As I’m typing this, Sans Souci is topping off the fuel tanks, and will leave in the next hour for their first long passage; from Los Suenos Costa Rica, to Hualtulco in Mexico.
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Note: I threw together this route in minutes, just
to give a sense of the route the boat is taking.
It is not what the crew is using for navigation.
The run is approximately 1,000 miles and should take just over four days. They will be running off the shores of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, San Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
According to our weather router, the trip should be fairly smooth, although there is a tropical storm starting to form farther north. It is possible that when the boat arrives in Hualtulco they will have a weather delay.
Yesterday was a struggle as the crew tried to get all systems 100% operational. I was working with them to resolve the electrical problem with the 16kw generator until late last night. Ultimately, it turned out to really be nothing more than the air conditioning system continuing to fail, and create havoc elsewhere in the system. Each time they would get the 16kw generator running, they would start the air conditioning, only to watch fuses blows a few minutes later.
The sad part about all of this is that the a/c will probably be a simple fix once we get the boat to Dana Point (Nordhavn’s headquarters). I was recently on the second Nordhavn 68, and personally witnessed the a/c running flawlessly. I have renewed confidence that my units will be fine, if I can just get them repaired.
The boat could certainly run without the air conditioning if it had to, but it wouldn’t be much fun. The good news is that now that the crew understands the issue, they are learning how to “baby” the a/c system to keep it happy. When I spoke to them an hour ago the crew felt excited about this upcoming trip, and confident in the boat.
As to my own cruising next summer…
Roberta and I had dinner with another Nordhavn-owning couple last week. As the dinner progressed, we started discussing upcoming cruising plans. They mentioned they were considering crossing the Pacific but had no firm plans. We described our upcoming journey to Japan via the Bering Sea and Siberia. As of yesterday morning, it is starting to look good that our little fleet may have added another boat!
-Ken W