April 2017: All About N60 Relish

Firstly, as promised in the last blog entry, here is the link information for the blog site that covers the larger “Nordhavn Atlantic Passage 2017”…note there are two NAP blog entries already posted as of today, the first providing an overview of the boats involved and the general schedule, the second offering insights into what sort of preparations are involved for such a journey: 

Formal Introduction to the NAP-2017

Preparing for the NAP Ocean Crossing

You will also note that in the upper right hand corner of the sidebar there are a couple of new links that point to the NAP web site and our satellite tracker (not much to see on the latter yet, but it is up & live if you want to test out access to it.)

Since Michelle and Rick are also responsible for the NAP blogs you will find some occasional overlap between those and our personal Ghost Rider blog, but we’ll try to avoid that where possible.  Once you’ve had a chance to peruse the NAP coverage at the links above, come back here and we’ll share some information about Relish, the Nordhavn trawler on which we are crewing, as well as some of the preparations with which we are assisting.

Relish, a Nordhavn 60

About Relish

Relish is a 2010 Nordhavn 60 (hull #52).  Our friend Silvio purchased her in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2016, and as you will see from some of the pictures included here she is a drop-dead gorgeous vessel.  Relish is one of the early N60 production boats, which is actually a stretched version of the now discontinued N55.  The extra five feet is at the stern of the boat, providing a much roomier cockpit and lazarette than its predecessor.

Salon & Galley

With an overall length of 63 feet, a beam of 18 feet, and displacing 120,000 pounds, she is a beefy ocean-going trawler that can hold her own in the toughest of conditions….waaay more than her occupants can withstand.  And with a 2,800 gallon fuel capacity (she has the optional long range tanks) Relish can go a very long distance without refueling….around 4000 nautical miles on average.  So in theory she could make the entire Atlantic crossing without refueling - although that isn’t the plan.

Pilot House

Relish has three staterooms and three heads, along with a comfortable salon and well-equipped galley area, plus a very spacious cockpit for outdoor seating.  Its fly bridge and pilot house boast state of the art nav/comm equipment, including redundancies appropriate for an ocean-crosser.  She is powered by a single diesel power plant, a turbocharged 340 HP Lugger L1276A, but also has a backup get-home engine, along with two diesel generators.

Preparations to Cross an Ocean

Roomy Cockpit

As you will read about in the NAP blog, getting a boat and its crew ready to cross an ocean is not a simple exercise - the amount of planning and provisioning that go into it can sometimes seem overwhelming.  But given enough time and money – and an organized approach – it can certainly be done.

Stowing Spares in the Laz

Around the time we first met Silvio on his boat (December ’16, in Nassau) we were also in the process of building provisioning worksheets for our next boat.  We offered those up for his use, and eventually, at his request, we became the equivalent of his “purchasing agent” here in the U.S., since Silvio had to return to his home in Switzerland.  At about the same time Relish was sortied back to the U.S. for various preparatory maintenance tasks at Yacht Tech’s yard in Palm Beach.  So we went to work inventorying what was (and wasn’t) present on the vessel, and started to fill in the gaps.

Oil....Lots of It

Rick handled basic boat supplies, fishing gear, tools, lubricants and the like, while Michelle focused on crew quarters & the galley – both equipment and food.  The latter also involved developing meal menus for the entire month-long journey, which had to take into account the crew’s likes, dislikes and allergies.  We’ve since loaded much of these provisions aboard Relish – had to, Rick’s office wouldn’t hold any more stuff, nor would our vehicle – although at this point only non-perishable foodstuffs have been a part of that.  The perishables will wait until just before the departure date for the crossing.

More Oil

Getting Relish Back to Nassau

In addition to all the preparatory activities, we are also planning to sortie Relish from Palm Beach back to Nassau (New Providence in the Bahamas) soon – likely some time the week of 24-April.  

Relish Getting New Bottom
Paint at Yacht Tech

We’ll use that opportunity as a mini sea trial, with an approximate 26-hour and 200 nautical mile non-stop sortie to Nassau’s Yacht Haven marina.  James Knight, owner of Yacht Tech, will captain the ship, and we’ll wring out all the systems.  (If something should go awry James is the guy you definitely want on board with you.)

By the time we reach Nassau we should have a fairly good idea if Relish is ready to make the long trek across the big pond.  That will also give us a chance to perform another test on our Garmin/Delorme inReach tracker.  After that we’ll publish another blog with instructions on how to access and use that tracking site.  So stay tuned.