Daybreak

The Nordhavn 68 Daybreak at anchor in British Columbia.
The Nordhavn 68 Daybreak at anchor in British Columbia.
The Nordhavn 68 Daybreak at anchor in British Columbia.

A power voyaging boat with impressive passage-making “legs,” the Nordhavn 68, Daybreak, launched in 2021 and owned by Karen and Jerome Fisher, can easily voyage to far destinations. Daybreak is the Fisher’s second Nordhavn, the first was a Nordhavn 60 — also named Daybreak. The name is based on the first commercial fishing boat on which Jerome worked and the Fishers have re-used that name on multiple vessels. Aboard their Nordhavn 60 the couple voyaged south to Baja and north to Alaska and as far afield as New Zealand. According to Jerome, this bluewater capability was one of the reasons they purchased their Nordhavn 60. “We picked Nordhavn because of the quality of their boats and we wanted a boat capable of crossing the oceans,” Jerome Fisher wrote in an email. 

Daybreak’s pilothouse.
Daybreak’s pilothouse.

And when it came time to step up in boat size, they went with Nordhavn again, choosing the N68 forward wheelhouse design. “It is our long-term plan to take our N68 down through the Panama Canal and across the North Atlantic,” Jerome wrote. We decided to get a bigger boat to facilitate our two daughters, their spouses and grandchildren. The layout of our boat allows us to sleep 10 people.”

Like many of Nordhavn’s larger models, Daybreak has a customized layout to fit the needs of the Fishers. “There are no two N68 boats that are the same,” Jerome wrote. “They are all highly customized.  Our attachment 1 of the contract (where our changes are outlined from the standard spec.) and our change orders are 18 pages long.” 

Jerome is an avid fisherman, and the couple spend considerable time in Alaska for the excellent angling opportunities. To support this pursuit the Fishers have added custom gear like a 600-pound per day icemaker and four freezers. The fishing gear aboard ranges from fly fishing rods, salmon, halibut, and blue water rods, as well as four Scotty downriggers for salmon fishing. In addition to fishing from Daybreak’s deck, the vessel is equipped with an 18-foot Pioneer tender that Jerome uses as his fishing vessel. The tender has Yamaha 115 horsepower and 9.9 horsepower outboards. The latter is equipped with an autopilot, a Furuno radar and chartplotter. Daybreak also has a 10-foot AB RIB, and a Steelhead crane for launching the tenders. 

With its large crew capacity, Daybreak relies on more than just its built-in tankage for fresh water. “Daybreak holds 540 gallons, which is not sufficient for our voyages,” Jerome wrote. “We have two 900 gpd Bluewater watermakers with a separate media filter for each. They can be run concurrently, which we often do.”

The engine room handles a variety of heavy-duty gear with room to spare.
The engine room handles a variety of heavy-duty gear with room to spare.

The boat is equipped with a 425-hp John Deere 6135 diesel and a 105-hp Deere get home engine with a power take off used to pressurize the hydraulics for its ABT stabilizers. When underway the Fishers take a classic displacement power voyager approach. They run Daybreak at slightly lower RPMs than Nordhavn’s recommended cruise RPM. “We run at 1,280 RPM, burning six gallons an hour at eight knots,” Jerome wrote. Given Daybreak’s fuel tankage of 3,100 gallons, the boat has a range of more than 4,000 miles. 

The Fishers have owned and operated Daybreak since March 2021 and are pleased with their latest Nordhavn and with the help of Nordhavn Yachts Northwest sales manager, Don Kohlmann. “We are extremely happy with all aspects of the boat. That said, we would not want to go through the build process without the guidance of Don Kohlmann.”