We at Pacific Asian Enterprises are mourning the loss of our good friend Bruce Kessler, who passed on April 4 at the age of 88. Bruce was a long range cruising pioneer aboard his two boats, Zopilote and Spirit of Zopilote. But for us at PAE, he will be remembered as an avid supporter of Nordhavn as well as a very good friend.

PAE co-owners Dan Streech and Jim Leishman (and former co-owner Joe Meglen) got to know Bruce running in the same cruising circles, as influencers in the marine industry do, when the first Nordhavns were just launching in the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2004, when Bruce joined the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally (NAR) committee, offering insight and knowledge, that he became truly cemented as a confidant of the company.

Most people knew Bruce Kessler for his successes as a television and movie director. It was actually his experience in the film industry that led to his most significant working relationships with PAE, most notably as director of “Living the Dream”, the documentary on the NAR. PAE initially ordered 10,000 copies of the DVD and gave away most of those. But the movie lives on via YouTube where it has been viewed 714,000 times. It was one of the most influential and integral promotional tools ever created about the Nordhavn brand and continues to be a point of reference for former, current and future boat buyers.

In 2018, Bruce put his Hollywood hat on once again as one of the judges in the first Nordhavn Film Festival (NFF). Yet another capstone in the marketing of the Nordhavn brand, the NFF invited amateur filmmakers to create mini-documentaries of the world of Nordhavns. Bruce lent his expertise in helping to define the rules of the contest and brought his critical eye when it came to judging the wonderful entries. He returned to the judging panel for the second NFF in 2022. As a boat builder, we were slightly out of our element when it came to hosting a film festival, but Bruce took the wheel and helped turn the NFF into one of the great marine events.

Bruce will forever have his stamp on Nordhavn, and we appreciate him for his ideas, his critical eye, his praise, and especially the kind, humble manor in which he delivered these thoughts.

To borrow a salute that someone posted in relation to Bruce’s passing: “We should honor his legacy by getting out on the water.”

It’s certainly how he would have wanted it.