New Boat

I like the Nord's better, but from what I've read, and the one (albeit a small sampling) I've been on, the Molokai is indeed a nice boat. They have a unique design and cosmetic look to them like none others.

I also know that Nordhavn's post sale / customer support is second to none.

What about some of the Newcastle yachts? There are a lot of new expedition yacht builders.
Choey lee is building the Marco polo series.
Calixas is building a range of expedition boats.
Nordhavn has 120' they are advertising.
Burger has a 140' that they have been talking about.
These are just ones off of the top of my head.

With the way market is I would definitely shop around.

nas

IMO, I think Calixas would be another fine choice.

Their 105 (hull 1) is pretty amazing and I believe is currently on the market. I spent some time on her a while back, and was impressed in how well thought out the engineering side of the boat was. Specifically, how well documented the boat was. It was built as though aircraft are built in that every single part is accounted for, labeled, SN'd and defined in the documentation, (online system with exploded / engineering views of just about every single part of the boat) yes, all the way down to each piece of decking and panel molding.

Per Montey at Calixas, hull #2 of their 105 went through a few refinements, and if I recall his quote when I spoke to him on it was "100% better than hull #1"

I don't know the current status on their later (larger) builds, but wouldn't he hard to find out.

There is also a pretty extensive review on her in the forums if you dig that up, it's a very informative read.

Awesome boat.

Are you buying the one that was recently on the market which had some hull damage from a delivery, or a diff. boat? (I don't remember if that was an 86 or not)

Either way, excellent choice in the Nord. Very fine boat indeed.

You cannot go wrong with a Nordhavn. They are built like a battleship and have been building world cruising yachts for a long time. You might also want to check out Northern Marine. I ran their 76' one time and was pretty impressed at how it handled 8' seas on the nose.

Nordhavn

First want to thank everyone for such a wealth of information in this site. I feel lucky to have found this resource.

I sailed mostly Hallberg Rassy and Crealock for about 2 decades out of San Francisco, as i got older found that being in weather is not as much fun as when i was 20. However some great life lessons learned, and one important sea lesson; the boat must take care of you in return.

Live in Dalian China and there is one Nordhavn here that we go out on 2-3 times a month with owner, another retired Expat from USA. They are bulletproof and it really does feel like your in a much larger ship. Am looking to buy powerboat at the end of 09, and am leaning towards Nordhavn as well.

Congratulations!

I have a friend that worked on the first 86' built and they have had great luck with it. I know the captain was there throughout the build. Your broker and Nordhavn might tell you that you do not need one, but if I were you I would start interviewing captains to go to Nordhavn to look after your interests while they are building your boat. This will also give him time to really learn the boat, so when there are problems down the road he can trouble shoot everything that much easier. Your broker should be able to recommend someone or there are a number of crew agents in the US. If you need a crew agent recommendation pm me.

nas

N76 not N86

The Nordhavn that had a run in with a freighter was a 76 footer named Inside Passage III not an 86 foot model. The vessel is listed for sale and here are the comments from Nordhavn on their site…

“In 2005, this Nordhavn 76 was involved in a collision with a freighter while off of the West Coast during her initial delivery. As a testament to her solid construction, she continued north for another 1000 miles to the Pacific Northwest, after a brief stop for inspection. The resulting damage was largely cosmetic. Repairs were completed in the Pacific Northwest by a well-respected yard, and invite close scrutiny. After the repairs, she was sold to the present owner. Before the purchase, Inside Passage III was thoroughly inspected by hull and machinery surveyors and was found to be in superb condition. With a minor list of survey recommendations completed, Inside Passage III successfully cruised over 3,000 miles from Seattle through British Columbia and Alaska, and back home to Seattle again during the summer of 2008.”

[QUOTE='roundthehorn]The Nordhavn that had a run in with a freighter was a 76 footer named Inside Passage III not an 86 foot model. The vessel is listed for sale and here are the comments from Nordhavn on their site…

“In 2005, this Nordhavn 76 was involved in a collision with a freighter while off of the West Coast during her initial delivery. As a testament to her solid construction, she continued north for another 1000 miles to the Pacific Northwest, after a brief stop for inspection. The resulting damage was largely cosmetic. Repairs were completed in the Pacific Northwest by a well-respected yard, and invite close scrutiny. After the repairs, she was sold to the present owner. Before the purchase, Inside Passage III was thoroughly inspected by hull and machinery surveyors and was found to be in superb condition. With a minor list of survey recommendations completed, Inside Passage III successfully cruised over 3,000 miles from Seattle through British Columbia and Alaska, and back home to Seattle again during the summer of 2008.”[/QUOTE]

Yes-
Thank you for the reference. I recall reading it, however didn't recall which exact boat she was.

did you go thru with it on the Nordhavn

Did you go thru with it on the Nordhavn? If not I know of a beautiful newer Northern Marine that I have been admiring on the docks. I think the owner has listed it...if interested I can see what I can find out for you.