FUBAR Odssey The Fubar Odyssey blog Ken Williams' blog Nordhavns Lead The Way in Fubar Odyssey Alanui Will Call

November 5, 2007

On Wednesday, six Nordhavns will take part in a giant powerboat rally which will bring participants down the Baja peninsula from San Diego to La Paz, Mexico. Dubbed the FUBAR Odyssey, more than 50 powerboats will travel 900+ miles together, making multiple stops in Mexican harbors such as Ensenada and Turtle Bay. They will be accompanied by five escort vessels, three of which are Nordhavns: Nordhavn 55 "Pacific Escort" helmed by PAE's Jim Leishman and Nordhavn 68 "Sans Souci", owned by Ken and Roberta Williams; David Fulton’s Nordhavn 76 “Cadenza” will serve as an advance boat. FUBAR, or Fleet Underway to Baja Rally, is the first powerboat rally to explore the region's unforgiving coast.

Initially, organizers hoped to get around 30 boats to join the rally, but wound up having to cap the number of participants at 53 and were left with an extensive waiting list. Rally founder and chairman, Bruce Kessler, attributes the allure of FUBAR to the route, support and camaraderie it will offer. There are very few harbors of refuge along the often treacherous coast, said Kessler, and while Nordhavns have an estimated 3,000-nm range at 8 kts. - the rally’s cruising speed - most other powerboats do not, so re-fueling becomes an issue. (Participating boats are required to have a range of at least 450 nm at 8 kts.) FUBAR will not only provide participants with fuel arrangements, but also technical support and shoreside entertainment. “It’s an appealing premise to many mid-size boat owners who might be lacking the confidence to travel this area otherwise,” said Kessler. While for many others, he adds, it’s all about enjoying the company of others.

Playing the role of escort will be old hat for Leishman and Williams. As fleet leader and organizer of the 2004 Nordhavn Atlantic Rallly, Leishman had fewer boats under his wing, but more ground to cover. Crewing on board “Pacific Escort alongside Jim Leishman is his brother, Nordhavn’s Chief Architect and owner, Jeff Leishman; as well as Jim’s sons James and Eric, both salesmen in the Southwest office.

 Williams also served as an escort boat in the NAR on board his former Nordhavn 62. He is providing the web support for FUBAR’s website.

You can follow along with “Pacific Escort” via crew member Jim Kirby’s blog or check out the day-to-day activities via Ken Williams' blog.

For more photos and information, visit Fubar’s site, www.fubarodyssey.com.

All proceeds generated by FUBAR will go to the junior sailing division of the Del Rey Yacht Club.

-JMS

FUBAR ITINERARY:

The estimated elapsed time for this trip is approximately 16 days (underway and in port), weather permitting.  Two days should be added for potential weather problems and/or other delays.

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March 17, 2008

Nordhavn 55, "Tenacious"

By Jeff Merrill

Lots of Nordhavn owners send us photos of their boats in beautiful or unusual settings, which is great because that means we can post them to our Photo Gallery and share them with you. When I saw that one of my customers, Marty Ellison, had e-mailed me a photo of his Nordhavn 55, "Tenacious", I promptly took the step of forwarding it along to be submitted for the website. But I stopped short of pressing send and reconsidered. This is a very unique shot! Unique enough that it warrants an equally clever caption. So I pass the task on to you, the readers of nordhavn.com. If you think you can wordsmith your way into providing a proper caption for this photo, please submit it to us. We'd love to see what you come up with! Please send entries to amy@nordhavn.com by March 23. The best ones will be featured on nordhavn.com next week and the winner will win a free Nordhavn cap.

By the way, let me use this opportunity to re-extend to all you Nordhavn owners out there the invitation to send us your great Nordhavn shots. We're still looking for super images to be featured in next year's calendar. You can submit them to amy@nordhavn.com. Don't forget, there are a few Nordhavn calendars left that can still be had for cheap!

Jeff Merrill is a representative in the Nordhavn Yachts Southwest sales office. He can be e-mailed at jeff.merrill@nordhavn.com.

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