Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Seattle Boats Afloat Show

This is just a quick update to tell you that we are displaying Nor'wester (our prototype/demo boat) at the Seattle Boats Afloat Show on Lake Union. The show dates are January 23rd through February 1st. (not that anyone will come on Superbowl Sunday)

Nor'wester is now seriously for sale. A new build boat with the equipment that is on Nor'wester would be $1.4M. Nor'wester, with 400 hours on her, is for sale at a special price of $879,000.

We took her down this morning, leaving Anacortes at 6:30AM. It was still pitch black out but we easily motored out of Skyline Marina. I hope we didn't wake anyone as it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

By the time we got to Whidbey Naval Air Station, we were in pea soup fog and that's the way we traveled all the way to Shilshole. With the dual radars (one overlaid on the Nobeltec) and the AIS receiver, we saw every target with plenty of time to stay out of the way. I was really amazed that even in the thick fog, the Victoria Clipper was still moving along at 32 knots.

An easy traverse through the small locks and we were safely nestled in our show spot (space 31) by 1:45. A quick cleanup and off for home.

If you are coming to the show, please stop by and see this wonderful boat. We hate to see her go, but it is time to get moving on the new Northwest 55. (Can't wait)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Northwest 50-01.....Coming Along Nicely

This truly will be a beautiful boat with so many wonderful appointments. There is still quite a bit of finish work to be complete so pictures of the interior at this point would not do it justice. It will be 2 or 3 weeks before I want to take many interior photos. I will post some shots of note on some of the details that we have included.

The stove below is a Bertazzoni 24"Professional Series Stainless Stove. This is a rendering as the actual stove is covered up and cannot be photographed yet.
We are excited that the owner selected this high quality stove as we have wanted to do a gourmet galley for some time.

Below is the refrigerator, a Liebherr 1650 which has a 13.3 cu foot refrigerator with a 4.2 cu foot freezer underneath. This too is not the actual installation as the refrigerator is also covered for protection until the boat is finished.

The refrigerator section alone is 4 cu feet larger than the standard Dometic. The stainless face is very sharp looking as well.
Plenty of room for lots of provisions. I like the large freezer. When we went down the coast last fall, we found that pre-prepared frozen foods were easy and very tasty. We took several items we found at Costco in the freezer section.

Another detail that I really like is the owner's choice of caprail color. You can't get the full impact with this picture because again, it is covered for protection, but I think it will be stunning when the boat is in the water and you get the full impact.
The color, a burgundy, will compliment the green hull as well as the interior woods.

The cockpit control panel seen below includes state of the art electronics. A fishfinder, chart plotter, radar, and a complete camera system are all accessed on the large screens.
Below is a closer look at the controls. There is a Maretron repeater, autopilot control, jog stick, shifter, bow thruster control, and in the cutout will be the controls for the hydraulic Wesmar APU (auxiliary power unit). The Wesmar APU will be used for trolling as it gives very good control at slow speeds. The unit gets its power from the generator.
Other nice additions to the cockpit are the BBQ grill seen below with the twin composite fiberglass propane tank storage beneath. The fiberglass tanks are very lightweight and obviously will not rust.
Another change is the large sink. This will be very useful when cooking on the BBQ or when cleaning fish.
And the last detail is the new rudder support. This does several things. It provides additional support so that if you have a grounding, it will lessen the chance of rudder bearing damage. It also offers protection to the back of the rudder if backing down. Just one more improvement.
Well, there are many more things I would like to share with you but a lot of things are still in progress. If you like what you see, give me a call or drop me an email to make an appointment to come and view the boat personally. We are scheduled to launch in late January or early February with delivery in late February.

Come to the Seattle Boats Afloat Show where we will have an unbeatable deal on Nor'wester. (or call me and I will give you the details)