Envoy is currently in Lefkas marina, Greece. We’re home in New Zealand but heading to Lefkas next month.
PassageMaker, published in the US, is the undisputed leading magazine dealing with passagemakers – that is boats from about 40 to 70 feet in length able to undertake extended voyages with minimal crews across open seas in most weather conditions (although like all small power or sailing vessels avoiding hurricane and cyclone seasons).
Passagemakers are a growing market with over 500 Nordhavns sold along with similar brands such as Kady Krogen, Selene, Fleming and Ocean Alexander as well as other brands and custom-built vessels.
While some passagemakers have done some very impressive blue water cruising (for example Nordhavn 46, Kanaloa, has recently commenced her fourth circumnavigation), I believe it’s true to say the great majority of passagemakers are purchased because owners like the traditional style and economy of a “small ship” rather than they intend to do much offshore cruising. We fall into this category ourselves and have only done coastal cruising aboard Envoy with our greatest distance from land having been about 60 miles.
PassageMaker has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and this reminded me how this magazine was the first source of information we turned to when we decided to buy a passagemaker, eventually leading us to purchase our Nordhavn 46.
So what sources of information are available to those interested in adopting the cruising lifestyle?
Information requirements generally fall into two categories – technical and destinations - including formalities needed, and here are the sources we have used and still use to meet these requirements:
- Our on board Nordhavn 46 technical Manual, constantly updated
- Our on board equipment instruction Manuals
- Manufacturers of the equipment in question
- Technical books such as Nigel Calder’s Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual
- Articles we have copied from boating magazines
- Discussions with other cruisers
- Selected cruisers’ blogs
- Local marine engineering companies and/or agents for equipment
- Internet searches and youtube
- The Nordhavn factory
- The Nordhavn Owners website
- Previous owners of our vessel
- Technical questions at passagemaker.com
- Charts and cruising guides
- Tourist guides such as Lonely Planet
- Google Earth
- Navionics on our iPad
- www.noonsite.com a website offering cruisers a wealth of information
Passagemaker’s special 20th anniversary edition mentioned some amusing reflections on maintenance:
- No boat project can be accomplished without creating new projects and the more complicated the first project the more new projects it will spawn
- You will never have all the parts, supplies, fasteners etc required to complete a project no matter how well you plan, and the final item needed won’t be identified until after the stores have all closed
- All projects except the tiniest will result in the entire boat being torn up
- The more deeply you are involved in a project the more people will stop by the boat for a chat
- Any dropped object will end up in the most inaccessible place possible, including Davy Jones locker
Next week I’m attending a technical training course run by well-known guru Steve D’Antonio so our next post will be about that.
PassageMaker, published in the US, is the undisputed leading magazine dealing with passagemakers – that is boats from about 40 to 70 feet in length able to undertake extended voyages with minimal crews across open seas in most weather conditions (although like all small power or sailing vessels avoiding hurricane and cyclone seasons).
Passagemakers are a growing market with over 500 Nordhavns sold along with similar brands such as Kady Krogen, Selene, Fleming and Ocean Alexander as well as other brands and custom-built vessels.
While some passagemakers have done some very impressive blue water cruising (for example Nordhavn 46, Kanaloa, has recently commenced her fourth circumnavigation), I believe it’s true to say the great majority of passagemakers are purchased because owners like the traditional style and economy of a “small ship” rather than they intend to do much offshore cruising. We fall into this category ourselves and have only done coastal cruising aboard Envoy with our greatest distance from land having been about 60 miles.
PassageMaker has recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and this reminded me how this magazine was the first source of information we turned to when we decided to buy a passagemaker, eventually leading us to purchase our Nordhavn 46.
So what sources of information are available to those interested in adopting the cruising lifestyle?
Information requirements generally fall into two categories – technical and destinations - including formalities needed, and here are the sources we have used and still use to meet these requirements:
- Our on board Nordhavn 46 technical Manual, constantly updated
- Our on board equipment instruction Manuals
- Manufacturers of the equipment in question
- Technical books such as Nigel Calder’s Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual
- Articles we have copied from boating magazines
- Discussions with other cruisers
- Selected cruisers’ blogs
- Local marine engineering companies and/or agents for equipment
- Internet searches and youtube
- The Nordhavn factory
- The Nordhavn Owners website
- Previous owners of our vessel
- Technical questions at passagemaker.com
- Charts and cruising guides
- Tourist guides such as Lonely Planet
- Google Earth
- Navionics on our iPad
- www.noonsite.com a website offering cruisers a wealth of information
Passagemaker’s special 20th anniversary edition mentioned some amusing reflections on maintenance:
- No boat project can be accomplished without creating new projects and the more complicated the first project the more new projects it will spawn
- You will never have all the parts, supplies, fasteners etc required to complete a project no matter how well you plan, and the final item needed won’t be identified until after the stores have all closed
- All projects except the tiniest will result in the entire boat being torn up
- The more deeply you are involved in a project the more people will stop by the boat for a chat
- Any dropped object will end up in the most inaccessible place possible, including Davy Jones locker
Next week I’m attending a technical training course run by well-known guru Steve D’Antonio so our next post will be about that.
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