This is our boat. The process of selecting a boat vendor and a model was short in duration. We decided to make a choice with the help of an expert. Hired Steve Antonio to help us in that. He also helped us guide throughout the build process. I would highly recommend to hire him or someone like him, if it is the first boat you are buying.

The decision to buy a motorboat instead of a sailboat was made easily. That hinged on only a single central issue—my spouse saying she would retire and consider a living aboard lifestyle if we went for a motorboat.

The next phase was considerably more complex. First, we had to decide what kind of lifestyle we desired—weekend cruising with significant time on land, or full-time cruising. Next, we had to determine if our plans included a world voyage in future or, more likely, we will do coast cruising. Such decisions are subjective and needed considerable back and forth between us since these involved the head and heart, which unsurprisingly quite often in conflict. We (actually, Sonal) did lots of reading and watching videos, we discussed among ourselves to figure out what questions we should be asking to an experienced boat consultant.

One of the basic choice one makes is about what kind of vessel suits our lifestyle. We are old and not into fast cruising. Afterall this was to be our retirement life. That led us to choose full-displacement over the semi-displacement (faster boat) or planing hull (even faster boats). Although we are unlikely to cross ocean regularly, we did desire to cruise to Alaska, fjords of Norway or islands in Pacific ocean. That meant that we should opt for more stable, seaworthy design over faster and flashier looks.

That narrowed down the choice to Kadey-Krogen and Nodhaven - both American companies. I did like Selene, but the consultant persuaded us not to go that way. We both liked Fleming (it is a semi-displacement boat) but new fleming was going to be a bit over our budget.

Both KK and Nordhave are fine vendors. People who want to cruise oceans all the time prefer Nordhaven. I, on the other hand, fell in love with the interior space. That way, it is designed for 50 Open (where Salon and Pilothouse are connected and on the same level).

I visited several boat shows. I got to board 50 Open Hull #1 and talk to the owners. I love it so much; as I remember it, I took photographs, showed them to my spouse, and said this is it. I want this design. She joined me next time to see the boat. She, too, liked the design but then thought maybe we wanted a slightly bigger length. That’s how we ended up opting for building a new 60 Open. Hull #1. This choice was driven by the fact that we were in no hurry to start living full-time on the boat. My wife still had work to be done for the next two years. That is also why we did not quite look for a used boat option.

We, of course, ended up thinking very hard about Nordhaven 60. That one is built like a tank. Many people seem to prefer that classical style of trawler design. We cared a lot more about having a well-lighted, comfortable living room area and do not see ourselves doing too much of nighttime cruising. So, separating a pilot house from a saloon was unimportant to us.

So, we made a choice. We signed a contract and now await delivery. Simple, right? It is not. More decisions follow after you decide on what boat model you want when it is a new build, particularly for a custom design and hull #1. More of that will be in the next blog entry.

Selecting A Boat

From Laxmi to Tara