Power Voyaging - Ocean Navigator

Longer-Range Cat

The DEMEY 60 can cover more than 2,200 nautical miles at 9 knots without refueling. Sailors or couples looking to make the transition from a sailboat to a powerboat typically look at a trawler-style displacement boat, but a new catamaran from New Zealand gives them another option. The DEMEY 60 from Nic de Mey Yachts is powered by twin 550-hp lightweight Cummins diesels and has an estimated range of 2,238 nautical miles at 9.3 knots. That breaks down to 9.77 gallons per hour and 1.06 gallons per nautical mile. “That’s exactly what it’s targeted at with not only range but…

Prepping for Panama

What goes into planning a 5,200 mile voyage I’ve had a love of the sea for as long as I can remember. I did not have a boat growing up, but I had enough friends and extended family with boats that I spent time on the water every year as a kid, even if it was just a rowboat. I joined the Navy through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship program and made my first ocean crossing from Pearl Harbor to San Diego as a midshipman. The ocean cast a spell on me. I spent almost 3 years after…

Low Emission Power for 2025

In addition to increasing range, long-distance sailors and motoryacht owners always look for ways to reduce their impact on the environment. One immediate way to cut back on emissions could be simply switching fuel. One new fuel is called Hydro Treated Vegetable Oil and it’s made from refined waste cooking oils, animal fats and grease. “It’s probably the most significant drop-in diesel fuel today,” said Jeff Wasil, director of environment, health, safety and compliance at the National Marine Manufacturers Association. HVO, as it’s called, is a renewable diesel that meets ASTM D975 specifications and Wasil said it reduces greenhouse gas…

The Trent-Severn’s Highest Point and North America’s Only Marine Railway

In the September/October issue of Ocean Navigator we described our route from the Erie Canal. For this leg, we continue our 2024 cruise departing scenic Bobcaygeon, lock 32 en route to Fenelon Falls, lock 34, nearly halfway through the beautiful 240-mile (386 km) long Trent-Severn Waterway. More details on the Trent-Severn Waterway are at https://parks.canada.ca with much better photos than we can provide. For those who want to lay anchor or who arrive too late to get into the lock, there are many anchorages along the waterway clearly marked on the charts. Lots of boaters spend several weeks in this…

Bessie: Our perfect loop boat

Agreed: there is no “perfect loop boat.” However, we purchased our 2004 Nordic Tug 32 in 2020 intending to cruise the Great American Loop. We wanted a comfortable, easily maintained (no external wood), economical vessel. This one ticked all our boxes and four years and more than 8,000 miles later, it continues to please us. The previous owners had maintained it in excellent condition, and all we did before departing Connecticut to Florida was change the oil and filters and install a larger anchor. We also renamed her after Jane’s great-grandmother. Routine maintenance and various additions since our purchase make…

Cruising on Bessie: Brewerton, N.Y. to Trent-Severn Waterway, Ontario

In late May, we returned to ESS-KAY Yards on the Erie canal where we had stored Bessie, our 2004 Nordic Tug 32 for the winter. A week on the hard was ample time to have the anti-fouling paint renewed, some fiberglass dings and scratches repaired and a good start on having Bessie detailed, which she sorely needed. Detailing usually includes only the hull above the waterline, but we chose to have the entire vessel detailed. Jason Ash, a thorough master detailer, insisted I remove the four solar panels on the pilot house roof so he could detail that normally out-of-sight…

Cruising Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa

Much has been written about boating on the St. Lawrence River—mostly mis-informed or outdated information, as we soon learned. In summer of 2023, we cruised the St. Lawrence River between Quebec City and Montreal and the Ottawa River to Ottawa, and we are pleased to report the entire trip was a delight. We completed the American Great Loop in a clockwise direction and crossed our wake at the Statue of Liberty in late June 2023 aboard our Nordic Tug 32, Bessie. With a comfortable and economic cruising speed of 8 mph, the Nordic Tug can also attain 16 or 17…

Comfortable Cruising on a Nordhavn 68

Many of us who cross oceans on rough-going sailboats often wonder what it would be like to undertake voyages in comfort and style while maintaining a good turn of speed over the water at the same time. After all, crossing oceans doesn’t have to be painful or complicated. Hence the choice of a larger, faster, more comfortable motor yacht. If you are ready to invest in a vessel that provides for all your passage-making requirements while keeping you comfortable while on the high seas, consider the Nordhavn 68, by Nordhavn, a builder of high-end luxury motor yachts in Dana Point,…

Re-galvanizing chain

t is the economics of re-galvanizing chain that makes it an attractive alternative to purchasing new chain, as it can cost half as much or less than replacing it with a new length of galvanized links. This is why it is our preferred method for dealing with anchor chain that has reached the point of starting to rust. Galvanizing performs one function and that is preventing the steel links from rusting. Evidence of rust can range from being so slight that only a surface patina is evident, to the opposite extreme where severe rusting and pitting is present. However, re-galvanizing…

Cruising power

While there has never been a perfect boat, a few have come pretty close, and the Nordhavn 57 is one such vessel. With 40 hulls delivered, the 57 was retired and production was halted in 2006. During the summer of 2004, I had the opportunity to put the 35th 57 through her paces. Named Atlantic Escort, we led an 18-yacht fleet consisting of 15 Nordhavns and three other capable trawlers across the Atlantic Ocean from Ft. Lauderdale via Bermuda, the Azores and into Gibraltar. The fleet was composed of Nordhavns as small as the N40 Uno Mas to Crosser, a…