By Jeff Merrill

From the very beginning, Nordhavn 57 Time2 was built with guiding other boats in mind. She was launched in 2004 and christened the Atlantic Escort in anticipation of her role as leader of the fleet of 18 trawlers (15 Nordhavns) that went across the pond in the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally (NAR). She was outfitted with a unique tow bar as a precaution in the event that one of the boats in the fleet needed to be brought home safely to port.

Atlantic Escort’s towing finesse was never required during the NAR and after arriving across the sea she was sold and explored Europe.  Last year she was purchased by Lynn and Mike Drinkrow and came back across the Atlantic where she has continued to travel and explore.

A few weeks ago Lynn wrote me an email to tell me that she and Mike had actually used the towing apparatus to assist with a disabled sailboat.  Here is what Lynn reported:“The boat rescued was called Carolina Susanna. She had run aground on a reef in San Blas, was pulled off and then towed to Isla Grande by locals.  She was totally disabled as there was water in the engine, a crack in the keel, taking on water and she had lost her rudder!  We picked her up in Isla Grande and towed her from there.  All this was coordinated by the guys from Capt Jack’s, a fun cruiser bar in Portobello. We used very long lines (about 180ft) in a bridle set-up form, his bow to our towing bollard. The line was weighted with a length of chain in the middle to keep it from whipping around. Motored at 6 knots all the way to Shelter Bay, dodging some large ships exciting the canal!  At 1100 rpm, we maintained 6 knots and estimated that we only lost about 0.6 of a knot with the estimated 20 t tow.  Just before the entrance to the marina, we took the boat alongside Time2, tying her tightly to us with bow, stern and spring lines… and many fenders. We then took her into the marina, and pushed her with our bow and stern thrusters on to the marina – they luckily have a very long pontoon. All went well, and luckily the weather was clear and very calm.”

Good work Time2, yet another Nordhavn that saved the day. Now, I’m not saying that rescuing Nordhavns will outnumber ocean crossing Nordhavns anytime soon, but there have been a number of documented assists by our boats (such as the efforts of N55 Amandla II and N47 Serena Ray. Plus, stay tuned for another rescue story from this past summer featuring Nordhavn 55 Rhapsody.)

Time2 is working her way up the west coast of Central and North America and I look forward to congratulating Mike and Lynn for being such good Samaritans out on the water and for giving us at PAE another reason to be so proud of our Nordhavn owners.