T&T: Questions regarding boat decisions

[Scott E. Bulger]

A few people asked me why I was selling my Nordhavn, and if it was a
"problem" with the 40, or Nordhavn boats in general.  I thought my
reflection on the topic might be helpful.  Questions and answers below:

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx 
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:06 PM
To: Scott E. Bulger
Subject: Alaneui for sale on BST

Hi Scott,  I saw you listing your N40 for sale on BST.

I am surprised because I know how much effort you made preparing for 
cruising  first in  the Camano, then fixing  Alanui  to best suit your 
needs. 

Would you be willing to share your thoughts and reasoning.
My reason for asking is  I have seen a lot of people  getting, then 
reselling  their N40s.  Is it a question of  the N40  being  a design  not
entirely suited to the 
expected use,or  just Nordhavn in general. 



------Answer below-----

When my wife and I decided to take an extended cruise we did an assessment
of what we wanted to accomplish.  I wanted enjoy a significant pause in my
work career and to cruise a significant distance so I could accumulate
enough experience that I'd be credible as someone with "some boating
experience".  Owning a 30' pocket trawler and cruising in the Pacific
Northwest didn't qualify me to have an opinion I'd expect anyone to value
(or even consider for that matter).  My motivation for wanting this
experience was a notion that perhaps I'd develop a product or service in the
boating industry.  Anyway, as we formulated our other goals some things
became very clear:

a.  I'd spend whatever was necessary to insure we had the best equipment and
tools to insure our safety.  I'd also do everything I could think of to get
the training and knowledge I would need either before the trip or before the
skills were really needed.  
b.  I'd buy the best boat I could, and as new as I could in the hope it
would provide 2 to 4 years of reliable service, with minimal maintenance
needs.  
c.  We wanted to cross an ocean at first, but my skills assessment left me
feeling unprepared for that scale of an adventure.  Also, the thought of 21
days to get to HI and then another few weeks to get further south really
didn't sound like fun.  I wanted the Admiral to enjoy the trip as well, so
we changed our plans to be a West to East Coast voyage, through the Panama
Canal.
d.  We knew we didn't want to do this for more than 2 or three years as our
kids will make us grandparents at some point and we want to be there to
support them as our parents helped us out.

So, we ended up looking at a New Nordhavn 43 a 40 and a Krogen 44.  At $800k
for a new 43, close to a million for a Krogen 44 and only $500k for a used
Nordhavn 40, the used N40 seemed like the right choice.  If money were no
object I'd have bought the Krogen 44.  Even though people told me the
Nordhavn was a superior boat, I didn't then, nor do I now believe they are
so much better that you HAVE to buy one.  The biggest difference as far as I
can tell is you can get the Nordhavn pretty much decked out for quite a bit
less than  you have to spend on a Krogen to bring up to the same level.
However, there are cheap parts on a Nordhavn that leave me wondering exactly
where all that Quality really is?  An example is repeated reports from
owners of faulty castings attached to through hulls.  I have a very slight
saltwater leak on my boat and believe it's from one of these castings.  Also
when I had my boat serviced in FL the tech found two elbows that were
leaking saltwater and needed replacement.

Anyway, enough Nordhavn bashing, I'm likely to get a nastygram from someone
if I continue.  

So I paid just over 500k for the used 40 then put about $60k into upgrades
and service.  I know I won't get a lot of that back, but I justify it in the
realm of safety.  For example I spent close to $20k on a Nauticomp display
and FLIR camera on the promise I'd be able to see crab pots, logs, in fog
and essentially make me superman at night.  Well, the truth is far from the
demo.  While they look fantastic on the show room floor, the FLIR camera is
USELESS in Fog, or rain or even heavy mist.  However, the night we crept
into a tight anchorage on the way to the Panama Canal on a moonless,
overcast night at 2:00am I'd have paid twice that for the camera, it worked
PERFECTLY and gave me the confidence to anchor in the small, dark cove.  The
redundant Auto Pilot has enabled me to navigate the ICW from the pilot house
bunk seat, very important since the 40 doesn't have room for a dedicated
helm chair, and it added redundancy at the same time!   The PC based
chartplotter gave me a doublecheck of our position, and enable me to do
route calculations and planning while leaving the Furuno RADAR going full
time.  Having redundant radios let me monitor both 16 and the traffic
channels like 12 and 13, keeping tabs on traffic but not missing other CG
warnings or communications.  I could go on and on about all the equipment
and decisions, but in the end I'll bring the discussion back to the original
point.

Why would I put all this money into a boat and now offer it for sale after
only a few years?  Well it's simple, when we are done with this trip Alanui
will no longer be the perfect boat for me anymore.   Alanui (and most
Nordhavns) don't deserve to be floating condos.  They need to be on the
move, giving their owners the adventures of a lifetime.  Considering the
investment, it's something that should be used every day, not once or twice
a month or worse yet, a year!  It's also a boat that is limited to 7 knots.
If I'm going to return to the work world I need a 12 to 14 knot boat in
order to cruise in the Pacific NW.  I use to take my Camano to Poulsbo or
Port Townsend for a weekend.  Doing that in a Nordhavn is challenging just
given its speed.  Granted it will keep moving when other boats are stuck in
the harbor, but it won't fit the use profile I need when we return.  And
it's MORE boat than I will need.  My wife and I live on this boat now, so an
investment of 500K is manageable.  When we return to shore life and build a
house I don't want $500k tied up in a boat.  I don't mind having $200 or
$300k in a boat, but NOT $500k.

So, in the end it's simple.  The 40' Nordhavn was THE perfect choice for us
for this adventure.  I wouldn't change a thing regarding this trip.  I'd
still buy the nauticomp and Flir, but probably try to get a better price, no
wait, now that I think about it I'd buy a lower cost low lux camera.  I saw
one on Ken Williams boat and it was superior in picture and capability, so
that's the route I'd go.  Anyway I hope I answered the question, and I hope
people don't see this as a ploy to discuss my boat being for sale on the T&T
list.  I thought that the topic of boat selection and expense would be
relevant to current and prospective trawler owners.  Perhaps it's better
discussed as buying new versus used or something like that, but this is how
the topic shook out so far.  I hope my ramblings make sense,

Scott Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA
www.alanui.talkspot.com