Onward - a vessel for all seasons

Our vessel, "Onward," is a 40-foot Nordhavn trawler constructed by Pacific Asian Enterprises of Dana Point, CA, located mid-way between San Diego and LA. It is hull #25 of the N40 series, with a total of over 200 Nordhavns of various sizes having been built since the 1980s.

As can be seen from the pictures, it is different in a number of respects from the usual power boat. High bow, reverse angle pilothouse windows, smaller than usual side windows, and a considerably heavier construction all mark it as a boat ready to cross oceans and not just stay in protected coastal waters. It has a full displacement hull with a sedate cruise speed of 7 knots ("flank speed" is about 8.5 knots) and a cruising range that at an economical setting, can exceed 3000 miles.

Boat motion is greatly improved thanks to hydraulic roll stabilizers. Acting like ailerons on an airplane, a gyroscope detects an incipient roll to port or starboard and immediately directs the stabilizers to counteract the roll. Our trip north off the Pacific Coast was much improved by having the stabilizers. Here are Onward's key specifications:

Overall length, 39' 9"; waterline length, 35' 5"; beam, 14' 6"; draft, 4' 9"; loaded displacement, 50,000#' fuel, 920 gallons; water, 220 gallons.

It has three diesel engines: (1) main, Lugger, 105 hp, 1.7 gallons/hour at 1500 rpm; (2) backup, or "wing" engine, Yanmar, 24 hp, for use if the main engine fails; and (3) 8 kw generator, Northern Lights, 13 hp, to generate electricity if necessary.

All three engines have fresh water cooling and the main engine uses a keel cooler and heavily muffled dry exhaust that exits at the masthead.

Though rugged on the outside it has all the comforts of home on the inside. A large double bunk forward, a narrow double lower berth and narrow single berth in the guest cabin, a ample "head" (or toilet compartment) and shower, and a "galley" (kitchen) that features a 3-burner propane stove, oven, microwave, coffee maker, toaster, and trash compactor. We even have a built-in washer/dryer. The interior color scheme is a soft green, expressed in the carpeting and upholstery.

The pilothouse is well equipped with a radar, VHF and short-wave radios, depth sounder, wind speed and direction indicator, GPS/plotter, a backup GPS, and autopilot. All electronics except the radios are linked to a laptop computer, onto which we have loaded detailed charts of the NW waters. The wonders of electronic navigation now make it possible to create a route of waypoints on the computer which then guide the boat via the GPS and autopilot to its destination. The computer's screen as well as the GPS, depth sounder and radar are all programmed to display our current position (latitude and longitude), course and speed over the ground.  The pilothouse also has a berth should it be necessary (or desirable to awake to the sunrise) to spend the night near the helm.

In our 11-day trip up from Dana Point, we only touched the wheel entering or leaving a harbor. However, since electronics can fail. We carry basic paper charts and are ready to fall back on ancient piloting skills at a moment's notice.

The flybridge, above and behind the pilot house, is filled with our mast (graced with a crane and two electric winches), radar and radar reflector, two gray kayaks mounted on either side of the mast, and a 10-foot inflatable dinghy plus 15 hp Honda outboard. Under the dinghy cover are two folding bikes. The crane is for launching the dinghy and kayaks.

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