Nordhavn 41#14 will be united with her owners in Anacortes, WA, next week but she has certainly endured a whirlwind schedule getting to this point. Due to lack of shipping options from Turkey to the North American west coast, the boat was offloaded in Florida and underwent commissioning at Nordhavn’s southeast office in North Palm Beach while she waited for transport to the Pacific Northwest. It would be 90 days before she was loaded on to a container ship bound for Victoria, BC.

Last weekend Nordhavn Northwest sales manager Devin Zwick flew to Victoria accompanied by his crewmate – his dad, Joe – to receive his customers’ N4114 Discouri and bring her to Anacortes, a short 40 nm away. The offload was essentially trouble free but was done so in 45 kts. of wind. Zwick hadn’t had a ton of hours on Nordhavn 41s so wasn’t sure what to expect in the conditions, but was pleased at the boat’s performance. “The boat handled remarkably well, bow thruster held us no problem against the wind, and the twin engines allowed me to walk the stern away from the transport ship using the starboard main in reverse and using some bow thruster to port,” he said.

Despite the boat’s seemingly non-issue with the weather, the crew would be chasing daylight and battling whipped-up seas. There was no rush to get back so they fueled up in Victoria – Zwick able to walk the boat perpendicular to the fuel dock using both engines and bow thruster – and then decided to overnight at Causeway Marina at the base of the Empress hotel. Against the wind, Zwick backed the boat into the slip with about 5′ between them and a neighboring boat. “That was fun!” he joked. “Actually, I was very happy to be able to put Discouri right where I wanted her to go.”

Team Zwick settled in for the night with dad taking the main cabin and son laying out his rangy frame comfortably on the port side settee. A removable door covers a foot well that turned the settee into a Goldilocks-like berth for Zwick. “At 6’5”, it fit me nicely,” he said.

The next morning, the seas and wind had calmed down, so they shoved off for Anacortes. As luck would have it, Zwick’s clients who took delivery of their brand new N68 Razamo happened to be nearby and headed in the same direction so they buddy boated the remainder of the way. After only two months of ownership Razamo’s owners are still getting used to their big Nordhavn so it was nice to have the safety net of their salesman a half-mile back.

Fortunately the day’s cruise was an enjoyable, drama-free one and both boats tucked into Cap Sante Marina in no time. Discouri’s owners will jump aboard next week and undergo two days of training with Zwick before embarking on their maiden voyage back to their home in Vancouver. Certainly Zwick will be able to pass on his first-hand knowledge of running the boat in squirrelly seas and calm conditions, and that the port side settee really is an ideal berthing option for petite and tall guests alike!