By Jeff Merrill

I don’t know why I am fascinated with milestones; it seems to be human nature I guess

We are especially proud of our Nordhavn Distance Pennant Program which logs the number of miles Nordhavn owners have traveled aboard (sitting at 4,171,394 miles recorded by 305 Nordhavns as of mid August, 2011) and you can check out the current status by going to ../../../distance_pennant/.

We all love to hear about significant achievements and mileage is great, but the best way we have to measure engine longevity is through the hour-meter.  Taking good care of your main power plant – oil changes, filter changes, belt tightening, valve adjustments, etc. – is a key way to ensure continued happy cruising since the diesel engines we put on all Nordhavns have the longevity and endurance of the Energizer Bunny.

Well recently I received an email with a simple photo, showing the hour-meter for Nordhavn 6202 Bonne Vie displaying five digits – a good push past a one with four zeros.  I believe this is the first Nordhavn 62 with 10,000 hours and I know that the N46 Salvation II has clocked this amount (see story from three years ago – ../../../news/pressrelease/salvationII.php).

The Nordhavn 46 Kanaloa owned by Wolfgang and Heidi Hass is on its third circumnavigation, so they probably hold the record for most hours on a Nordhavn.

Bonne Vie also has a special distinction in her historic past that no other Nordhavn can duplicate – she was once owned by author/singer Jimmy Buffett (then known as Continental Drifter) Jimmy if you want to come back, we’ll build you another one!

You may recall seeing this lovely 62 in the 2008 Nordhavns Around the World calendar – sailing by the Statue of Liberty, an inspiring reminder of the freedom we enjoy when we go out cruising!

Here’s to Ron and Donna Bonvie who have done a marvelous job keeping Bonne Vie Bristol while slowly spinning the dials on the hour-meter.  Any other Nordy owners out there with 5 digits on their display?