MV True North

In July 2007, True North completed commissioning at Selene Yacht Services and eagerly “off” we went. 

This was to be our first time skippering a 40-plus foot trawler (48' LOA).

Though we had spent weeks on this class of boat as crew and I had taken loads of Power Squadron and other training, historically and most recently Sheila and I have been sailors with our largest boat being a Baba 30. Though we have had some motor boats, most especially a 25 foot Bayliner in the mid-80's, we wanted to start off close to home to make sure we knew what we were doing.

We began in South Puget Sound and made a number of 1 and 2 week journeys and by the end of Summer, worked our way north thru Deception Pass to Victoria, BC.

We accumulated 180 hours of driving time and determined that our most efficient cruising was at ~6.5 knots an hour at 1550 RPM. We got ~2.5 nautical miles a gallon and burned ~2.5 gallons an hour, if I did my math correctly. We travelled about 800 nautical miles or 920 statute miles.

“Crew” for various legs included my brothers and friends from Puget Sound (many with great boating experience) as well as from other areas in the U.S. 

At other times during the Summer, we were able to host sailors off the US Navy's Bunker Hill during Fleet Week and went out for other Seattle-centric trips with friends. Many thanks to Frank and Beau and Al and Bob and Mike and Les and to others who enjoyed the Summer with us.

By the end of Summer, we felt good about our ability to dock, anchor, run in fog, and run in the 2-4 foot seas we encountered. And we were confident in our ability to use the instrumentation and chart plotter, radar, radio, etc.  As importantly, we felt confident in the boat and its reliability.

A good beginning indeed.