When we last checked in with the Gardyne family from Alameda, California, they had just returned from a trip on their Nordhavn 40, MV Cassidy, up to Juneau, Alaska, last summer. The trip was such a success that the Gardynes, Dougal, Jen and Cassidy, then 7, wanted to move up to a bigger boat. Now, it turns out, they’ve found one. It’s still a Nordhavn and it’s much bigger, at 56 feet, but it’s a motorsailor, and they don’t know how to sail. Ever adventurous, they say they’ll get some expert advice and figure it out.
The Gardynes loved the original Cassidy. They sold their house, car and most of their earthly possessions when they bought it three years ago. Powered by a 105-hp Lugger diesel, they cruised up and down the West Coast, and particularly enjoyed their voyage to Alaska last summer (see the picture above).
But when they got back they put up for sale. Cassidy sold fairly quickly after they took it down near the Nordhavn office in Dana Point, and they started looking at much larger boats, including a large cat in Mexico and several other Nordhavns. Finally they settled on the motorsailor, hull number eight, built in 2010. It’s in St. Petersburg, Florida.
It’s a big move from 40 to 56 feet, and at 95,000 pounds, the Nordhavn 56 Motorsailor is a big boat. It has three staterooms, a pilothouse, a lower salon and galley, a full-sized washer and dryer and an outdoor grill and fridge in the cockpit. They say its variable pitch prop matches the engine loading to the level of assist from the sails.
The new boat, also called Cassidy, has a 7-foot draft and a 165-hp Lugger for power. Plus, of course, the sails.
The Gardynes now are planning to move the gear they saved from Cassidy, the powerboat, to Cassidy, the motorsailor. Then, once they get used to sailing, they plan to cruise through the Panama Canal and up to Mexico. Read more:
http://www.mvcassidy.com/2019/03/02/a-preview-of-our–new–vessel
