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. 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.  

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.