With the current trend for long-range cruising and expedition yachts, you might want to take a look at the Dutch-built Altena 53 Blue Water Trawler, a sturdy, safe, steel-hulled cruiser.
Altena has been building custom canal and blue-water explorer yachts since 1969. The 53 is one of five models in the 48- to 58-foot size range of blue-water cruisers. You can order it with one or two engines, but the standard 215-hp Cat 3306 diesel produces a top speed of 9 knots. At 5 knots, the boat has a range of 5,000 nm.
If you order the single engine, you also can get a 56-hp Vetus get-home engine with its own shaft and prop. The hull has a double chine and the main prop is fully protected. The boat comes with stabilizers.
The Altena 53 is built like a little ship. The steel hull is 6 mm thick; the side decks are wide for walking around safety; the rails are high. The doors to the pilothouse are built to be storm proof.
The boat has watertight compartments throughout; in the aftpeak, the aft stateroom, the engine room, the forepeak stateroom, and the forepeak.
The company says the boat is designed for owners who want to cruise along the coasts or the open sea “where comfort and safety are the major importance.”
The owner’s stateroom is aft, with a large en suite head, a lobby, and access to the engine room. Another stateroom is forward with its own head.
The salon is meant for relaxing and socializing, and then it’s up a few steps to the pilothouse, which has a massive chart area and a large helm station; a second helm station is up on the flybridge. A comfortable aft deck is protected by the overhang from the boat deck.
We don’t have the complete specs, but the boat has an LOA of 53’ 10”, a beam of 15’ 9”; and a displacement of 92,000 pounds. Read more:
