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Category Archives: Nordhavn

Goodbye Sea Eagle

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle, Ewing Island

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle off Ewing Island background.

I’m sad to report that Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle has been sold. Life changes (an unpleasant divorce and an unscrupulous attorney) forced me to sell her.

The new owners are from Alaska and I wish them well with their new N47.

If you are wondering where in the world Sea Eagle is, you can always check up on her through the AIS transmitter at Marine Traffic.

Good Luck

Friday Harbor on the 4th of July

Pacific High (N47) and Paradise Found (N60) at Friday Harbor.

Pacific High (N47) and Paradise Found (N60) at Friday Harbor.

For the Fourth of July (independence day), we cruised up to Friday Harbor to enjoy the fireworks and the live music at the Marina. Provisioning at King’s Market is always a joy. The music was awesome and the fireworks were spectacular. We could also see the fireworks over at Fisherman’s Bay and they waited until Friday Harbor finished before starting their display. So it was a two-for!

On Sunday a pair of Nordhavns showed up on the breakwater. Pacific High (another Nordhavn 47, without the flybridge, owned by Marc Vanderbilt ) and Paradise Found ( a new Nordhavn 60). Both boats were beautiful.

Stoopid Owner Tricks

Barnacle encrusted Gori propeller on the Wing Engine.

Barnacle encrusted Gori propeller on the Wing Engine.

We all make mistakes from time to time and my Stupid Owner Trick this year was not using my Wing Engine enough. DOH!!

After reading the James Knight interview on Pendana’s blog, his answer to the question, “if there was one thing Nordhavn owners should check religiously and don’t what would that be?”, really hit home. Yep, it’s the Wing Engine, specifically, exercising the Gori folding prop. I put my dive gear on to check mine, and sure enough, it was a mass of barnacles and muscles, so fully encrusted that it was stuck in the open position. Damn It Scott! Thirty minutes of chipping away at the growth underwater didn’t rectify the situation, so it was time to pull the boat.

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle, on the hard at Swantown Boatworks.

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle, on the hard at Swantown Boatworks.

Swantown Boatworks was pretty busy, but they squeezed me in (literally) right in front of their office. Once the boat was up in the slings, I was impressed to see that my underwater work had allowed the folding prop to fold-up, but it still wasn’t really functional. Compare that to the main propeller (see photo above), which had been coated with Barnacle Buster last year. I had mistakenly left the Gori prop bare and you can see that the marine growth LOVED it!

They pressure washed the hull and running gear for me, then set the boat on the hard about one foot from the front door of their office. It was rather funny to watch the yard workers ducking under the swim step in order to get to the restrooms.

All cleaned up and ready to launch.

All cleaned up and ready to launch.

I spent the next few days chipping, grinding, sanding and eventually painting the Gori Folding propeller with outdrive paint. It was a bit of a miserable job, with air temperatures around 40° F and rain squalls every hour or so. Once the prop was good to go, I lubed up the mechanism and then went to work cleaning the keel coolers, replacing zincs and touching up a few spots of bottom paint that were bare.

Prior to putting Sea Eagle back in the water, I pulled and replaced the 7/16″ packing on the main shaft and inspected the shaft/bearings/etc., finding it all to be in excellent condition.

Launching Sea Eagle back into the water.

Launching Sea Eagle back into the water.

For those that didn’t see James Knight’s interview, here was his advice on what Nordhavn owners should check relegiously: “I would say that placing their wing engine into and out of gear while its running is something most are guilty of not doing. When we pull boats from the water we often see that the wing engine propeller is jammed i.e. the propeller doesn’t fold / unfold correctly.” Busted!

Clean and functional Gori Prop, like it should be.

Clean and functional Gori Prop, like it should be.

Meanwhile on the other Coast

Four Nordhavn 47's Rafted up together.

Four Nordhavn 47’s Rafted up together.

While several of the Nordhavns in the Pacific Northwest were quite accidentally meeting in the Gulf Islands, four Nordhavn 47’s rafted up together in Maine. I’m pretty sure seeing four N47’s rafted together is a rare sight, so I thought I’d post the photos here as well. Many thanks to Milt Baker for allowing me to share his photos with you!

From Milt:

Four Nordhavn 47's Rafted up together.

Four Nordhavn 47’s Rafted up together.

It’s rare to see four Nordhavns rafted together on a mooring, and even more rare when they’re all the same model, and each of the boats is just one hull number apart from another. You just can’t plan something like that, yet it happened at promptly noon two days ago in Southwest Harbor, Maine, when the following Nordhavn 47s were cheek-by-jowl, port to starboard, on my big heavy ol’ granite block mooring:

N4715 Happy – Wytie and Sally Cable
N4716 Dragonfly – David and Susan Odell (with Havanese dog Coco)
N4732 Bluewater – Milt and Judy Baker (with Schipperke dog Katy and Havanese dog Breezy)
N4733 Imagine – Greg and Kathy Beckner

Pretty cool!

Four Nordhavn 47's Rafted up together.

Four Nordhavn 47’s Rafted up together.

Nordhavns Converge on Montague

We ran into quite a collection of Nordhavn Trawlers in Montague Harbor at Galiano Island. Montague Harbor Marine Provincial Park is located in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia and is their oldest marine park.

Nordhavn 55, Enterprise III from Hobart Australia and Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle.

Nordhavn 55, Enterprise III from Hobart Australia and Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle.


On our way in from Pender Island, we passed Cowabunga (N4025) crossing Swanson Channel and received a hearty wave as we both dodged the commercial traffic coming in from Active Pass.

As we arrived in the harbor, I spotted Enterprise III (N5503 – Hobart Australia) and picked a spot to anchor next to that beautiful 55′ Nordhavn. Not long after getting settled in, Martin Brooks paddled over to say hello and we discovered we shared some common history, having both worked extensively in Perth and Broome (Australia).

One unique feature of Martin’s N55 was a clear boat dock (no dingy chocks) with an elaborate sun shade. He uses a folding boat for a dingy and kayaks. I also spotted two large commercial airline containers on the back rail that held folding bicycles. Very intriguing setup!

Nordhavn 63, True Blue (Sausalito) and Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle.

Nordhavn 63, True Blue (Sausalito) and Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle.

The next morning, as we were hiking around the Provincial Park, John Zimmerman and sons showed up in True Blue (N6302 – Sausalito) and anchored next to Sea Eagle. We putzed over just as they finished launching their dingy and made arrangements to visit the Hummingbird Pub, en mass, that evening.

Later, I was treated to a tour of the brand new 63′ Nordhavn, and she is indeed a beauty! Lots of room and spotlessly clean! John loves the layout of the Nordhavn 63 much better than the N62 that he previously owned.

That evening, Alan and Jane Fantel, pulled into the harbor on Sedna (N4024 – Decatur Island) and anchored near what was now a cluster of Nordhavns. I motored over for a chat and invited the crew to join us at the Pub for dinner.

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle and Nordhavn 40, Sedna

Nordhavn 47, Sea Eagle and Nordhavn 40, Sedna

Lopez Pass at daybreak

Lopez Pass at Sunrise

Lopez Pass at Sunrise

After a night hunkered down on the anchor, swinging in Gale Force winds, we had a break in the weather at 4 AM, so were up and underway by 5 AM. Lopez Pass was stunning as the sun came up in the morning.

Heading across the Straits of Juan de Fuca when there are Gale Warnings is always a little dicey, but we had good luck and saw nothing bigger than 4 footers, so had a relatively easy crossing.

On the way down Admiralty Inlet, we spotted Serendipity (N86) steaming north. She’s quite an impressive ship!

Nordhavn 86, Serendipity heading north in Admiralty Inlet.

Nordhavn 86, Serendipity heading north in Admiralty Inlet.