Passagemaker Magazine

Passagemaker Magazine The Long-Range Cruising Authority

Passagemaker was born of a common interest in extended voyaging to inform, educate and inspire trawler and long-range cruising enthusiasts worldwide. Passagemaker is a multi-dimensional brand spanning a print magazine reaching 18,000 subscribers, a comprehensive website and daily newsletter, an engaging social media suite and podcast "Trawler Talk."

Medora was drawn by Ray Hunt Designs and built by Burger Boats (Hull 466c) in 1988 of welded aluminum in Manitowoc, Wisc...
09/05/2026

Medora was drawn by Ray Hunt Designs and built by Burger Boats (Hull 466c) in 1988 of welded aluminum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The 72-foot aft cabin yacht has a 19-foot beam, a 3-foot, 8-inch draft and is powered by twin 760-hp MANs that propel her to a 20-knot cruise and a 24-knot top speed.

According to Hunt, her original owner was an seasoned yachtsman that had owned previous designs. Hunt says:

"Her appearance is traditional, in this case rather military, and she makes no attempt to squeeze the maximum of accommodation into a given length, to the benefit of appearance and performance. Her arrangement allows for a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, from which to enjoy pleasant harbors, and her Hunt deep-V hull and ample power make her an all-weather cruiser."

📸 Hunt Yacht Design

The Outer Reef 540 Adventure Sport Yacht is the latest addition to the builder’s aluminum offerings following its strate...
09/04/2026

The Outer Reef 540 Adventure Sport Yacht is the latest addition to the builder’s aluminum offerings following its strategic merger with the Dutch shipyard Lynx Yachts a few years back.

Similar to past models, the 540 is designed and engineered in the Netherlands with a team that includes Weel Sluijter Design, Studio Delta Naval Architects, Julian Moore Design and Outer Reef. Her hull will be CE A-class rated for open-ocean navigation.

What makes this boat singular in the Outer Reef lineup is its propulsion package: Standard power is a quartet of commercially rated, 500-hp Mercury SeaPro V-12 outboards. The builder says the combination of performance, efficiency and maneuverability are unmatched, and at displacement speeds are slated to deliver about 2,000 nautical miles of range.

There's a garage between the power plants for a Williams jet tender and a PWC, racks on the hardtop for stand-up paddleboards plus dedicated room for multiple SEABOBs and dive equipment, with an onboard dive compressor.

"The 540 Adventure Sport Yacht … is fresh, contemporary and built around an active lifestyle, while still delivering the comfort, range, and capabilities that define every Outer Reef. Whether cruising the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, the Great Loop, or the Mediterranean, this yacht offers the best of both worlds, exceptional adventure capabilities combined with the quality and long-range pedigree our owners have come to expect," says Jeff Druek, president of the Outer Reef Group.

The three-stateroom, two-head layout includes a full-beam, amidships master stateroom with a king berth; a VIP forward; and a portside guest stateroom with twin bunks. Crew quarters are optional.

📸 Outer Reef Yachts

At her core, the Nordic Tug 40 looks much like her predecessors, but with clever updates and modern refinements to suit ...
09/03/2026

At her core, the Nordic Tug 40 looks much like her predecessors, but with clever updates and modern refinements to suit today’s buyers.

The swim platform is now on the same level as the cockpit, a recent update. Entering her salon, I was heartened by a layout that stressed livability. Sliding windows to port and starboard, and the rear sliding door, illuminated the space,

The pilothouse has sliding windows to port and starboard, and aft-facing, opening windows built into the headliner. Doors to port and starboard (the latter a recent and welcome addition to the 40’s layout) can further air out the area, and should make things easy for single-handers or a cruising couple. Walking through one side onto the foredeck and back through the other side, I found beefy handholds on the side decks and a sturdy bowrail that came up between my knee and waist.

The 40 reached a top speed of 17 knots with the throttle pinned. She proved economical, as well: At 9.5 knots, she returned a range of just over 600 nautical miles. Backing off to 1400 rpm and 8 knots showed the 40 was capable of cruising 1,054 nm before refueling. No speed or range anxiety here.

📸 Nordic Tugs

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The crew at our sister publication Soundings spend a fair amount of time in the waters around New England and turned us ...
09/02/2026

The crew at our sister publication Soundings spend a fair amount of time in the waters around New England and turned us on to this classic Burger motoryacht that is summering there.

Designed by naval architect Jack Hargrave, Chanticleer splashed in 1973. At the time she was the largest-ever boat launched from its Manitowoc, Wisconsin shipyard and the first with a helipad.

According to Soundings, Chanticleer is just off a restoration via Cracker Boy Boat Works in Riviera Beach, Fla, where she received fresh paint, new teak decking and carefully considered interior updates.

"Designer Kellie Burke worked with the owners to refresh the interiors with a lighter palette that takes its cues from the natural world and complements the original wood and varnished finishes. Updated materials and decorative elements were also added, without stripping the yacht of its character.

Staterooms were refinished, the master bath was rebuilt, and modern systems—including new navigation electronics and an air purification system—were integrated without disturbing the bones of the original build," says Soundings. The Roy Lichtenstein lithographs throughout are the chef's kiss.

📸 Denison

The Robert Gray was commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the depths of the Great Depression. Her firs...
09/01/2026

The Robert Gray was commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the depths of the Great Depression. Her first mission was charting and plotting the Columbia River—which is why she got her name, as Gray was the first Anglo to discover the Columbia River.

The 400,000 pound beast was built to handle rough Pacific Northwest conditions. Her classic, high-bowed tug-meets-trawler hull was built of high-iron content, heavy-plate American steel. All that steel was stitched together with 200,000 rivets.

Her six staterooms and railings were trimmed in gorgeous Northwestern fir, a fine contrast to the bronzework—from hatches to skeleton key doorknobs to the hook latches that kept her original screen doors in place amidst wind and sea.

In 1970, her trusty old drive train was replaced with a 850-hp Caterpillar D-398. The stout motor’s compression is still within factory spec today and tops the ship out at 10 knots. It’s remarkably efficient too. At an 8-knot cruise, the Gray consumes under ten gallons of diesel an hour, giving her a range of over 6,000 nautical miles.

Currently underway on the southern leg of a North American circumnavigation, this 125-ft platform offers a rare opportunity to support a wide range of missions—from oceanographic work to cultural, historical, and exploratory programs.

đź“· S. David Alford, Leila Davenport Ross

Nordhavn Yachts is excited to display at the Newport International Boat Show this month! Step aboard the beautiful and v...
08/31/2026

Nordhavn Yachts is excited to display at the Newport International Boat Show this month! Step aboard the beautiful and versatile couples trawler, the Nordhavn 475. Perfect for owner-operators looking to take extended trips in comfort with room for guests or kids. https://nordhavn.com/2026-nordhavn-rendezvous/

The craftsmanship of North Pacific 490 was apparent as I walked from the cockpit into the salon. She has gorgeous, satin...
08/31/2026

The craftsmanship of North Pacific 490 was apparent as I walked from the cockpit into the salon. She has gorgeous, satin-finished, grain-matched, horizontal teak with contrasting wenge and white oak soles. Panoramas of bonded glass, soaring headroom and the absence of full walkaround side decks give the salon an open, airy quality.

As much as I like an aft galley to service the cockpit and salon easily, the amidship position means gaining a full-size fridge and freezer to anchor the area, and more counter space than an aft galley can offer. Mosaic tiles and bone-white Silestone countertops with subtle dark veins are fine additions to the contemporary palette. The chef’s kiss may be the operable windows that flank the galley, a fine way to get some cross-ventilation with the sliding door to the cockpit.

The couple that built her decided to up the fuel capacity to 920 gallons, which is 30 percent more than the standard 700 gallons. They also selected a single 355-hp Cummins power plant instead of twin 480-hp engines.

Where the twins would give the CE Class A-rated semi-displacement hull a higher top end, the calculated range and economical speeds for the single engine are a fine match: 1,705 nautical miles at 7 knots; 1,380 nm at 8 knots; 943 nm at 9 knots; and 845 nm at 10 knots, all with a 10 percent reserve. At her top speed of 11.5 knots, the boat has a range of more than 500 nm.

For more on the North Pacific 490, subscribe to Passagemaker at the link in our bio.

📸

Josephine is special—with a beautiful canoe stern, purple heart anchor billboards, artful rub rails and a stunning white...
08/30/2026

Josephine is special—with a beautiful canoe stern, purple heart anchor billboards, artful rub rails and a stunning white-on-forest green paint scheme.

The boat was originally commissioned and launched in 1934 by the Tacoma Boat Company, which specialized in workboat construction. Her owner, boatbuilder and designer Sam Devlin, says this about Josephine: "In extensively cruising ... I’ve come to appreciate many of her qualities. She’s a strong boat, comfortable in a rolling sea, and graceful in a classic workboat sense."

📸 Jonathan Cooper

Repost from Lyman-Morse BoatbuildingProudly introducing the new Hood 42 LM, a yacht that embodies everything Lyman-Morse...
08/29/2026

Repost from Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding

Proudly introducing the new Hood 42 LM, a yacht that embodies everything Lyman-Morse has become known for over nearly five decades.

Designed by C.W. Hood Yacht Design and handcrafted in Maine, she captures the enduring elegance of classic New England yacht design while incorporating some of the most advanced construction methods, engineering, and onboard systems available today.

Built using Lyman-Morse’s cold-molded wood composite construction process, the delivers exceptional strength, refinement, and performance beneath a profile defined by graceful proportions, varnished mahogany, bronze accents, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Photos by Cory Silken

classicboat motoryacht

Starting with just a bare hull, a couple perseveres to build this Ed Monk Jr.–designed expedition yacht.Back in the mid-...
08/28/2026

Starting with just a bare hull, a couple perseveres to build this Ed Monk Jr.–designed expedition yacht.

Back in the mid-aughts, the owner saw a two-line listing for a 67-foot trawler hull in the classifieds of a boating publication. Intrigued, he emailed the seller and received back several photos and the design drawings.

After making a deal, he built the entire boat from the hull up with his own two hands—and occasional help from friends and family when more than two hands were needed.

The owners made many updates from the original plans. Significant changes, such as adding doors along the side of the house—one forward of the settee and one in the galley. Originally, the only way to access the deck was via the aft doors in the salon.

The new owners also put a great deal of thought into their galley design, in a way only liveaboard boatbuilders can. They added about three feet to the pilothouse to accommodate a bunk. He changed the layout of the staterooms, doing away with the single bunks in favor of a queen berth for each cabin.

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