If you were anywhere along the U.S. east coast the past few days, you likely felt some of the effects of Tropical Storm Isaias. In the northeast yesterday, Isaiais’ wrath was felt as it left hurricane-force winds and tornadoes in its wake.
Nordhavn 59#4 Katherina was tied up at Liberty Landing marina when the storm bore down on New York City Tuesday late morning. In their slip they braced against 70 kt wind gusts while all around them chaos ensued. Katherina’s owner readied his boat by doubling up his 7/8” and 1” lines. Then he went inside to the galley to begin prepping for the evening’s gourmet Italian dinner. The large port side heavy duty windows situated above the GE Profile home style stove deflected the intense rain pellets and provided a nice vantage point from which to view the scene. Peering outside, Katherina’s crew watched as the owners of a Bayliner dewatered their boat; another boat examined their canopy being shredded by the wind.
The heft of the Nordhavn – even this, a semi-displacement, and by comparison “lighter” Nordhavn – is advantage one in a storm like Isaias. “When it really blows, you want to be in a Nordhavn and nothing else,” said Katherina’s owner. He paused to consider the overbuild of his hull, due in part to his customized spec which includes a full stairwell, third head, fourth stateroom, a BBQ with extended counter in the flybridge, and oversized ground tackle – for starters. The additional weight prevents the boat from reaching the 59 Coastal Pilot’s advertised 20-21 kt. top speed but Katherina is still able to get up to 16-17 kts. at wide-open throttle, though the owner prefers to cruise at 9.5 kts. It’s a trade-off he stands behind. “Traveling at around 10 kts. is still going a third faster than my old trawler,” he said.
Being safely tied up in port during a storm is one thing, but what if you’re caught out at sea? The crew of Katherina dodged Isaias’ giant swells but encountered some 8-footers on their northerly trek that began in Florida. “We had green water over the salon windows and spray into the flybridge,” said the owner. “The stabilizers are tip top, however, and we plowed through just fine.”
Back at the dock, the 59 withstood the powerful conditions without much hoopla. When we asked the owner to send some photos of the storm, he emailed these shots of the galley and dining table. “We have fresh pasta, spicy Italian sausage sauce, broccolini and fresh baguette baking from dough – all at once!” he boasted. This is surviving a storm, Nordhavn-style.
