In the vein of the Nordhavn 120 delivery comes another transit of the South China Sea, this time by Nordhavn 86 Koonoona. Like the trip undertaken by her famous big sister, Koonoona will set sail from the South Coast factory in Xiamen, China, to be delivered to her owner and will make a stop in Hong Kong. The trip will also be crewed by PAE staff including president Dan Streech, project manager Trever Smith, salesman Eric Leishman, as well as webmaster and graphic artist Doug Harlow, who will document the journey on nordhavn.com. And, just as was the case with the N120, Koonoona’s owners are repeat Nordhavn buyers; this owner, who hails from Asia, previously owned a Nordhavn 62.
The voyage, scheduled to commence April 30, is bound to be another exciting one for Nordhavn fans to follow, but despite the many similarities there are major differences between the two deliveries. Most evident is the “seatrial” tone the delivery of N120#1 Aurora took on. The first hull of Nordhavn’s new queenship had performed admirably in ocean maneuvers during certification tests and was expected to complete the approximate 6,000-nm trip from China to Vancouver, BC, without problem (which, in fact, proved to be the result). Indeed, the 120 delivery was all business with the vessel’s owners on board tolearn and experience their new yacht, saving sight-seeing ports of call for future trips.
With this being hull number #10 of the N86 design, the designers, engineers and owners are able to go into the trip with a more tangible confidence bolstered by the sort of proven track record this model provides. And so, Koonoona’s owners will fly into Malaysia and meet the boat in Kuala Terrengganu where they will enjoy the final leg to Singapore, taking part in a scheduled fishing expedition whileanchored off Tiomen Island.
Upon arrival to Singapore, the boat will be officially handed over toher owners at the famed Raffles Marina, where countless Nordhavns have visited – it was a favorite layover spot of the crews onboard the Around The World Nordhavn 40 back in 2000. From there, she will eventually be based in Indonesia, making her the first Indonesian-based Nordhavn.
The 1,850-nm trip is nowhere near the estimated 6,000-nm journey faced by Aurora and her crew, but it will be nonetheless epic and inspiring. A special website section dedicated to real time video, blogs, tracking and images will keep you on top of everything happening on board Koonoona.