Tell me about the Nordic Tug 54

At the very least, the boat needs to be up to a Caribbean run. I want to be able to go just about anywhere with reasonable planning, but most of the year the boat would stay in one place.

So it sounds like displacement is the way to go. The Nordhavn 47 is a "modified" displacement hull but from what I understand, it is capable of circumnavigation. Now I don't plan to do anything as extreme as a circumnav but if I get the urge to cross the Atlantic, I want to know that my boat is up to it. That's one of the main things that I'm trying to get a firm understanding of right now.

 

That is why there are yacht shipping companies:

 

Meaning "Don't even try it"?

If all I can (or should) do is hop to the Caribbean, I suppose I will live with that. Anything beyond the scale I'm looking at is outside my range of affordability, unless something changes.

 

Not necessarily, but in my humble opinion to cross the Atlantic in any 47ft power boat without a really good reason is just an unnecessary risk. Especially when there are excellent options like Dockwise and Yacht Transport available. There are also group crossings.

You have professed inexperience. Good seamanship is difficult to learn from a book or the web, and a safe ocean crossing in a small powerboat is something to consider carefully.

This discussion has been had before. A vessel the owner wants to have the capability for ocean crossings, which then has to tote around all that capability by only coastal cruising. Very inefficient, unnecessarily costly, and more complex than necessary. The kind of safety and redundancy you need for an ocean crossing just isn't necessary for piloting.

If you are on the East Coast of the US you could just about cruise to Trinidad at the bottom of the Caribbean and never spend more than 1 night out of the sight of land passage making.

Steve

 

The other thing these transport companies offer is full workfare capabilities. So you float on head to Europe, and during the two week crossing get a bottom job, electrical work done, fix the plumbing, ect...

And it is significantly less expensive to take a transport than go on your own hull, even for the boats that can do make the crossing.

 

Ditto for what Stumble and Keys say.

I'm quite sure that almost all of those who join the Nordhavn crossings would never do so on their own.
A friend in Florida's friend,he wanted to join the group but after an inspection (he thought his boat was quite well maintained- he goes all over the Caribbean) they told him he'd need to do work..to the tune of $25k in order to go along.

Prepping/owning a trawler for an ocean crossing,may be several times the cost of a good semi d boat. Invest the difference wisely,and the gains will likely pay all expenses.

I boat in arguably the most treacherous coastal waters in the world,for 30 years since a small kid and I wouldn't think of crossing an ocean on my own.
Inlets with 18 knot tides with almost no slack,12 knot currents,heavy fogs,thousands of uncharted drying rocks,grizzlies,cougars,logs floating under the surface-bring it on.

Crossing an ocean-forget it.

 

I really do not see what's all the fuzz about crossing an ocean, once you get in the doldrums it is flat as a mirror all the way. I have done plenty ocean crossings, sailing and motor, just did Finland - South Africa flat water all the way! The advantage of a motor boat is that you can go from A to B in a straight line and with today's weather forecast it is just a matter of being patient, it's not that you will sail in the roaring 40's. Idlewild went all around the world in a 50ft motor boat with a 50 hp Nanni diesel without any major problem. You got to keep it simple which is one of the inconvenience of the Nordhavn types with their hydraulic stabilizers, watermakers, aircon, generators they get all in panic when their cappuccino machine gets out of order. A passagemaker should only have two concerns proper fuel and constant cooling water. Sailing yachts on the other hand have a lot of items that can go wrong, roller furler, blocks, winches, boom, sails...and an engine.
Just cross that water it is less frightening than you think.
www.passagemaker.co.za

 

I sailed from Australia to Vancouver,and we got beat up quite a lot...and I mean a lot.We also hit something big (whale,container,log,??) in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere and ended up with water in the bilge.

When I was a kid,my uncle and his girl took off on a sailboat for a world trip-they were never heard from again,no wreckage was ever found.

So-for me- crossing an ocean is best done in business class,reclined/feet up,sipping some wobbly pops and having a nice nap.

 

I like ocean crossings, I just think if you are going to do one you should get a boat that is at least reasonably fuel efficient.

Our old Irwin 54' sailboat got roughly 8miles/gallon. So with the 500gallon tank we had plenty of range to cross the Atlantic. But boats trying to make the crossing at 15+kn had better have an unlimited fuel budget, be very long, or be sailing.

RabigAngel,

It is hard to make recomendations without knowing your budget, but for my idea of a truly capable and efficient powerboat take a look at Dashew's FPB 64.

 

Lovely stunning boat if your name is Rockefeller unfortunately above most people's budget.

 

Sorry mistake it is Voyaging under power, http://www.amazon.com/Voyaging-Under-Power-Robert-Beebe/dp/0071580190 reviewed by James Leishman of Nordhavn (so not 100% objective.)

 

Taniwha,

The two boats the OP suggested range from 1.3-800,000 USD used. The FBP new is around 2.5 million.

The Nordic Tug new is about 1.5 million plus outfitting costs, the FPB comes with all outfitting costs included in the price.

Is it more? Sure, but within a similar price range, and with much more capability.

 

My Passagemakerlite 48ft with two engines comes to 300 000 US dollars so yes I guess it is a totally different league. Not sure why people would pay 2,5 million but I also do not drive a Ferrari.

www.passagemaker.co.za

 

I don't know much about the Passagemaker Light, but it looks like Tad Roberts had a similar idea, of a long lean, easily driven hull. Powered by relatively small engines with significant range.

From what I did read some of the differences seem to be that the Dashew is aluminium vs steel construction, quality of the finish ?, true 180 degree self righting, waterproof above deck, hull scantlings designed for ice (actually 4 times lloyds rules), and the FPB has a much longer range than the Passagemaker.

Both good boats, but I am not sure from the little I read that the PM Light is really an ocean crossing type of boat (at least not from the south pacific to Alaska on one tank of fuel) in the same way the FPB is.

Edit.

I found a short comparison between the FPB 64 and the PML 74 written by Tad at http://passagemakerlite.com/designs/passagemakerlite-74 that indicates the cost to build would be roughly the same. He also discusses some of the differences in design philosophy.

 

Passagemaker Lite is my trade name for a broad design series of lightweight ocean going motoryachts. See http://passagemakerlite.com My work on the concept started in about 2001, years before Steve Dashew jumped on the bandwagon.

Peter's (Taniwha) boat in South Africa is the first of these to be built and launched.

Over the 11 years the concept has been around there have many variations created in sizes from 39' to 120'. They have also been designed in plywood, sheathed strip-plank (Peter's boat), foam core fiberglass, aluminum, and steel(though the last departs from the concept a bit). Currently I am developing a 62' sail assist version for aluminum construction in Dalian China.

Let's look at boat cost comparisons on a per pound basis. Currently in the eastern US a top custom builder (composite) will charge something close to $55-60.00 per pound of finished (empty, light ship) boat. Typical Asian built production cruising boats run approximately $17.00 to $25.00 per pound.

At an lightship of 53,000 pounds and $2.5m the Dashew comes in at $47.00 per pound, good value some would say.

The PL 48 at a lightship of 24,200 (bare bones) pounds and $300k is $12.40 per pound. Very good value some would say.

The Nordic 54 hull #9 seems to be for sale as a old-stock new boat, at $997,500. Her published displacement is 68,000 pounds, I do not know the load condition. That gives a per pound price of $14.67, which is rather amazing.