that with 5200.

We weren't bringing much water in through the hatch from the cockpit to the lazarette, and only in heavy seas, but enought to be irritating. Tightening the door didn't completely solve the problem so we replaced the gasket with a different design. The original was rather rigid and we felt one with a hole through it that could compress more would work better. We'd mentioned this to Don Stabbert, whose boat Starr is docked nearby. Don dropped off a large bag of gasket samples and later a supply of one that we thought we work well. Off came the old gasket and on went the new.

The propane locker has a drain hose from the bottom of the locker, through the lazarette, and overboard via a thru-hull. This is a safety precaution in case of a propane leak. Tightening the clamps easily resolved the two hose leaks. Replacing that thru-hull was a much bigger job. At minimum we wanted to replace those plastic parts--a Nordhavn had sunk at the dock recently because plastic parts were used in a thru-hull application. But we also wanted a ball-valve to be able to close the thru-hull in an emergency should the pipe break. The existing thru-hull at left was solidly bonded to the hull with 5200, but we eventually managed to remove it by forcibly rotating it in place. We replace it with a new industrial-strength valved thru-hull.

We still have a few pieces of equipment that drain into the bilge via hoses and a manifold to a single point: the engine intake drains and the lazarette freezer. These should rarely run water, so we we just put a small bottle on the end of the hose to collect any water that does come through.

Beyond the bilge, we also wanted to get our exterior lockers drier. While we had stopped saltwater from entering the lazarette through the propane locker drain, we couldn't prevent saltwater from entering the locker itself. The drain had to remain open in case of a propane leak, and that meant saltwater could get forced through the hose and into the locker. We also had several lockers where fresh water would get inside, partly from condensation. The lockers drained fine and weren't really a problem, but we didn't want their contents sitting in water and wanted to improve aeration so they might dry faster. In these we installed modular floor tiles, cut to fit.

We've been checking the bilge regularly, and so far it has remained completely dry for three weeks. This includes an offshore run through Kaiwi Channel to Kane'Ohe Bay on the east side of Oahu, where the cockpit was awash much of the run there.

Dirona carries 1735 gallons of diesel for the main engine: 835 gallons in each side tank and 65 gallons in the day tank. (We also have a 10-gallon supply tank for the auxiliary engine). Although 1735 gallons would have been fine for the roughly 2,000nm trip between San Francisco and Hawaii, we added 532 gallons in cockpit bladder tanks for that run. We did this for two reasons: 1) it allowed us to run faster (at additional fuel cost) and 2) we wanted to test the practicality of fuel bladders for longer offshore runs.

We went with ATL FueLocker bladders. ATL bladders had a good reputation with other boat owners, and from his car-racing days, James knew they could smack the wall at 200 MPH without leaking. We bought two 300-gallon bladders with tie down-kits--these would come close to filling the cockpit, leaving space to walk around them, but little room for the bladders to shift should they come loose. The only question was how the extra weight would affect boat trim.

We air-filled the bladders with a vacuum cleaner so they would be roughly the right size and shape as when filled with fuel, but light and easy to move. Once we'd determined the positioning for them, we installed extra pad-eyes on the cockpit walls and on the floor under the barbeque console to attach the tie-down straps.

One side-effect of getting the bladders was that our Westminster teak extension table in the cockpit would have to go. We sold it on Craigslist and replaced it with a slightly smaller folding model.

We also purchased SunShields for the bladders, mainly to protect them from UV rays. But they also provide abrasion and heat resistance. And on the trip across, the straps did wear the covers a bit, so we were glad to have them. The picture below shows the bladders ready to be filled in Oakland with the SunShields on. We filled the bladders with air first to get everything properly placed, then deflated them just prior to fueling. Our teak chairs and the flopper-stopper plate are secured against the aft cockpit wall. We normally secure these on either side of the cockpit, but the bladders filled that area. And the folding table, normally strapped-down by its base in the cockpit, is secured to the starboard walkway.  

When we put the pad-eyes in for the bladder tie-downs, we also installed two in the ceiling above each bladder to support the fill standpipe when fueling. We tied a small line to the standpipe, ran it up and over the pad-eye to a cleat and adjusted the line as the bladders filled. The bladders are spec'd at 300 gallons but felt fairly full at 266, so we stopped there. It may have been possible to fit considerably more in, but we didn’t push it.

With the bladders full, the boat did go down a couple of inches at the stern, but the swimstep was still well above of the water. We were carrying 2,277 gallons of diesel: 835 in each supply tank, 65 in the day tank, 10 in the wing engine tank and 266 in each bladder. #2 diesel weighs 7.1 lbs/gallon so the total weight we carried in fuel when we sailed from Oakland was 16,167 lbs. That is more than half the weight of our previous boat, a 40’ coastal cruiser.

Below are shots taken underway. The bladders seemed quite secure, with no obvious impact on boat trim.

The bladders are not very stable when partially full, so we emptied them completely on the third day out when the main tanks had drained enough. To transfer fuel, we had installed a half-inch fuel hose from a Camlock quick-connect fitting at a bulkhead in the cockpit back to the fuel manifold. A short section of hose with Camlocks on either end connects the bladders to the bulkhead fitting, with a valve at each bladder end to control flow.

This way we can use our fuel transfer pump to pull fuel directly from the deck bladder tanks, through a filter and into one of the side tanks. This had several advantages over the more standard method of pumping from the bladder into the deck fill using an external pump:

1. No-one had to be on-deck during the fuel transfer. All that was required was a quick step outside to open the valve on the tank to be drained.
2. Our fuel-transfer pump can drain each bladder in about 80 minutes, limiting the time where a bladder is partially filled. One of our many factory upgrades was to replace the 43 GPH Walbro 6802 pump with a 822 GPH a Jabsco VR050-1122. Hose and plumbing restrictions take it down to an actual, but still respectable, rate of about 231 GPH.
3. The fuel coming from the bladders is run through a 25-micron filter before entering the tank. 
4. We didn't need to buy and store an additional pump, and likely a spare, to empty the bladders.

We left the empty bladders in place on deck for a few days, with the tie-downs tightened to hold them securely. On a calm day underway, we tilted them to drain the last 20 or so gallons out, hosed them down and stowed them in the flybridge brow.

When we arrived at Hilo, we had used 1,746 gallons so were 12,397 lbs lighter. Here are our fuel stats for trip:

• Duration: 296 hours (12.3 days)
• 12 hours less excluding Hilo offshore wait: 284 (11.8 days)
  •  Fuel: 1746 gallons consumed
• Distance: 2028 nm
• GPH: 5.90 gph
• MPG: 1.16 nm/gal
• MPH: 6.85 kts (7.14 kts not counting the Hilo wait)
• Fuel at Oakland:
  •  Main tanks: 1670 gal
  •  Supply: 65 gal
  •  Bladders: 532 gal
  •  Wing: 10 gal
  •  Total: 2277 gal
• Fuel at Hilo:
  •  Main tanks: 456 gal
  •  Supply: 65 gal
  •  Wing: 10 gal
  •  Total: 531 gal

When we were deciding on equipment for the 52, one of the things we considered was replacing the standard Sub-Zero 700TCI refrigerator/freezer with one that is more energy-efficient. Home appliances, with self-defrosting freezers and ice makers, generally are designed for applications where power is plentiful. We'd heard complaints from other Nordhavn owners that the Sub-Zero power draw was excessive. In our marine application, we'd often be off-grid on battery power, and would need to run the generator to charge the batteries. The greater the power draw, the more often we'd need to run the generator. In the Sub-Zero's favor, other owners had raved about the quality of the unit, almost more than seems reasonable. After all, it is just a refrigerator.

Another concern we had with the Sub-Zero 700TCI was it's unusual dimensions. We've tried hard to avoid having any non-standard equipment that limits our replacement choices should the unit fail. For example, we increased the galley cabinet depth by two inches to accommodate a standard 24"-depth GE Profile dishwasher instead of the 22" Miele that is the standard choice. While the 15.3cu Sub-Zero fit made good use of the galley space, we couldn't find another production unit that came close to matching its dimensions of H 80" x W 27" x D 24". Side-by-side fridges, although also designed to be built into the cabintry, were 4-5" deeper and 8-10" wider. Some companies made a similar design of fridge on top and freezer drawer below, but these units were still 8-10" wider and 4-5" taller. Standalone fridges existed that were similar to the Sub-Zero in width, but they were 6-8" deeper. We would have had to make major changes to the galley layout to accommodate a more standard unit.

The only other option was to have a custom unit built. This we could get with a more efficient, remote 24-volt compressor. We'd get better power efficiency with improved servicability. The refrigerator/freezer would just be a box with few points of failure, and the remote compressor would be relatively easy to service or replace. The main downside of these units would be food quality--the custom units generally are not frost-free and don't control humidity as well as a standard fridge. In that regard, we expected the custom units to be similar to the 12-volt marine combo refrigerator/freezer we had on our previous boat. The boat appliance did not keep food nearly as well as the GE Profile side-by-side that we had in our house at the time, and we expected the Sub-Zero would be better than the GE.

In the end, we stuck with the Sub-Zero 700TCI for the galley. We did, however, change the grill design while we were at the yard. The standard install includes teak panels, with a teak grill below to hide the equipment. Several owners felt the grill restricted the airflow, increasing power consumption, and had removed or replaced theirs. And we'd been told that Sub-Zeros installed with the original stainless steel and no teak panels were more efficient. The teak should provide some extra insulation, so this didn't make sense until we saw a stainless steel unit installed on a Nordhavn 55 in the yard: the space below was open with no grill. So we changed our design to match, with just a teak piece that extends from the bottom freezer drawer to partially cover the equipment, and no grill. In addition to improving airflow, this also makes cleaning dust buildup there much easier.

We did make one refrigeration change to install a 24-volt Dometic RPF-50 freezer in the lazarette. At the time, the separate freezer option for the 52 was a Sub-Zero UC-24C fridge/freezer combo installed in the stairwell to the staterooms. We didn't like the idea of having the unit in the stairwell, partly because that's conveniently accessible space to give up for something that we'd not have to access frequently. But, more importantly, a freezer failure could send smelly meat fluids down into the cabinetry and be near impossible to clean. And we wanted a full freezer, not a combo unit, so we opted for the Dometic instead.

Having had the boat for over two years now, we are very happy with the decision to keep the Sub-Zero in the galley. Those who extolled it's virtues were correct: food keeps incredibly well. When we go on longer trips, we use the same tricks that we did with the previous boat to keep food fresh. In particular, we use Evert-Fresh or Debbie Meyer food-preserving bags. The bags allow gases to escape, and keep fruit and vegetables fresher longer. Since moisture can speed up spoilage, we put a paper towel in each bag and replace the towel when it is damp. We’ve had good luck with all kinds of produce, including green onions, lettuce, corn, lemons and artichokes. With the marine refrigerator we had back then, this doubled or tripled the shelf life, depending on the product. With the Sub-Zero, the shelf life is quadrupled or more. The picture taken below is a head of Romaine lettuce four weeks after purchase, and it still was fresh even after six weeks.

We're also happy with our choice of the Dometic for the lazarette. We only use it for longer trips, but it allows us to stock up on bread, meats, etc and not need to stop for groceries for well over a month. The Dometic isn't frost-free, however, and we have found that food such as ice cream doesn't keep well long-term there compared to the Sub-Zero--more support for keeping the Sub-Zero. The marine fridge/freezer on the previous boat was not frost-free either, and we'd annually need to defrost it to remove thick ice build-up. So far we'd not had to do that with the Dometic--ice just doesn't build up. This may be partly due to our not opening it frequently when in use, that we only power it on for a few months at a time, or it might be a higher quality unit.

While the Sub-Zero does consume more power than the other options, we're very happy to have it. The boat is pretty power hungry, and while we've not measured it, we don't feel the Sub-Zero is a major a contributor to the overall power draw. Having fresh produce last longer makes us more self-sufficient--diesel is much more readily available in certain parts of the world than is fresh produce. This also allows us to last longer between stops, even if fresh produce were readily available. We've designed the boat for self-sufficiency, and having to the run the generator to top off the batteries is comparatively not that big an issue.

Last week we gave a presentation on our trip to Prince William Soundto the Seattle Sail and Power Squadron. They meet on the third floor of the Queen City Yacht Club, with a wonderful view across Portage Bay. We had a great time socializing with the group and touring the grounds. For our talk, we described our trip pre-trip preparation, experiences on the offshore run, and highlights of cruising Prince William Sound.

The slides are posted here. We’ll also be presenting on this topic at the Seattle Boat Show in January. The final schedule hasn’t yet been announced, but we’re slotted for January 28th or 29th. Below are our answer to a few questions from the audience on topics we didn't specifically cover in the talk.

What other failures did we have? In the presentation, we mentioned that a sea blubber jellyfish had plugged the generator raw-water strainer and destroyed the impeller. We replaced it, and immediately sucked in anther jellyfish, but this time the impeller wasn't damaged, and we had no further issues. The only other major failure we had was the wing engine. We use it to run our hydraulic thrusters and windlass, and tried to start it as we were approaching the first anchorage after the offshore run. The engine wouldn't start--turns out it was hydro-locked from having water forced down the raw-water exhaust outlet in the rough water. We cleared the engine, changed the oil twice and then ran it under load at anchor to get it good at hot. We got the water out quickly and the wing is undamaged. The most obvious way to avoid this problem is to close the seacock. Unfortunately, PAE doesn’t install a seacock on the generator or wing engine exhaust so that isn’t possible. Believing a seacock is a required safety feature, we have subsequently installed one. However, we like the wing to be available quickly in all conditions, so we prefer not to close the seacock. We instead installed a very large check valve in the exhaust, just inside the seacock, to prevent water inrush and wave action from driving water up the exhaust and into the engine. We believe this one is solved, but won’t know for sure until we experience difficult weather conditions.

How tired were we when we arrived? We were in surprisingly good shape, despite the rough weather. On arriving at that first anchorage and finally stopping, we had no trouble taking on the wing engine issue, and had a nice relaxing dinner afterwards. We did sleep well that night though. This is something we've been finding with the Nordhavn: because travelling is so comfortable, we actually can go further in this boat in a given period of time, both multi-day and local trips, than we could in the previous boat, even though the Nordhavn's top speed is much less. Running faster was more tiring on the previous boat. We'd have to be much more focused at the helm at the higher speeds, and the noise and vibration level, although not particularly bad, were significantly higher.

Were there marked trails? It varied. In some places, such as at Cascade Bay, the trail above the waterfall was well-trod and easy to follow. In others, we could pick our way through open scrub in the general direction of our destination. Because the winter weather is so harsh in Alaska, forests don't grow as thick as we're use to in BC. The many bluffs and open fields in the hills around the anchorages in Prince William Sound provided plenty of opportunities for easy hiking with a view.

What was the average temperature? Low-fifties near the glaciers, and low sixties elsewhere. Several days though, the temperature was into the seventies and was warm enough for us to eat lunch on deck in T-shirts.

How did we arrive at our watchkeeping system?Beth Leonard and the Dashews have good coverage on the topic of two-crew watchkeeping systems. People frequently started at formal two-hour shifts for a 24-hour period, but then evolved to four-hour shifts, only at night, as they gained experience. We figured if we were going to evolve to four hours, we might as well start there. Most couples also seemed to have the person with the most helm experience do the majority of the night shifts. So for the trip to SE Alaska last year, we started out doing formal four-hour shifts at night, with James taking the 8pm-midnight and 4am-8am shifts, and me taking the midnight-4am shift. Days were to be more informal, with James sleeping once or twice during the day. We learned, however, that James doesn't sleep well during the day, and wasn't getting enough sleep. I, on the other hand, can sleep pretty much any time. So we swapped to me taking the first and last night shift, and James doing the middle shift. We found the 4-hour shifts slightly long so switched to 3 hours before settling on 3 ½ hours. I take the 8pm-11:30pm and 3:00am-6:30am shifts, and James takes 11:30pm-3:00am.

One of the reasons we made the offshore run from Seattle to Prince William Sound was to gain experience. A gale in the Gulf of Alaska wasn't exactly the sort of experience we were hoping for. But we did learn that the boat, and our rough-water preparations, could take the conditions. The full log of both offshore runs is at Cruising Prince William Sound.

Three days out from Prince William Sound, on our way north, the forecast called for 30-knot SE winds and 10-foot seas. Two days out, the forecast had worsened to 40 knots from the SE with 13-foot seas. As we neared, the surface analysis charts showed the low deepening from 998 to 991. Within a day, the barometer fell from 1014 to 1003 and the seas built from calm to 10-12' on the stern quarter. Even with the stabilizers and autopilot working well, the boat motion still was substantial. We had to be careful to have good handholds when moving about--crawling often was easier.

We ended up not using the off-watch berth at all on this trip. Partly because the pitching motion the first few days was enough to make sleeping there difficult, and also because it was easier on the person on watch to not worry about making noise and waking the person who was off-watch.

In the past when we've been in rough water and had difficulty sleeping in the pilothouse berth, the master was comfortable. In this storm, James slept fine in the master berth, but I was having trouble falling asleep because I was sliding around on the bed with the sideways motion. I eventually wedged myself between the bed and the floor, and slept well.

At some point during the storm, the starboard caprail flipped open. It's a big, heavy piece of solid fiberglass--that must have taken some force. Nobody felt inclined to go out and close it though. One more item for the heavy weather preparation list--on the return trip, we ran a bungee from the inside to the outside handle to hold it down.

We hit much worse weather on the return trip. We'd left Prince William Sound as conditions were settling down from a gale the night before. At the Cape Cleare Data Buoy, the wave height had fallen steadily from 20' at 10pm to 11' by 11:50am, and the forecast indicated continued improvement. Another storm was predicted in a few days, and we wanted to get well south before it hit.

Conditions, however, worsened rather than improved. The winds picked up to 30 knots, with gusts to 41 and then to increased to 40 knots with gusts to 59. The seas were 13', about 5 seconds apart, and were breaking above the pilot house roof. Several slammed into the side of the boat at that height--we were glad to have the lexan storm shields on those big salon windows.

This time we were taking the waves on the bow and the pitching motion was severe.  We both got seasick, James for the first time ever. Although it wasn't debilitating, we both put on a scopolamine patch so we could keep food/water down. I'd had no problems with seasickness on the way up--severe pitching generally is what does me in. Spitfire seemed to be nervous, but otherwise did well. He ate lots, slept lots, and occasionally headed down below to use the cat box.

We were through the storm in 36 hours, although it felt a lot longer. We were pretty tired, but the boat handled remarkably well throughout. The furnace plug was torn off during the storm, the wind pressure against the dinghy cover wore a hole through it, and our US flag was slightly shredded, but otherwise we had no issues. The rest of the trip home was amazingly calm--we could run for days or weeks in those conditions.

Seasickness really makes taking video unappealing, but we did shoot some on the trip north as the storm was building. Waves never seems to look as big in pictures as in person, but notice in a few frames the horizon disappears off the top of the screen and then almost under the bow. Those waves are a good 8-10'. You can see the stabilizers working to counteract the rolling motion of the waves. And notice the caprail flipped open in some of the starboard shots.

We were surprised at how quiet the pilothouse is. The salon isn't particularly loud, but the engine noise is more apparent there. We'd never noticed that until put the video together. We have things pinned down pretty well everywhere, so boat is pretty quiet even in some of those big sideways swings.

We've spent the last few days lazing in the the sun in the San Juan Islands after returning from Prince William Sound. Yesterday we anchored in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island. Jose Sousa, who had been following our trip online, stopped by to say hello. His 1999 Lord Nelson Victory Tug 41Carolina is so well-maintained it looks better than new. Interestingly, his boat was built by South Coast Marine--the same yard that built Dirona. Jose recognized much of the hardware on our boat from the Lord Nelson.

We're now anchored in Roche Harbor, with Nordhavn 62 Gray Matter tied alongside. Christine Guo and Mark Mohler took ownership two weeks ago and are enroute to Sidney, B.C. through the San Juans. We met them in Reid Harbor and decided to raft up for the night.

We all headed in to the pub at Roche Harbor Resort for lunch. The docks were incredibly busy--even the dinghy dock space is packed. We've not been there for a few years--the place has changed quite a bit, with new construction up the hill behind the the resort.

After, we toured English Camp, established over the "Pig War" after Britain and the United States nearly went to war in 1859.  

And now we're settled in for a relaxing evening.

Last spring, Bob Lane interviewed us and reviewed Dirona for PassageMaker magazine. Bob has an experienced reporter's eye for detail. And as a long-time boater who has toured and written up a lot of boats, he notices what works and what doesn't. After touring the boat and describing the systems and upgrades, we discussed our goals in purchasing the boat and future travel plans. At the time of the interview, our 24x7 trip to Alaska was several months off. It would be a be a proof-of-concept trip for us, as we'd not run overnight before, let alone that far offshore.

We'll be discussing that trip, including lessons learned and highlights, at PassageMaker's Anacortes Trawler Fest next month. Our session is Alaska: 24x7 on Saturday May 14th at 10:30am. Dirona also will be open for the Trawler Crawl on Saturday from 4pm to 5pm (and possibly on Friday at the same time if we arrive early enough). 

Bob's article was packed with details and interesting perspectives. It's not often you can read an article about your own boat and learn something. We particularly liked his comment that the repeating monitors in the salon and master stateroom "... are the closest thing to art you’ll find aboard Dirona." We have a four-monitor glass cockpit, and each those monitors can be repeated on a screen in the salon or the master stateroom. At dock, we use the repeaters to monitor weather, and when underway we view engine telemetry, AIS, radar and the chart plotter. The master stateroom repeater was particularly useful on the run to Alaska, as someone off-watch there could easily view most data available in the pilot house with the push of a button.

Bob's full article is at http://www.mvdirona.com/TechnicalArticles/TheHamiltonNordhavn.pdf. PassageMaker digital subscribers can read it at  http://www.passagemaker-digital.com/passagemaker/201103?pg=72#pg72.

Dirona recently was featured in the Three Sheets NorthwestMy Boat series. When we answered their questions, it had been about a year since we'd taken delivery of 5263, so it was a good chance for us to reflect back on the purchase and decision process.

One of their interview questions we had the hardest time answering was "What do you know now about your boat that you wish you’d known when you bought it?" We've not really had any unpleasant surprises. We did have some concerns about how some of our customizations would turn out, such as the day head, and the galley and guest stateroom redesigns. But these have worked out well and we wouldn't make any changes there. After a year with the boat we're even more convinced the main engine upgrade was the right decision. The hydraulics are an expensive option that introduce more complexity, but we love the system. It's great having thrusters that can run all day, even though we don’t use them that way, and we really like the higher HP thrusters that a hydraulic system makes possible. And with a hydraulic windlass, we easily can anchor in very deep water and not have to worry about overheating the windlass. For example, we anchored in 145' in front of Reid Glacier, with a 154 lb anchor on 450’ of chain at 2 lbs per foot.

Were we to go through the process again, the list of changes we'd consider is pretty short. Mechanically, we'd like more horsepower on the wing. The wing can drive the boat at adequate speed, but doing that requires higher load than we're comfortable with. It would be slightly better to have higher horsepower for emergency use, and definitely better for hydraulic use.

Since our boat was built, Nordhavn has come out with several alternate interior layouts for the 47/52 that avoid having to go up the stairs to the pilot house and back down to reach the staterooms from the salon. The pilot houses also are larger, with room for two helm chairs, which we would like. The new designs do appear to have less storage space, though, and there's no clear place for a day head. Since the stairs aren't a huge issue, avoiding them would have to be weighed off against the losing storage space and the day head. Storage actually isn't a big issue for us though--we still have several empty lockers and drawers after living aboard for a year and buying almost every spare parts we could think of. 

A slightly larger salon also would be nice, but that would reduce the cockpit size, and we do like the large outdoor area. The rest of the changes we'd make are pretty minor, including better lighting in the galley, no fiddle on the flybridge table, and larger doors into the storage area in the flybridge brow.

The full interview is at My Boat: MV Dirona. We've also posted details on several of the topics touched on in the interview, including our purchase and customization experience, visiting the yard in China, and watching the offloading in Tacoma. 

This year at the Miami Boat Show, Northern Lights announced their new Wavenet generator digital monitoring system. Wavenet was installed on Dirona a couple of months prior to the announcement in Miami to test out the gear on a busy NMEA 2000 network in real boating conditions. I was pretty impressed with Wavenet from the beginning, but sometimes that excitement fades with time or the new gear ends up being a service problem. After a half year in service, we’re still as hooked as we were on the first day.

Our main engine is a full electronic John Deere 6068AFM75 and this engine makes available on the SAE J1939 bus a huge variety of information including engine RPM, coolant temperature, percent load, fuel pressure, fuel consumption rate, oil pressure, boost pressure, torque, alternator voltage, and number of hours. We use a Maretron J2k100 J1939 to NMEA 2000 gateway to get all this data delivered to boats central NMEA 2000 backbone.

We really like having all this data available and we use it constantly when underway. But we had no data available from our Lugger L844D wing engine and Northern Lights M843NW3.3 generator. Wavenet solved this problem without any adapters or other electronics, and makes available on the NMEA 2000 bus: generator output, AC voltage, line frequency, tachometer, water temp, oil pressure, alternator voltage, and engine hours.

I would have happily paid the price of Wavenet just for the generator telemetry data to NMEA 2000, but the system also includes optional remote panels that display all the data available and, in addition, support remote one-touch start/stop. Each panel is a simple, 1 wire installation. Put a tee in the NMEA 2000 cable, attach the drop cable to the Wavenet remote panel and its operational. We ended up installing three remote panels: at the electrical panel to replace the original generator control panel, another above helm, and a third in the salon. I love being able to just reach over from my seat in the salon, without getting up, and turn off the generator, or see the current output or how long it has been running.

Technically Wavenet only supports Northern Lights generators but, if you have a Lugger wing engine as many of us with Nordhavns do and you ask the folks at Northern Lights really nicely, I suspect they would be willing to offer Wavenet for your Lugger as well. Since we have hydraulic bow and stern thrusters with the wing engine providing primary hydraulic pressure, we start and stop the wing engine quite frequently. It’s great to be able to reach up from the helm and press start as we approach a marina. I don’t have to hold down pre-heat and then start. Just touch start on the Wavenet remote panel, it signals the on-engine control unit which takes the engine through the proper preheat and start cycle. When we are done with the wing, we just touch stop on the remote panel. It’s a very nice setup for those that use the wing frequently as we do.

For safety reasons, we chose to keep the standard analog wing engine controls to ensure the engine is available even if the NMEA 2000 or Wavenet systems fail.

A side benefit of having both the wing engine and the generator controlled by Wavenet is any remote can control either engine. It turns out that I frequently turn the generator off and on with the panel that I originally installed to control the wing engine.

The three main venet wins from my perspective: 1) all engine and generator data available on NMEA 2000 bus, 2) supports remote monitoring, and 3) supports one touch remote start/stop. More on Wavenet at: http://www.northern-lights.com/PDFs/news/L575M_wavenet.pdf.

On our Christmas trip to Desolation Sound this year, we were looking forward to testing the boat in some rough winter weather. We've been out in a few gale warnings, and the boat has handled well, but we wanted something more serious.

We got our chance one morning on a trip from Gorge Harbor to Grace Harbor (map of area). A major SE winter storm was underway, so we set off at first light to check out the conditions. The Strait of Georgia has a reputation for nasty weather year-round, but the north end is particularly bad during southeast winter storms, due to the long fetch and generally stronger winter winds. And opposing current through Discovery Passage and Sutil Channel can make conditions there downright hazardous. We've seen conditions so rough in Sutil Channel that the tough little BC Ferry Tenaka, was tacking on the route between Whaletown and Heriot Bay. And many boats have gone down in the tide rips off Cape Mudge. And the "occasional" bit of wood can appear in the area too. Below are a shots from our approach to Heriot Bay a few days later:

As we exited Gorge Harbor that morning, three-to-four-foot waves were blowing into the entry channel with four-to-six-foot waves just outside. The winds were blowing steady in the forties on our nose from the southeast. We started seeing gusts over fifty knots as we approached Sutil Point, where the waves were about ten feet high and closely packed. Fortunately, there wasn't much wood in the water en route. In the picture below, you can see waves hitting the the back of the boat hard enough to spray up high and pour into the cockpit.

We were heading to Baker Passage north of Hernando Island. We couldn't just turn east once clear of Sutil Point and put those big seas on our beam. So our plan was to continue on a southeast course towards the northwest end of Hernando Island, then turn northeast to enter the channel. And wouldn't you know it, the only other boat out there for miles was heading to exactly the same place. The Alaska Titan, barge in tow, was on an easterly course towards Baker Channel as we headed south. The captain radioed us to ask our intentions. We told him that we were a little constrained by conditions and asked if he could take our stern as he proceeded across our course, then we'd turn up the channel and follow him through the the passage. 

Once the tug had passed behind, we found a relatively calm set of waves to turn 90-degrees to the northeast and head up into Baker Passage. Conditions were calm in the lee of Hernando, then kicked up again as we exited Baker Passage. But they weren't as bad they had been on the first leg, and we have an uneventful remainder of the trip to Grace Harbor.

In the screen shot below, the Alaska Titan is the green triangle on the lower left as we are off Sutil Point. The picture on the right was taken just after we'd turned northeast. The barge is visible in the distance, with the tug almost disappearing off the edge of the window.

We'd been out in similar conditions in the 4087, and were wondering how the 52 would compare, particularly when the waves tried to twist the boat sideways. It might seem silly to imagine that the 4087 possibly could do better, but with two 270HP engines, the 4087 was surprisingly capable in big seas. Putting one engine full forward and the other in full reverse would generally bring the boat around pretty quickly when needed. With only a single 266HP engine, we thought the 52 might be less maneuverable. But the boat's weight and that big rudder seemed to make up for the difference in engine configuration. We had no trouble with the waves twisting the boat around, nor with making the 90-degree turn from southeast to northeast off Hernando Island. And another big plus was that we were able to run on autopilot the whole way. The autopilot on the 4087 couldn't keep up with big seas like that, so we'd have to steer manually, which required much effort at the helm. On the 52, we could just sit back in the pilot house and mostly take in the show.

Here's some video footage we shot along the way:

Last April, Circumnavigator magazine came aboard for a day to review the boat and its systems.  On board for the magazine were contributing editor James Kirby, photographer Stephen Cridland and John Marshall, owner of Nordhavn 55 owner Serendipity. Also with us was Larry Schildwachterof Emerald Harbor Marine, who commissioned the boat and installed our electronics, furnace and various other options. And Vessel Assist provided the chase boat that Stephen used for photos of Dirona underway.

The weather was unusually sunny and warm for April, and we had a great time out on the water taking Dirona through her paces and describing the systems we had in place. And that bright blue sky made Stephen Cridland's impressive photos even better.

The resulting articles are now posted online:

• Nordhavn 52: Evolution of the Species

• Nordhavn 52: At the dock and under way

• Nordhavn 52: Unusual boat for an unusual couple

• Nordhavn 52: Impressions of a Nordhavn 55 owner

The seminar schedule for the 2011 Seattle Boat Show has been posted. This year we’ll be presenting on Saturday Jan. 22nd at 11:30am on our trip to Alaska this summer.

We'll be describe our 5-day, 2-crew, 24x7 offshore run from Seattle directly to SE Alaska, and share highlights of our visit. We'll also discuss how we've rigged Dirona for this and similar trips, and any lessons learned regarding equipment and other choices we've made.

We've been ordering a seemingly endless number of supplies and spare parts for the boat, ranging from fuel filters to zincs to alternators to pumps, and even a spare inverter. Stowing it all has been a big job. The boat has a large amount of storage space in various lockers, bilges and other spaces, but most are irregularly-shaped. To maximize the storage space in an accessible way, and keep the spares safe from damage, we use Really Useful Boxes. The boxes are straight-sided, so don't waste space; are see-through, so we easily can see the contents; and are strong, so can handle heavier parts without shattering. And they come in about 50 sizes, ranging from 0.7L to 145L, so we usually can find a box, or combination of boxes, to make the most efficient use of any space.

In the flybridge brow, we use 5 64L boxes, and other sizes, to store lighter spares such as fuel and watermaker filters:

We've used a variety of sizes in the irregular area under the stairs down to the stateroom:

In the lazarette, we've got two stacks of 64L boxes, with a 33L on top. The two 64L boxes have a particularly handy feature in that the front folds down, so we can access the contents without destacking them. We've them held in place with bungee cord, but we easily can unhook the bungee to slide the whole stack out of the way:

The open-front 14L boxes are ideal for storing shoes:

In all, we've probably got 100 of the boxes in various sizes stashed around the boat, and we keep ordering more. We buy them from Office Depot, which carries a limited selection, and online at http://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/.

Our Alaska trip was simply amazing. The glaciers and mountain scenery were incredible—we spent over a week in Glacier Bay National Park and several days in Tracy and Endicott Arms (trip map). We also cruised the complex outer coasts of Chichagof, Baranof and Prince of Wales Island, but barely scratched the surface there. The outer coast wildlife was particularly impressive—we saw hundreds of sea otters, pods of humpback whales, and coves so thick with salmon that you could walk across the surface on the protruding fins.

We ran 24x7 directly from Seattle along the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands, and reached the Glacier Bay area in 5 days. The total distance to our first anchorage was about 875 nautical miles. As is often the case for us, the worse conditions we hit were close to home. We left Seattle in the early evening and near midnight reached the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the traffic lanes converge for all vessels moving in and out of the Puget Sound, Victoria and Vancouver. There, a westerly near-gale blowing against an ebb current was producing steep and closely-packed waves. Traffic was heavy and a thick fog reduced visibility to less than a half-mile. With the wind and waves on our bow, we slogged through that overnight and into the next morning, at times slowing down to 4.5 knots to reduce boat motion. The seas settled down as we exited the strait.

The rest of the run north was mostly uneventful. We ran about 50 miles offshore all the way, and encountered little traffic beyond the south end of Vancouver Island. The wind often blew 20-25 knots from the northwest and the waves sometimes were quite large. At times we could look straight out the pilot house to the wave tips (pictured below), but they weren’t tightly packed as in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. With the active stabilizers on, the ride was reasonably comfortable, although moving about inside the boat required care. Frequent thick fog limited visibility, but this didn’t pose much of a concern either with so little traffic. Overall, Dirona handled the trip with ease. Thanks to PAE and South Coast Marine for building a strong and capable boat, and to Emerald Harbor Marine for a high-quality commissioning.

In planning the route, we originally had considered clearing Canadian Customs in Victoria, then heading up the west coast of Vancouver Island and passing east of the Queen Charlotte Islands, through Hecate Strait, to clear U.S. Customs in Ketchikan. But the more we learned about Hecate Strait, the less appealing that plan became. The waterway is relatively shallow throughout, a few hundred feet at best, with only tens of feet at the north end. Southerly winds funnel through and steep seas develop quickly. One of our favorite local weather books, the now out-of-print Marine Weather Hazards Manual, says of Hecate Strait: “Because of the speed that the winds and seas can change, it has been said that Hecate Strait is the fourth most dangerous body of water in the world.” So we decided to just run offshore the whole way and perhaps clear in Sitka rather than in Ketchikan. Clearing customs, however, takes time in having to divert our course to an appropriate reporting station, and we’d have to deal with food and alcohol restrictions. Canada Customs said they had no policy on allowing alcohol beyond a very small amount to be carried through by boat, although an officer could choose to allow it. To be on the safe side, we’d need to stick to the limits and stock up when we cleared back into the US, costing more time. We weren’t planning to stop in Canada anyway, so we decided not to clear customs, saving many hours. If we did have to stop for safety reasons, we were told we could clear over the phone via Nexus, but they might send the RCMP out to inspect us as there are no reporting stations on the west coast of Vancouver Island or the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Alaska is a trip that we’ve wanted to make for a number of years, but you really need 3 months to do it right, and 2 months at a minimum. A large chunk of that time is spent just covering the 600 miles to the Alaska border, plus another 350 to reach Glacier Bay proper. We’ve never had more than four weeks off at a time, so the trip just didn’t seem feasible. But what we have been finding with the new boat is that, rather than the slower speed restricting where we can go compared the previous boat, we actually are travelling farther.

We were able to reach the Glacier Bay area in 5 days running 24x7. Reaching the same area in the previous faster boat, a Bayliner 4087, would have taken longer. To travel longer distances in the 4087, say 400 miles from Seattle to Queen Charlotte Sound, we typically ran from dawn to dusk, or about 14 hours per day. We cruised at about 14 knots, but often would average about 12 with wind and current. At that rate, we’d need to replenish our 220-gallon diesel supply daily, costing up to two hours to divert to a fuel dock and fill, and we’d likely have to slow down to manage our fuel consumption as fuel docks aren’t very frequent north of Vancouver island. So at best we could cover about 150 miles per day. In perfect conditions, it would take about 6 days to cover the same 875-mile distance to the Glacier Bay area, plus another half day to clear customs in Ketchikan and stock up on anything we couldn’t bring through Canada. In that period, however, there’d almost certainly be a weather delay, so the total trip likely would take more than a week. And we’d be tired at the end of that run. The 4087 wasn’t particularly loud, but the interior noise and vibration from the engines is substantial, and running at 14 knots requires a fair amount of focus at the helm.

That the 52 is so much quieter and comfortable underway is one of the reasons we’ve been finding that we can cover more ground. After our 5-day, 875-mile 24x7 run, we arrived at our first anchorage in surprisingly good shape. We certainly slept well that first night, but first we had dinner on deck and a relaxing evening.

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.

Last weekend we presented our experiences in going through the design and build process for Nordhavn 5263. The slides are 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 10% over the base price and post-delivery items were 26% over the base price. (Note: We have updated these figures to use the 52 base price. When we bought the boat, the 52 pricing hadn’t yet been set so our contract pricing was based upon options on a 47 where the 52 package was just a big “option”.)

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.  

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.

We spent the final two nights of our mid-March shakedown cruise in Hammersley Inlet. Shelton and the Oakland Bay Marina are at the elbow of Hammersley Inlet, where it bends into Oakland Bay. We've anchored in the area many nights, and spent hours exploring the area by dinghy and on foot. We enjoy the industry: the timber mill off Shelton, Taylor Shellfish Farms, and a complex gravel mine conveyer and barge-loading system that moves the barge back and forth rather than the conveyor. We even enjoy seeing the trucks full of logs pass on nearby State Route 3 on their way to the mill. And at night, the sky glows in the distance from the mill lights. There's also plenty of nature to enjoy, particularly at high tide when a dinghy can reach into deep into the drying heads.

We rarely see other boats at anchor in the area. A major reason is navigating Hammersley Inlet. The waterway looks difficult on Chart 18547 (and even harder on a smaller-scale chart), but is generally wide and reasonably deep. Only a few tight spots require careful course selection. The main navigation challenge is oncoming traffic, particularly tugboats with barges. In that case, the tugboat operator selects their course, and you take what is left. We didn't encounter any tug traffic this trip, and visibility was much better than on some of our previous visits, when the fog was so thick we could hardly see the shore on either side.

We travelled to Hammersley Inlet from Stretch Island Marine Park at the north end of Case Inlet  (route details). The most direct route there is through Pickering Passage along the west side of Harstene Island. Halfway along is the Harstene Island bridge, with a clearance of 31 feet at mean high water. The tide level was 13 feet and mean high water there is 24 feet. With our estimated air draft of 30 feet (we'd not yet measured it) there should be ten feet between the bridge and the top of our the stack. We approached slowly, judged we had sufficient room, then carefully worked our way through. We had plenty of room, although the clearance seemed more like five feet than ten.

Given the clearance appeared closer than documented, we wanted a way to precisely check the close ones. So we measured our air draft with a Fluke 411D laser distance meter and got 30.5' feet from the waterline to the top of the stack. We then measured the distance from a fixed point on the bow to the waterline and got 7.1'. That means we would need 23.4' (30.5'-7.1') above the bow in order to clear a bridge.

Now when we approached a bridge, we can put just poke the bow under, and measure the distance to the bridge with the laser meter. If we have at least 23.4 feet, then we can clear.

A major spring storm was forecast to hit the Puget Sound on Friday. A 972-mb low over southern Vancouver Island would generate storm-force winds along the  Washington state coast. A gale warning was in effect for the more-protected Puget Sound, and winds there were forecast to reach 30-40 knots, with wind waves of 5-7 feet. Perfect. We'd get a chance to test the new boat in rough waters.

The storm was at its worst when we left Bell Harbor Marina Friday afternoon. Winds at nearby West Point were southerly 37 knots, gusting to 41. The main fairway out of the Bell Harbor Marina runs alongside a sloping rock wall--the lower the tide, the smaller the fairway. We left on a zero-foot low tide, with the wall to port and a boat on the end of the dock to starboard. This gave us about 30 feet of usable fairway, or only about 8 feet on either side of our 16' beam. This sounds like plenty, but with a new boat and a strong wind, it actually was tighter than it sounds . The east-west channel from the marina into Elliott Bay also is narrow, and waves were breaking across the entrance. But we had no trouble navigating the fairway or exiting the marina. The boat felt solid and stable.

Outside, large waves swept across Elliott Bay and broke high up on the bow of the 650-foot freighter Westwood Columbia as it approached Seattle from the northwest.

Conditions were rough but tolerable. We ran at 8 knots about halfway across Elliott Bay, on a southwesterly course for Yukon Harbor. This put the waves pretty much on our nose. After burying the bow a few times, we pulled off some speed to reduce the motion. We ran most of the way without the stabilizers, to see how the boat felt, and found it pretty comfortable.

According to Cliff Mass' Storm Review, the maximum gusts at West Point reached 53 knots that afternoon. Conditions probably were in the top ten for worse that we've experienced on the previous boat. We normally would have been worn-out after arriving, but the 52 handled the conditions with ease. Everything stayed put and we arrived at Yukon Harbor fairly relaxed and comfortable. One thing we've done to prepare for rough water in both boats is to have a way to secure everything, inside and out. Even with no safety risk, having things moving is distracting and disconcerting. Offshore sailors reported that loose items shifting and falling reduces a crew’s confidence in their vessel’s safety. On the 52, we've installed D-rings in the cockpit and boat deck and use ratchet straps to secure everything on deck.

Yukon Harbor is another one of our unusual anchorages. The bay is exposed to the north, but has good holding and excellent southwest protection. We overnight there a lot, particularly in the winter when prevailing winds are from the south. Safely at anchor, we fired up the barbecue and had a relaxing steak dinner.

From Eagle Island, we made a short trip to another favorite anchorage at Nisqually Flats. The anchorage is a bit unusual, but we love the mountain views in both directions. Conditions generally are calm unless the winds pick up from the north, so even on overcast days, its a good anchorage. Mount Rainier wasn't quite as visible as at Eagle Island yesterday, although still was dramatic, but the Olympics were very clear. And we were happy to hear the piper as she walked along the shore.

We spent a couple of days at Nisqually, unpacking our endless pile of boxes and testing out the various systems. The warm weather continued, and the temperature was warm enough that we could have a morning coffee break outside on the boat deck.

The boat deck on the 52 is 2 feet longer than the 47, giving us plenty of space for a table. But that extended deck, plus a deeper swim platform, made launching the dinghy from stern a challenge. The capability to launch to all three locations--port starboard and stern--was important to us though. To accommodate a stern launch, we upgraded the davit from a Steelhead SM1500R with a 12' reach to a custom Steelhead ES1100 with a 16' reach, and moved the standpipe aft 1'3". This has worked out well--we can launch the dinghy single-handed to all three positions.

We also tested out deploying the flopper stopper, which was relatively straightforward. Conditions were so calm that we couldn't gauge how well it would work though. Since the stack on the 52 has been moved aft compared to the 47, we moved the whisker pole mount aft a similar amount, so that the topping lift would connect directly above the pole on the exhaust stack.

Friday afternoon we cruised south from Bell Harbor Marina for a week-long shakedown cruise in the South (Puget) Sound. We visit there frequently--it's easily accessible from Seattle and has excellent anchorages, many with views to Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains. Relatively few boaters visit however, compared to the cruising grounds to the north, such as the San Juan Islands.  We know many people who have cruised the Pacific Northwest for years, but have never visited the South Sound.

Definitions of the South Sound vary, but we never feel officially there until we've passed under the Tacoma Narrows Bridges.

The weather was clear and at 59°F, unseasonably warm for March in the Pacific Northwest, with great mountain views. Below are the snow-covered Olympic Mountains viewed over the Fox Island bridge.

That night we stopped at Eagle Island Marine State Park, a long-time favorite of ours.  Mount Rainer was out in fully glory, with a colorul sunrise the next morning.

While underway yesterday, we received an email from Paul & Linda Dugger, saying "What a beautiful craft. Your new boat is glistening in the morning sun." They had noticed Dirona at anchor and sent some pictures taken from the deck of their house on Anderson Island. What an amazing view they must have from their deck, and we sure appreciate them sending us the pictures.

This weekend we completely filled our fuel tanks for the first time. We had called around to get pricing for taking on 1,700 gallons:

• Shilshole: $3.02
• Poulsbo: $2.88 (up from previous week of $2.75)
• Port Orchard: $2.81
• Kingston: $2.79
• Tacoma: $2.99-$0.20 (for over 1,000 gallons): $2.79 (we were told $2.66)
• Ballard Oil: $2.73
• Covich-Williams: $2.69 cash & $2.80 credit

The prices were slightly cheaper inside the locks, at Ballard Oil and Covich-Williams, but the hassle and time to go through offset that somewhat. We chose Tacoma as the prices were competitive and good anchorage was nearby in Quartermaster Harbor.

We left Seattle late in the afternoon, and arrived in Quartermaster after dark. We were heading south into steady 25-knot winds on the nose, but the boat rode so comfortably that we eventually stuck our head out the window to see if it really was blowing 25. The opening door was hard to hold against the wind. It really was blowing that hard but, in the pilot house, we had no spray or other evidence of wind other than watching the waves.  Not noticing a small craft warning is a big difference from the previous boat.

We were able to run comfortably from the pilot house along the east side of Vashon in the dark. We’ll still want to get some kind of light dimming screens for the nav monitors—even with the screen brightness turned down and the chart plotter in night mode, the screens still were pretty bright. (We have 4 Lenovo ThinkVison L1900ps.) Buoys and crab traps litter the entrance to Quartermaster Harbor, so we ran from the fly bridge to enter the anchorage. Visibility from up there was excellent.

Saturday morning we arrived early at the fuel dock and waited for them to open up. We’d drained the side tanks completely so that we could accurately gauge our capacity, and were down to only 15 gallons in the supply tank, with fuel barely showing at the bottom of the sight gauge. That's under 1% of the capacity of the boat. We’ll bet we never choose to run it that low again.

We stretched a length of tape on the sight gauge level marking card and then added 50 gallons to each tank, marking off on the tape in 50-gallon increments. We hit the top of the sight gauges at 600 to port and 650 to starboard, and continued filling until fuel just bubbled up to the top of the fill pipe. We’d fuelled for about three hours, and the port tank took 834 gallons while the starboard tank took 831 gallons. That gives us 1,665 in the side tanks. Adding the 70 gallons in the supply and the 10 gallons in the day tank, we have 1,745 gallons usable fuel.

After fueling, we returned to Quartermaster for the night. We spent some time setting up the auto pilot—tracking is improved but more work is still needed. On Sunday, we had a nice easy run back to Bell Harbor with lunch underway. We didn’t notice a major difference in handling with the full tanks other than the boat is a bit more stable and doesn’t lean out as much on turns, but we’ve not had much of a chance to play with the boat yet to compare. We’re entering the final stages of commissioning, and while there still is much work to do, the boat is coming along wonderfully. We’ll be heading out for a week-long shakedown cruise starting this weekend, and will continue to settle in and learn more.

We are now down to one boat and no storage room. Only four dock lines and two jobs tie us to Seattle.We've been living aboard Nordhavn 5263 since taking delivery on Friday February 19th, and three days ago, the new owners took delivery of our Bayliner 4087.

The past week has been a busy one. We took delivery of the 52 late Friday afternoon and brought it from Elliott Bay Marina to nearby Bell Harbor Marina. There we had a second, temporary, slip with room to raft the old boat, the 4087, against it. Our first docking there likely was among the most difficult we'll face for a while. The slip was barely big enough for the 52, with a power cruiser in front and a police boat perpendicular behind. We had to slide the 52 in sideways, then back down behind the police boat, while avoiding crushing the cruiser in front. Then we moved the 4087 over from our standard slip and rafted it beside the 52. That was enough for Friday night.

Early Saturday morning, we picked up a rental truck and emptied our storage room. We nearly filled the 10-foot cube van. Our 5'x5' storage room was packed from floor to ceiling with items from our house, and some parts and furnishings from the 4087 that we don't use. We transferred everything from the truck down to the dock beside the boats, and moved what belonged with the 4087 onto that boat. And since we had a truck, we also picked up two Ekornes recliners that had arrived recently on order from back in October. By early evening we still had a massive pile of boxes on the dock. The weather fortunately was predicted to be clear through the weekend, so we left it all on the dock for the next day.

On Sunday, we transferred everything off the 4087 and the dock onto the 52. The 52 has a more sloping brow than the 47, making for a large storage area. We filled that completely, plus almost every room inside.

We then moved the 4087 to another temporary slip, transferred the 52 to our regular slip, and moved the 4087 back to the original temporary slip, this time tied to the dock instead of the 52. We'd removed so much weight from the 4087 that the waterline had shifted up several inches.

We spent early part of last week getting the 4087 ready for transfer, and then worked on settling into the 52. On Friday, the new owners officially took possession, and left the marina on Saturday. For the first time since we’ve purchased it back in 1999, someone besides ourselves was at the helm as the boat headed out into Elliott Bay. We sold the boat to James' uncle, so we'll definitely be seeing more of it in the future.

Also last week, Pacific Asian Enterprises project manager Jeremy Henderson called to tell us the fuel capacity is 1,860 gallons, a full 190 gallons more than we had originally requested. 11% more range! We love good news like that. Thank you Jeremy.

Commissioning on the 52 is not yet complete, but we wanted to take delivery in order to finalize the 4087 sale. So the Emerald Harbor crew has been finishing the work at Bell Harbor while we dig ourselves out from the mound of boxes. As the boat emerges from the unpacking, it's looking wonderful. Even as a work in progress, we're loving being aboard. From a comfort perspective it compares well with our past houses, if a bit smaller, but this one can go anywhere in the world.

Xiamen is a popular destination with Chinese nationals, but less so with foreigners. Although we were there for three days, we didn't get a chance to see much of the city. We spent most of our time at the South Coast Marine boat yard as the final details were being completed of what would become our new boat. We had a great time, learned a lot, and really enjoyed ourselves.

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