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Passagemaker Magazine

The Long-Range Cruising Authority

Passagemaker was born of a common interest in extended voyaging to inform, educate and inspire trawler and long-range cruising enthusiasts worldwide. Passagemaker is a multi-dimensional brand spanning a print magazine reaching 18,000 subscribers, a comprehensive website and daily newsletter, an engaging social media suite and podcast "Trawler Talk."

12/23/2024

After 230,000 miles under sail, a cruising couple bought a Selene 66, renamed her Jade, and never looked back.

Since purchasing the boat in New Zealand in 2013, Joël and Dominique Marc have headed to Vanuatu, Micronesia and Japan. Jade spent two winters in Japan, and cruised extensively around each of the main islands, eventually ending up on the northern island of Hokkaido. In 2017, Joël and his crew headed northeast for Petropavlovsk, Russia, and spent 10 days exploring the volcano-ringed city. From there, they crossed the North Pacific and Bering Sea for the Aleutian Islands.

"My Selene has excellent walkaround decks with high bulwarks that make me feel secure, even in larger seas. We rarely leave the comfort and protection of the beautiful pilothouse and saloon underway, but in the rare situations when we do, the high and very strong railings make us feel very safe, even on the bow,” says Marc.

📸 Joël Marc

12/22/2024

The Hunt Ocean Series 68 is a fast, luxurious, customizable, amenities-rich cruising boat meant to be equally at home in the rough stuff offshore or sauntering along at trawler speeds on the Great Loop.

The 68 is available in either a flybridge or an express configuration. Both offer a variety of interior arrangements and amenities including a crew cabin. The master is usually aft, but Hunt will work with an owner to suit his or her specific needs.

Her 68’s standard equipment list includes a suite of bridge electronics, a bow thruster, and Humphree stabilizers and fins. Standard power is a pair of 1,136-hp Caterpillar C-18s the company says will produce a top speed of about 27 knots. Optional 2,000-hp Cat C-32Bs can take the boat up to 37 knots at half load.

At a 24-knot cruise, the builder says, the 68 will return a range of 380 nautical miles with a 10 percent reserve. For an efficient ride, throttle back to around 10 knots, and her maximum range jumps to 1,160 nm.

📸 Robert Holland, Jim Raycroft

12/21/2024

The Grand Banks 60 is a true, long-range cruising boat, but she can also reach 30 knots. Throttle her two 900-horsepower Volvo Penta D13-900 diesel inboards down to just 750 revs for a smooth-water cruising speed of 9.5 knots and you’ve got yourself a range of roughly 2,973 nautical miles, factoring in a 10 percent reserve.

While some favor the open flybridge version, the 60 Skylounge adds an enclosed bridge. The key to a great long-distance cruiser is having plenty of distinct social spaces for family and guests to spread out. The enclosed bridge adds yet another comfortable living space for enjoying the ride.

An exquisite Burmese teak interior, Infused carbon fiber construction, a low center of gravity, tangible stability and bold stats further define the model.

📸 Grand Banks Yachts

12/20/2024

Cormorant Yachts has launched the COR 780, an 80-foot, CE-A class, oceangoing cruiser from its Gdańsk, Poland, shipyard.

Hull No. 1 of the COR780 is a fast-displacement model with a ballasted keel and a pair of 1,200-hp MAN diesels that the owner requested. They return a reported top speed of 21 knots. The semicustom yard, which gives buyers a wide berth in choosing options, finished her interior in book-matched American walnut.

The owner chose a larger hydraulic swim platform to accommodate personal watercraft or a dinghy (the flybridge deck can handle a tender up to 16 feet); a Victron Energy system with a two inverters, two isolation transformers and a LiFePO4 battery bank; a 5-kW solar array fixed to the hardtop to power hotel loads, linked to a Victron SmartSolar charge controller; and, for heavy lifting, two gensets rated at 20 and 18 kW. The cherry on top is the custom, six-person hot tub on the flybridge.

For more intrepid cruisers, the builder has a version of the COR780 with a bulbous bow and smaller, more efficient power plants (up to 750 hp apiece) from John Deere and Scania, both of which offer trans-Pacific range at trawler speeds. According to Cormorant, the COR780 will see a 6,395-nautical-mile range at 7 knots, 4,794 nm at 8 knots and nearly 3,500 nm at 9 knots, with a 16-knot top speed.

📸 Cormorant Yachts

12/19/2024

Over the past half century or so, Sam Devlin has designed and built a lot of boats.

But at 70, Devlin is trying something new, setting off onboard Puffin, the 1966 wooden trawler he purchased for a summer trip to Alaska. “I’m not sure if I know how to slow down, but Puffin can only do 6 knots, so we’re going to find out.”

"Puffin is a big 47-footer. She weighs in at a hefty 88,000 pounds, and she has a 15-foot, 5-inch beam, a 6-foot draft and ample topsides. Forward of the full-beam engine room are three staterooms with two bunks each and a single head with a separate shower ... Puffin was designed by William Garden, Devlin’s all-time favorite designer. She’s also a double-ender and has a Gardner engine, two other things Devlin loves."

Soundings Deputy Editor Pim Van Hemmen joined Devlin and his crew for a leg of the journey. His words and photos will appear in an upcoming issue of Passagemaker.

📸 Pim Van Hemmen

12/18/2024

For interior designer Victoria Sass () and her husband, a 1983 Viking 44 Motor Yacht was the perfect compromise.

They first repainted the hull, switching it from maroon to bright blue. Worn black awnings were replaced with an updated pair that matched the color scheme. A dilapidated carpet was ripped up and replaced by a teak parquet sole that Rytt installed. Toilets and plumbing were updated too, with Sass opting for some vintage fixtures.

In fact, her relentless approach to preserving the older styling drew some raised eyebrows. “From the hull color to the canvas top, it never failed; whatever I chose, they were like, ‘No one’s picked that in over 30 years … let me go see if they even still make it,’” Sass says. “But at the end of the day, she looks like she belongs to herself. It feels cohesive.”

For most boat owners, interior design choices are influenced by three pillars: comfort, practicality and resale value. Sass navigated by a different north star. “I don’t do many projects for myself,” she says. “But Freya’s story, it was very personal.”

📸 Chris Mottalini

12/17/2024

Although Bering Yachts focus is on semicustom designs, especially with its 80 and 75, the 76, Lemanjá, is a custom one-off with expanded fuel capacity and a unique layout.

The 76’s twin 400-hp, continuous-rated Cummins diesels pushed the 76 to around 11.4 knots at 2000 rpm. At 1250 rpm and 8.6 knots, consumption was just over 9 gph—which, allowing for a 10 percent reserve, equates to a cruising range of around 5,000 nautical miles.

Lemanjá’s lower-deck layout includes a full-beam amidships master stateroom, a VIP in the bow, and a double-berth stateroom to port. Headroom throughout is 6 feet, 8 inches or better, and there’s a stateroom-size pantry to starboard with enough lockers, fridges and freezers to support life on board for months. Battery capacity is similarly generous: enough for 12 hours at anchor without using the generator. There are solar panels too.

The main deck is one expansive entertaining space, with a dining table, seating and an open-plan galley. Up one level, the wheelhouse has good all-around visibility, and the sky lounge connects to the aft deck for relaxation.

📸 Bering Yachts

12/16/2024

This long-abandoned project boat—a steel, 44-foot pilothouse trawler—caught the eye of a professional mariner who transformed her into the ideal family cruiser.

Luuc Klop stumbled across the listing for a half-finished, 44-foot pilothouse trawler, something about its rugged, unfinished appeal called to him. “The build quality really impressed me, Klop says. “It had that authentic workboat feel.”

Beneath the refined surface lies a vessel built for serious passagemaking. At the heart of Barabbas is its original power plant, a 220-hp DAF DKA 1160 engine. Recently overhauled, the engine has just 75 hours on it. Its efficiency and reliability make it ideal for long journeys, with the 11,6-liter engine burning just over 2 gallons per hour at a 7-knot cruise speed, With more than 1,000 gallons on tap, the boat’s range exceeds 2,000 nautical miles. Her top speed is 10 knots.

The interior, which Klop says began as “bare bones,” is now a cozy liveaboard space. The salon has large windows and an L-shaped settee with panoramic views. The open-plan design flows into the pilothouse, fostering a sense of connection between the operational and social spaces.

Belowdecks, her two staterooms can accommodate his family with additional room in the salon for guests. The galley has an induction stove and convection oven. Heated soles and a Webasto HVAC system provide comfort during four-season cruising.

📸 Luuc Klop

12/15/2024

The 1969 84-foot Feadship Monara, which underwent a significant refit less than 10 years back, really caught our eye when we learned that she was recently sold by the team over at Northrop & Johnson.

N&J called her "a celebration of classic yacht design, with [a] clipper bow, canoe stern and striking steel hull and superstructure," and we have to agree. Copious outdoor spaces offer alfresco gathering areas in the cockpit and on her upper deck. Below decks, she's had a four-stateroom layout, with the master and VIP both en suite.

Another feature we like is her ability to cruise for extended periods, something that was enhanced during her extensive refit. A bulbous bow was fitted to reduce fuel consumption and to compensate for additional weight. Zero-speed stabilizers were added, as well as new electronics and a host of other upgrades.

Powered by her original engines, a pair of 230-hp Gardner 8L3Bs, Monara cruises comfortably at 10 knots, with a range of approximately 1,200 nautical miles. She'll top out at 12 knots.

📸 Northrop & Johnson

12/14/2024

The first images of the Vicem Yachts 65 Classic have just recently hit our Inboxes, and she's a stunner. It is the latest fiberglass launch from the Turkey-based builder that made its bones with classically lined, cold-molded boats.

From what we can see from the photos, there's a lot to like on the 65 Classic, from the mastery of fine woodworking—seen everywhere throughout the vessel—to the galley-up configuration, which grants her a second, lower lounge below decks, the tender garage and the spacious alfresco gathering areas in the cockpit and on the foredeck.

Power is 1,400-hp MANs mated to straight shafts. Stay tuned here for more on the Vicem 65 Classic.

📸 Vicem

12/13/2024

Earlier this year, Altena Shipyard in the Netherlands has started construction on what will be the biggest-ever owner-operated Doggersbank—it’s a 77-foot Offshore commissioned by an experienced yachtsman from the Pacific Northwest who plans to cruise with kids and grandkids on board.

The propulsion system’s PTO/PTI moniker stands for power take-in and power take-out. With power take-in, energy can be drawn from the main engine’s shaft. “You create electricity that you can store in your battery bank,” says Doggersbank. “If you don’t use the main engine, say at the lower speeds going in and out of port, you can use the power take-out and run the shaft.”

All three guest staterooms are belowdecks, including the master that’s amidships to minimize motion. The owner also eliminated the crew cabin that exists near the engine room in the plans and instead will use the space for a battery room, as part of the hybrid propulsion system. The main-deck’s day head also is gone, in favor of extra stowage for long-distance cruising, and there will be five doors on the main deck instead of the standard three, for more access to the side decks.

The 77 is expected to have a 4,016-nautical-mile range at 7.5 knots. At 8.5 knots, the range is 3,135 nm (both with a 10% reserve).

📸 Vripack

12/12/2024

Italy-based Apreamare is known from its line of elegant gozzo dayboats, but the builder's Maestro line dates back two decades. These "navettas" (little ships) are meant for long voyages, and the latest, the Maestro 88, is the largest-ever vessel from the Sorrento yard.

In a first for Apreamare, the Maestro 88 is graced with a semi-displacement hull. When matched to her standard power package—a pair of 1,600-hp MAN engines—the 88 is capable of 18-knot cruise and a top speed of 23 knots. Back off the throttles to 10 knots, and her range is estimated at 1,000 nautical miles.

Below decks, Hull No. 1 has a four-stateroom layout—a full-beam, amidships master, forward VIP and a pair of staterooms with bunks; all are en suite. Owners will have the option of having up to five staterooms and crew quarters for four.

📸 Apreamare

12/11/2024

The Kadey-Krogen 52 epitomizes the true essence of every KK built since 1977: an all-oceans-capable trawler yacht with incredible liveaboard accommodations for a couple or family.

The machinery and components employed on the 52 reflect the builder's deep understanding that the open ocean is no place for inferior products. Highlights include John Deere engines, Northern Lights generators, ABT TRAC thrusters and stabilizers, ESI fuel-polishing systems and U.S. manufactured Cook gelcoat. All of these elements will ensure the Krogen 52 will take you the distance.

With 1,400 gallons of fuel on tap, the builder says the KK52 is good for 4,850 nautical miles at 6 knots and 2,500 nm at 8 knots.

📸 Kadey-Krogen Yachts

12/10/2024

"The list of powerboats under 70 feet that are good fits for high-latitude adventure cruising is small, and it’s even smaller when you also want the boat to serve as a weekender in her home waters of Maine," writes Nakomis Nelson.

"In November 2022, we settled on an Elling E6. It’s a 65-foot, semi-displacement, self-righting yacht with a transom garage for a jet tender; a spare engine with its own shaft and prop; the ability to cruise at 16-plus knots if needed; and a Kevlar-reinforced hull. Plus, the yard was willing to work with us on a laundry list of modifications for our summer 2023 departure to the Arctic."

Nelson and the boat owners picked up the E6 in Holland and together, piloted her up the Rhine River and into the North Sea. From there, they visited the U.K., the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Canada before returning home to Maine.

All told, their 4,200-nautical-mile North Atlantic odyssey included becoming the first Elling E6 to cross the Atlantic on her own bottom.

📸 Nakomis Nelson, Liam Selendy

12/09/2024

Naval architect Bob Warman of Vancouver, Canada, drew the lines for the Camano 31. When he built, launched and sold the first 31 (originally referred to as the 28), his design immediately garnered interest, as it borrowed some of the form and functionality of working vessels in the region. Over the next nine years, Warman made more than 125 of the compact cruisers.

The Camaro 31 is a capable coastal craft with the bones of a workboat, one that can carry its crew safely across open stretches of water efficiently and comfortably. It has a well-flared bow and a sharp-angled, near-plumb stem that can part waves and shed spray quickly. Those elements give way to rapidly widening sections that disappear below the waterline.

Warman gave the Camano 31 plenty of interior volume, thanks to a 10-foot, 6-inch beam and draft of 3 feet, 3 inches. He also drew a deckhouse that uses nearly the entire beam. Interior finishes include teak and mahogany, depending on the year of manufacture.

About 270 models were built before the current owners, Scott and Lisa Helker of Seattle-based Helmsman Trawlers, bought the tooling and updated the design.

📸 Camano / Helmsman

12/08/2024

A few months back, Florida-based Outer Reef Yachts announced a strategic merger with the Dutch shipyard Lynx Yachts. One month later, news broke that Hull No. 1 of the Adventure 780—in steel—was already under construction. Launch is expected over the winter, with a possible U.S. debut at the 2025 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Bernd Weel, a Dutch naval architect, designed the Adventure 780 to appeal to a younger demographic that wants exploration capabilities.

They also have different ideas about what boating should be, says ORY honcho Jeff Druek: “They need to carry a lot of toys. They want to take their kids. They want to go far afield and bump icebergs and travel the fjords in Norway or cross the pond.”

The hull design is fast-displacement, which gives owners the characteristics of a full-displacement boat for seakeeping, plus an 18-knot top hop with optional Cat C32s, he says. Standard power is a pair of 425-hp Cummins diesels, which, the company says, delivers an estimated range of 3,000 nautical miles at 7 knots. Displacement speeds are 11 to 12 knots, returning a 1,450 nm range.

Accommodations can be four staterooms plus two crew cabins forward—all en suite—or a full-beam master stateroom amidships with five staterooms below.

📸 Outer Reef Yachts

12/07/2024

Repost from

ENGELAER/VAN MEER GRAND ESTIME 64 | CLASSIC GENTLEMAN’S PERFORMANCE YACHT

· Built in 2003 by Engelaer Scheepsbouw
· Most recent refit 2021/2022
· Designed by Olivier van Meer
· Aluminium hull & Superstructure
· 19.70 x 5.96 x 1.65 Meter
· 6 Berths in 3 cabins

This unique gentleman’s motor yacht combines a classic interior with a significant eye for detail and plentiful up-to-date equipment. She breathes character and comfortability, as her equipment on board facilitates ultimate recreation, relaxation, and entertainment, as well as both relaxed cruising and serious sailing under abundant weather conditions. This motor yacht has always been excellently maintained and has a worthwhile reputation, and she is now beyond ready for new adventures.

12/07/2024

Icebergs surround us. They’re as clear as glass and as brilliant as turquoise gemstones. It’s a sunny summer day in Alaska’s Tracy Arm, but the air holds a chill. Suddenly, an explosive blast rips through the South Sawyer tidewater glacier, and a house-size hunk of ice thunders down the face, creating a sizable wave.

The 15-foot wave slips under them, and then us, making its way down the long, narrow fjord to where we left our mothership, a Nordic Tug 37.

It’s a moment as memorable as any on our 10-week trip aboard Osprey, which we chartered through Bellingham Yacht Charters in Washington state. Modern electronics, excellent cruising guides and close attention to weather make the round-trip itinerary to Alaska far easier and safer than my voyages here in the early 1990s. Back then, when I was professional crew on sail-training boats, passages were often rushed with few opportunities to actually cruise. With Osprey, we could take a leisurely pace.
—Barbara Marrett from "The Heights of Grandeur" in our Jan/Feb 2023 issue.

📸 Dana Halferty

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PassageMaker was born of our own interest in extended cruising...In our search, we found there was no central place—dedicated to trawlers and ocean motorboats—for the owner and potential owner to go for information, news, and ideas. And no targeted, efficient way for designers, builders, manufacturers, and service providers to communicate to all of you owners and would–be owners. So we created PassageMaker. —Founding Editor, Bill Parlatore

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