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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."

10/19/2025

Built in 1994 for the Swedish Lifeboat Society as an all-weather lifeboat complete with an icebreaking hull, the 80-foot Astra was converted with the aim of turning her into a cruising yacht that could go anywhere in the world.

Astra sits in the water rather than on it, and with a nine-foot draft she certainly takes up her share of the ocean. She is built of steel with plating close to ½-inch thick and close framing to match.

Immediately under the waterline at the bow the keel slopes away in icebreaker style so that she can ride up over ice and use her weight to break it up. I would guess that she could cope with ice up to two feet thick and possibly even thicker ice. Bilge keels were added on at the turn of the bilge to help reduce the rolling of this round-bilge hull

The main engine is a 1,350-hp Mitsubishi diesel, a pure mechanical unit with no electronics and no electric start. Gearing up to 8.5 knots, she can cruise for weeks burning just 12.5 gph, and the fuel tanks give the vessel a range exceeding 5,000 miles, enough to cross the Pacific.

This vessel was refit extensively a few years back and is now

📸 Astra

10/18/2025

The Krogen Express 52 has the salty, rugged appearance of a trawler, but something about her design also gives her the stylish look of a classic motoryacht. Maybe it’s her sheerline, which rises gracefully to a wide-flare, plumb bow. Or, possibly, it’s the way the cabin house, flybridge and deck lines mirror the cupped shape of the hull.

A pair of 480-hp Yanmar diesels push the semi-displacement hull to a top end of around 21 knots. The boat cruises most efficiently between 15 and 18 knots. Accommodations include two staterooms, with a roomy master in the bow. One of their favorite places onboard is the raised wheelhouse, which offers the couple easy sightlines and excellent views.

📸 Krogen Express

10/17/2025

For Joe Tokarz Jr. and his wife, Grace, a two-week cruise on a rented steel boat in the Dutch province of Friesland revealed a slow boater’s panacea.

"Friesland is known throughout Europe as a premier boating destination. Located northeast of Amsterdam and south of the Wadden Sea, its numerous rivers and canals connect several lakes and virtually all of the major towns in the province. It’s a rich cruising ground where the countryside has boating infrastructure and restaurants that serve cold beer and exotic cheese. It’s a paradise for the slow cruiser.

Our boat was a Simmerskip 900 from Yachtcharter Wetterville in Terherne. Simmerskip means “summer ship” in the Frisian language, and Wetterville means “water fun.” In the Netherlands, almost everyone speaks English, and of course Dutch, with Frisian reserved for the true locals and great monikers.

Over cold drinks, local cheese and bitterballen (a Dutch meat snack), a plan began to materialize. We decided to cruise along parts of the 11 Cities Route, what the Dutch refer to as Elfstedentocht (in the winter, this 100-kilometer route becomes the backdrop of a famous winter ice skating race). Just like the ice skaters, we would follow the canals, town to town, stopping to explore."

📸 Joe Tokarz Jr.

10/16/2025

New Trawler Talk podcast: Tropic Thunder

As long-range power cruisers, we know how to prepare the boat for travel to remote places, from servicing systems, stocking boats with spare parts and sundries to weather routing and more.

However, there are things we cannot be prepared for such as medical emergencies. When the care centers in these areas cannot accommodate your needs, you call our next guest—Anthony Marinello of Tropic Air Charters.

After decades of experience serving as a pilot as part of an elite Medevac team, he founded the first and only membership-based, private helicopter air ambulance in Bahamas.

Listen to "Tropic Thunder" wherever you find fine podcasts.

📸 Tropic Air Charters

10/15/2025

Hard chines and a full keel on her semidisplacement hull grant the American Tugs 485 comfortable cruising and flexibility. With single-engine power via Cummins or Volvo Penta, she can run all day at 8 knots, burning a miserly 3.5 gph, with 15-16 knots on tap, if needed.

📸

10/14/2025

Exploring the Utrechtse Vecht on the resdesigned Elling E4.

Near Maarssen in the Netherlands, there’s a small gap in the canal embankment. Under a fixed bridge just over 11 feet high, a narrow waterway leads through a (usually) open lock into the Vecht.

This connection releases boaters into a completely different world: on one side the busy canal, on the other the idyllic Utrechtse Vecht, where nature, charming towns, stately mansions and water sports are seemingly everywhere, just a stone’s throw from the bustling cities of Utrecht and Amsterdam.

The Vecht now holds significant value for recreational boating, even more so since 2010, when extensive efforts to improve water quality began. The entire river was dredged to remove polluted sludge left by the industrial past. Today, the water that flows toward either Utrecht or Muiden, depending on Markermeer lake water levels and rainfall, is of good quality. Nature is reclaiming the river, with birds and aquatic plants returning in abundance.

Read "In The Heart of Holland" in the October issue of Passagemaker.

📸 Alexander Worms

10/13/2025

"We wanted a vessel that would be strong, safe, fast, fun and efficient [and] settled on the concept of a long, lean aluminum passagemaker, a descendant of Beebe’s and Dashew’s designs. She would be a displacement boat capable of speeds faster than the average trawler, which meant a longer waterline," says Christine Kling, who, along with her husband, converted from sail to power with their aluminum trawler, Möbius.

The couple hired Dennis Harjamaa of Artnautica Yacht Design to design a vessel for them, which was built in Turkey. After launching her and shaking her down in the Med, the couple departed from Las Palmas (Canary Islands) to Sainte-Anne, Martinique, a near 2,800 nautical mile trip.

The boat is powered by a single 150-hp Gardner 6LXB engine. These British-made engines are only available as rebuilds. The Gardner turns a Nogva controllable pitch prop. The get-home plan was a combination of our inboard diesel tender and a LibertyKite sail from the French company Beyond the Sea. There's also a hydronic, in-sole heating system that uses the water from the Kabola diesel heater for the living areas

📸 Christine Kling

10/12/2025

The well-maintained Doggersbank 1950 Heritage was delivered in 1974, still excites her current owners because of her seakeeping behavior and functional layout.

This 63-footer was ahead of her time, and set a trend for many successful builds to come.

Photos by

10/11/2025

Built in 2000 and forming part of the Doggersbank long-range explorer series, the 90-foot, three stateroom Slow Poke underwent a significant refit after being purchased by an American owner.

She boasts completely rebuilt engines and generators, new electronics, and all-new pilothouse, plus the addition of a beach club with hydraulic swim platform and "a carefully CFD optimized bulbous bow [that] resulted in an extra 2 knots of speed and 10% less fuel burn," according to Doggersbank.

The bulbous bow incorporates underwater lighting and a glass window with cameras that allow guests to view marine life from screens in the guest staterooms and pilothouse.

From Doggersbank: "The original interior architecture by Vripack—layout, walls, floors and technical integration—remains virtually unchanged, while the new interior [in] bold blues, greens—even black in the main salon—are paired with original cherry wood panelling, moudings and trims to create a warm and cozy ambience with a high-end residential feel and custom finishes design."

📸 Vripack

10/10/2025

Meet the Nordhavn 46 MK II.

It’s been 40 years since Nordhavn founders Jim Leishman and Dan Streech introduced their debut model, the 46, to the world. According to the builder, the N46 is the undisputed champ, holding the production motoryacht record for transoceanic crossings and circumnavigations.

Twenty-seven sister models and over 700 hulls later, its next-gen model, the 46 MK II, is coming to a marina near you.

From the builder: “She’ll be equipped with twin engines [2x 135-hp Nanni] that won’t reduce efficiency but offer better safety and reliability than her predecessor’s single screw. The newly designed underbody improves steering, while modern materials increase hull strength and provide a quieter ride.

Newly thought-out space planning has resulted in a near walk-in engine room and fuel tanks with over 30% more capacity for greater range at higher speeds. The evolution of the electrical system, along with the incorporation of lithium-ion batteries, means proportional controls for thrusters and longer stretches away from power hook-ups without needing to run the generator. The new 46 II also includes as standard a full-size washer/dryer, air conditioning, diesel heat and stabilizers.”

The 46 MK II is in-build at Nordhavn’s South Coast, Taiwan facility and will come with nearly everything one needs as standard equipment—the only options are for a tender and a watermaker.

📸 Nordhavn Yachts

10/09/2025

The origin story of Deep Water Yachts is about someone who was unsatisfied with current offerings, and who was graced with an entrepreneurial, restless mind.

Founder Peter J. Bost was raised by the sea in Holland and pursued a career in the Netherlands Marine Corps. After serving his country, he logged thousands of nautical miles on a fiberglass vessel, wandering about the European coastline from Belgium to the French Riviera.

“I found out what I wanted and didn’t like on a boat,” Bost says. He spent several months going around Holland “looking at all these little yards for the ideal boat, and I couldn’t find it.” Undeterred, he wrote his own set of specifications, found a naval architect who could interpret them to his liking, and settled on a concept for Deep Water Yachts.

The two-stateroom, two-head, Deep Water Korvet50CLR (Compact Long Range) is the result of the collaboration. The Korvet’s ethos as a no-nonsense cruiser is readily apparent in the untreated-aluminum, round-bilge, single-chine hull. It also has a wave piercer that Bost says improves tracking and fuel efficiency.

ost also wanted the Korvet50CLR to be fuel efficient for longer-distance cruising at an above-displacement speed. Her lightweight aluminum hull, with a 14-foot, 2-inch beam, translates to a fast cruise about 30 percent quicker than a similar-size steel or fiberglass vessel, according to Bost. “We cruise at 10 knots with very favorable fuel economy,” he says, adding that wide-open speed is 18 knots.

At 7 knots, the 50CLR burns 3.2 gallons of fuel an hour for a range of around 1,517 nautical miles. When you double the speed to 14 knots, her slippery hull still manages a stellar 1,213 nm.

📸 Deep Water Yachts

10/08/2025

A monthlong, 2,344-nautical-mile journey from Japan to Alaska on a Selene 53 was a cruise into beauty and history.

“Leg One would be from Japan to the city of Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia, where we would be able to buy fuel. Leg Two would be east to the Aleutian Islands at Attu. In this scenario, the longest passage from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to the city of Petropavlovsk would be about 900 miles—well within the comfortable range at a more typical cruising speed of around 7.5 knots.

"It was cold and uncomfortable at times, but totally worth it. The scenery was wild and breathtaking, but the journey was as much about seeing history, and meeting kind and generous people...even in the remotest of places," says Capt. Mark Tilden.

📸 Mark Tilden

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PassageMaker was born of our own interest in extended cruising...In our search, we found there was no central place—dedicated to trawlers and ocean motorboats—for the owner and potential owner to go for information, news, and ideas. And no targeted, efficient way for designers, builders, manufacturers, and service providers to communicate to all of you owners and would–be owners. So we created PassageMaker. —Founding Editor, Bill Parlatore