Note: Senjero has been sold

By Jeff Merrill

One of the great pleasures of working for Nordhavn is getting to spend time aboard and this past weekend I was sitting on my brokerage listing, Senjero, at the Dana Point Boat show and was reminded how a well kept boat really turns people’s heads.

The Nordhavn 57 model was built for a number of years and we halted production after hull 40.  Notable 57 adventures have included: Pacific crossings, Atlantic crossings, a trip around Cape Horn and most recently the well-documented conquest of the Northwest Passage.  Hull 35 was built for PAE, named Atlantic Escort and led the fleet across the Pond in the 2004 Nordhavn Atlantic Rally.  Senjero is hull number 39 and her original owners are now putting her up for sale after five years of luxurious cruising up and down the West Coast of North America from Mexico to Canada.

If you missed the Dana Point Boat Show and would like to see what a beautiful 2005 Nordhavn 57 looks like, I have a treat for you. One of our marketing maestros, Randy Robertson, has completed a series of virtual tours that literally takes you all over the boat. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the Senjero tour might be considered the  War and Peace equivalent: well-documented, highly-detailed and containing many different sections that give you the true sense of being there.

Here is the link to the Senjero virtual tours (now on the V-tours page):
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On display at the show alongside Senjero was a gorgeous Nordhavn 56 Motorsailer called Ata Marie, also listed for sale.

Here are the links to their write-ups with details and photos:
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It has been some time since we last had a Nordhavn 57 on display and her presence led many who climbed on board to ask: Why did PAE discontinue the 57? It’s a difficult question to answer in that there are a number of reasons. Her successor is the wildly popular Nordhavn 55, considered by many to be the “sweet spot” of the Nordhavn product line. But for lots of folks the 57 represents the best of all worlds and it was clear that Senjero was a real crowd pleaser.  In fact, most who came aboard her during the show were stunned to learn she is five years old.

Senjero was delivered in 2005 to her original owners, Neil and Elaine Williamson and she was custom built to provide them the ultimate cruising platform and smooth their transition from cruising sailboats to cruising trawlers.  (The name Senjero is a Spanish derivation for “wanderer”).  The Williamsons are exactly the type of owners you want to buy a used boat from; Senjero is flawless inside and out causing several visitors to think she was fresh off the production line. Pride of ownership is evident throughout and her asking price of $1.395 million represents an incredible value to anyone interested in a beautiful 57. It would be easy to say that she is better than new because she has been carefully outfitted, tastefully decorated, broken in, debugged and any new boat wrinkles have long since been ironed out.

There IS a distinct advantage to buying a well maintained brokerage (used) boat. A transaction can be completed in 30 days including a thorough review by a certified surveyor whose report would include a condition valuation and identify any minor issues that need attention.

Senjero was ordered with many of the most popular options.  Being built late in the life cycle of the 57 production run, the Williamsons were able to capitalize on the ideas they saw from earlier builds and incorporate many of the features they wanted into the build.    Many decisions were based on what worked best on previous 57s, a big plus when you have so many choices.  Coming from a semi-custom Contest 50’ sailboat, Neil and Elaine were no strangers to the cruising lifestyle, but coming over to the trawler world did require a few adjustments…all of them having to do with issues like more storage, more comfort, easier handling and maneuverability, less hassle and a more predictable itinerary – just a few of the benefits a high end trawler like a Nordhavn provides.

Senjero features a wide body saloon with three cabin layout all done in beautiful high gloss cherry wood.  She has a built in cockpit barbeque and stainless and teak swim extension. Flat screen televisions, an incredible electronics package and a wonderful tender launched by crane make living on board for extended periods a real joy.  She is powered by a single Lugger L1276A 340 H.P. diesel main engine – a modern electronic common rail model and supplemented by a Lugger wing engine with PTO for hydraulic bow and stern thruster operation. If she didn’t have 1700+ hours on her main engine odometer you would never know she had ever left the harbor.

Neil joined me during the weekend to help with the crowds and show off his baby. (Unfortunately Elaine had a scheduling conflict so she looked after their faithful crew Cody, a four year old beagle who has many sea miles aboard Senjero). It is always impressive to have a knowledgeable owner on board to answer detailed questions like optimum cruising settings (1350 RPM at 8.5+ knots burning 5 gallons per hour), favorite cruising grounds (Barra Navidad, Mexico and the San Juan Islands in Washington) and to interject informative and humorous insights from five seasons exploring on the water. The Williamson plan to sit on shore for a bit and contemplate their future boat…

If you missed the Dana Point Boat Show and didn’t get a chance to board Senjero, fear not. We have her at our sales docks and you can schedule a viewing appointment by contacting your Nordhavn salesperson.  If travelling to Dana Point is not a viable option then I hope you will enjoy the virtual tour link listed above. And if that is not enough, there is a CD with hundreds of photos that I have taken that goes into great detail. Let me know if you would like a copy.

Senjero’s popularity at the show may mean that she won’t be available for long, so if you are keen, please get in touch with us soon.