Jumping in the Deep End: Building Hull #1

​We chose to commission hull number one of a brand-newKadey Krogen Open 60. The cognisanti would call us crazy, particularly given our lack of experience with trawlers. It was only after we had signed the contract that I watched Clifford Rome’s wonderful series An Achievable Dream, where he discouraged anyone from building hull number one and seemedto think of hull nine as the magic number. As I watched it, I felt a knot in my stomach. Did we make a mistake?

​As I reflect on nearly a year of ownership (and three years of building), I realize that it is like having children. We are all better parents with child number two, but without the first one, there would be no number two. So, while there are small and large things we wish we could change, we have no regrets.

​We knew what we wanted – a boat that would be a home and would take us from Maine to the Caribbean and from Alaska to the Sea of Cortez with the Panama Canal thrown in. We have it all and more.

​We looked at many full and semi-displacement boats. We liked many but fell in love with the Kadey Krogen open design. When we were looking at the Open 50, five hulls were built. Kadey Krogen was looking to build a 60-foot version if someone could commit to it in order to defray some of the initial costs. We loved the large windows of the open 50 saloon and the overall design, but were attracted to the idea of a little more space in the galley, cockpit, and an additional cabin, which could be an office cum guest cabin. The day-head in the pilot house was a great bonus.

​One of the strongest impetus came from the memory of buying our first home. I had fallen in love with a non-traditional open architecture design, but we chose to buy a safe (and boring) four-bedroom colonial, thinking it would appreciate. It was a nice residence, but not something that brought us joy, and as it happens, we sold at a time when appreciation was minimal. After that, we always bought a home we liked – and each had a lot of sunlight and windows. If a hull three of 60 Open were available, that would have been fantastic. But we could not wait for that; retirement was looming, age was creeping up, and we were running out of time.

​In retrospect, we were both wise and lucky. Wise because we chose to work with Steve D’Antonio who helped with numerous design decisions and helped avoid some of the pitfalls hull number one would have faced. For example, he asked to get the generators soft-mounted, and we can hardly hear the noise, even while sleeping. Lucky because we did not anticipate the pride and commitment of the KKY team. For them, and for the Asia Harbor Yard in Taiwan, this was a labor of love, and they crafted many things we could not have imagined. The open office came with sliding doors that make it both a private place for my numerous Zoom calls and a sleeping cabin for our granddaughter, put ladders and handholds that make it easy to get into the watermaker and battery spaces, and built a pantry that allows us to stock up fully for the Bahamas and beyond.

​There were things that needed to be fixed after our first trip – the shakedown/breakdown cruise. Pantry shelves needed to be latched. Easily fixed. The lid on storage compartment in the galley corner was so heavy that we ended up replacing it with a wooden lid that is a bit of an eyesore and I am trying to creatively think how to change it. There were bigger problems that no one anticipated, the transom door was so heavy that I could barely close it; KKY replaced it with a thinner doorwithout our even asking. There are things that we miss and may yet get added – a someday list.

​But what we have is a home that we love. We have all the facilities of home, washer/dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposer, large holding tank and water tanks. More than facilities, it has a home-like feel that lifts my heart. As I write this, I am looking at a 360-degree view of the gorgeous turquoise waters of the Bahamas. We begin our mornings drinking coffee in a king bed surrounded by large, airy windows, and end our days sitting on our back porch watching the sunset.

​Yes, it is a hull number one, perhaps that is what makes it so special! I am glad the jury in Newport Boat Show recognized it and awarded it first prize in the best new boat over 50 category.