The Journey Begins...

The Journey Begins… 

There’s adventure out there!  Thirty-five years ago, we moved onto our first live-aboard boat, Tranquility Base.  It was a 1982 CHB trawler.  Thirty-four feet of white fiberglass and teak, we ordered it new from Taiwan.  It arrived in Seattle perched on top of a large container ship.  Equipped with a compass, radio, and depth sounder, we lived aboard and absolutely loved it.  For two years we explored Puget Sound from the San Juan’s to Vashon Island.  When it sold in 1984, we promised ourselves a return to a live-aboard boat.  We never thought it would take soooo long!

Boats of all sizes and shapes continued to be part of our lives.  A 32 foot Bayliner, 45 foot Beneteau Oceanis, chartered boat trips, numerous ski boats, small sailboats, canoes and kayaks kept us connected to the water, but never filled the void left by the absence of the live-aboard experience.

Six houses, three boats, and one son later, we are in the final steps to move aboard and pick up where we left off in 1984.  After keeping the dream alive for 30+ years, and making a five-year transition, we sold two houses, five cars, and retired.  Our son moved to Japan in 2016, and in April 2017 we purchased our dream boat, a 2008 Nordhavn 55.  It was moored in Old Port Cove, North Palm Beach, Florida…  Not the place we thought we would begin our adventure, but we decided to go-for-it.  “Plan B”.

North Palm Beach, Florida.  How did we end up there?  You have to understand Bellingham.  Everyone knows someone who knows someone else…  Karl’s friend, Chet introduced us to Dennis Fox, fellow “Bellinghamster” who was in Florida picking up his next Nordhavn “Sea Fox”.  A spectacular 76’ Nordhavn.  Karl and Dennis talk long distance about our search for our “dream boat”… a 55' Nordhavn.  The next thing we know, a phone call from Paul Pelletier and James Knight at Yacht Tech, and in two days we are on a flight to Florida.

A three-day Spring Break trip to look at a boat stretches into 10 days, sea trials, haul-out survey, an offer, and BINGO… we are on our way to owning N5536!  James Knight and his team at Yacht Tech were amazing!  They put together the deal in less than a week and following the purchase, helped Karl prep the boat for the trip north in three days.  If James is the “King’ of Nordhavns, we officially dubbed Dennis Fox “The Godfather” of Nordhavns.  He and his buddy, Gale Plummer (Nordhavn 57' "Worknot") were unbelievable in their help and support through the sea trial and survey process.

Nordhavns are long range trawlers designed to carry their owners many miles of coastal or blue water cruising.  Known for their longevity and durability, they retain their individual identity through use of their hull numbers.  Our boat is N5536 and her new name is Bravo.  Immediately following the purchase in April 2017, Karl and two brave friends, Mark Jeseritz and Rick Notley, flew East to help Karl reposition the boat to Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB) in Chesapeake, Virginia.  Details on the first offshore trip to follow in a future blog entry.

Right now, before the boating adventure can begin, we have one more interim step, a 3,000-mile cross- country drive with remaining personal belongings squeezed into a rented Dodge Grand Caravan mini-van.  The road trip from Bellingham, Washington to Virginia should take about 5 days.  Once we are in Chesapeake/AYB, Bravo will be hauled out for routine maintenance and then we can officially move aboard.  If all goes well, summer cruising plans are north to Maine…  hang out...  eat lots of lobster…  then turn around and slowly work our way south to Florida and the Bahamas for the winter.  After that, who knows??