By Dan Streech

From time to time I am asked to speak to a group of Nordhavn owners, such as at the Alaska Rendezvous last summer. My theme and message is always the same: to THANK the owners for all that they have done for Pacific Asian Enterprises (PAE) and to thank them for their role in creating the “Nordhavn thing”, the “thing without a name”. We here at PAE did of course create and design the globetrotting Nordhavns themselves and we have branded the name Nordhavn with nearly 30 years of advertising, marketing and boat shows. What we didn’t do however was create the incredible social universe of Nordhavn owners that for lack of a better description we call “The Nordhavn World”. Where there are two Nordhavns, friendships are formed; where there are 3 or more, a party is soon underway. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses are exchanged and promises are made to meet again in the next harbor. Friends of friends become friends and with 550 Nordhavns now in existence, it didn’t take long for the “thing” to grow exponentially and for the Nordhavn community eco system to sweep the world and create a presence that is actually larger than PAE’s own marketing. Add to that another 1,000 or so ex-Nordhavn owners who often “stay in touch”, and you can see that it is a very powerful social force. Every day around the world, generous Nordhavn owners are showing their boats and creating a virtual 24/7 boat show that probably exceeds the daily activity at a typical conventional boat show.

Even with the words above, I have still not explained it very well, so I am going to let an owner’s e-mail do the work for me. Just this morning, I received an unsolicited e-mail from an N63 owner. The e-mail is laced with his wonderful dry sense of humor, but the truth of it shines through and you can just feel the fun and camaraderie that they are enjoying. I helped sell this boat originally and this owner was an overworked working stiff and his lovely gracious wife was a “Nervous Nelly”… OMG! Look at them now! Oh, and if anyone has a better name for it than “The Nordhavn Thing”, please let me know.

Hi Dan:

Michelle and I are always declaring that we won the lottery when we selected a Nordhavn to take us on the water safely and comfortably. Right now in Costa Baja, we have an N60 to our immediate port, an N64 on our immediate starboard, 2 N60’s and an N55 across from us and there is an N46 in the inner harbor. We spend time on each other’s boats, at the pool, out for dinner, in town, always reveling in the Nordhavn lifestyle. The one thing you didn’t provide me when we took the boat is a “Tours Closed” sign for us to put up on Piredmus!!!! I guess that would have been a change order.

We are flying home on Saturday for the Xmas period and then will return in January to continue our cruising season in Mexico.

Thanks again and again for everything that PAE has done (and IS doing) for us.

Tim & Michelle
N63-06 Piredmus
La Paz, MX