As a long time training and delivery Captain, turned yacht broker, turned Nordhavn Northwest sales manager, I have had no shortage of time aboard a variety of beautiful Nordhavns over the past 15 years. I stopped counting once I topped a hundred thousand cruising miles.
One particular weekend a few weeks ago had me, once again, at the helm of a Nordhavn. But this adventure was quite the departure from my normal work – if such a thing really exists in the Nordhavn world… which let’s be honest, lots of times it doesn’t. Being a Nordhavn yacht broker follows closely the wise words of Confucius: do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. (And therein lies the secret of Nordhavn’s success, a company armed with the most knowledgeable, experienced team in the business as a result of them actually doing what they love: being on Nordhavns.)
This particular weekend happened to be my 39th birthday. As a general life rule, I strongly avoid any birthday festivities related to myself. However, some extremely good family friends, Greg and Kari Moore, who also happen to own the Nordhavn 47 Adagio got wind of me knocking on mid-life’s door and reached out to my wife, Margeaux, offering up their boat for my birthday weekend. (Another reason I refer to what I do as “work” in quotation marks is due to some of the unbelievable people I count as clients.) The Moores waved off my futile attempts at declining their over-the-top generous offer, and the next thing I know, Margeaux and I are preparing for an awesome birthday getaway cruise.
We were ecstatic for the opportunity to take our three-and-a-half month old baby girl, McKenna, for her first boat ride and provisioned the boat for a Friday departure.Greg gave me a last minute walkthrough of the boat and I scoured the internet for YouTube videos and owners’ blogs showing me how to operate such a yacht. (Haha…kidding…but I encourage anyone to call your broker if you are unsure about any procedures. Besides, the majority of my internet searches resulted in links to the Jeffries’ & Krenkes’ videos on how to have a good time! In hindsight, I might have reconsidered not clicking to see what they had to say since in my hundred-thousand-plus nautical miles worth of Nordhavn cruising, this was only the second time I was taking one out for no other purpose than to just have fun.)
Margeaux, McKenna and I threw lines from Cap Sante Marina around 3pm and had a beautiful four-and-a-half hour cruise to Roche Harbor where we arrived just in time for the conclusion of Colors.While walking up the dock to meet up with friends for a dockside BBQ, I was immediately reminded of the Nordhavn community as we ran into Paul and Heather (@workingreboatly) from the good ship Gratitude, an N43, and then John and Eric aboard another N43 Mi Paraiso. I quickly settled into what every Nordhavn owner must feel when they come into port: a sense of immediate belonging.
Completely relaxed, with the baby tucked in and Margeaux and I enjoying some quiet time in the cockpit, we looked up to see Elon Musk’s latest batch of StarLink satellites go whizzing by back to back (53 of them to be precise) overhead. It certainly had the marina guests quizzing each other. Was it aliens? Our comrades in Russia? Or Elon…
Saturday morning I woke up to see a pair of fledgling Nordy owners make their way into the harbor and anchor with confidence. I was beaming with pride (yes, Margeaux did in fact tell me I was beaming) watching Mike and Christine Hansen, who I was with on a training mission in Anacortes only a week prior, deftly running and cruising their newly purchased N55 MACH Tales. In the afternoon, we hopped onto Adagio’s tender and took a jaunt over to Henry Island and Wescott Bay, where we met Jason and Nicole and hung out with them on their N43 Lucky Stars. I love running into Nordhavn boats in the wild and interacting with the owners. Jason brought us up to speed on their previous day’s fishing action. The greenling and ling cod were biting!
Later that afternoon I received a fun FaceTime call from more awesome clients, the owners of N62 Roxia and N57 Fresh Tracks who were enroute to Sucia Island on their way to points further north.
Sunday, late morning and more Nordhavn hospitality, this time aboard MACH Tales for a true Canadian brunch, complete with crepes! We looked out the window and noticed another N55, Enterprise, in the anchorage. In Nordhavn owner terms, it was a cool little noggle and I was definitely there for it.With the sun starting its downward trajectory, we hauled the anchor and made our way back to Anacortes. Smooth seas and a following current made for beautiful afternoon of cruising and put a glorious cap on an unforgettable weekend.
I can never thank the Moores enough for the generosity, and quite possibly the best birthday weekend in history! Also a huge thank you to all of the amazing Nordhavn owners we ran into during our time out. It makes me so happy to see you all out enjoying your boats. I kind of feel like one of the noggle now.
Devin Zwick is the sales manager at Nordhavn Yachts Northwest, newly located in Anacortes. He can be reached at devin.zwick@nordhavn.com.
This Post Has 2 Comments
Great article and pics Devin! Happy Belated Birthday!!!!
Devin, you are a great asset for Nordhavn and we are proud to call you a friend. Margeaux is the perfect compliment to you. We feel part of your family and you are a part of ours. We just spent a few days with Greg and Kari and you are right they are a wonderful couple. Keep up the great work. Making America great one Nordhavn at a time.