The above excerpt is from the Nordhaven website.

I have just today become acquainted with the Mason line of sailboats and I gotta say I am in lust! If you notice there is a beauty sitting in the much acclaimed “Boatdejour” spot to the left. What a beauty! If I were to come into some money tomorrow there is a very good chance I would be calling a broker. As a certain Mr. Tilllerman used to be fond of saying, “OMG!” I don’t know if there are still any readers left of the once popular Boat de Jour, but if you have any experience with these beauties I would love to hear about it.

Feast your eyes on these!

All images compliments of www.yachtworld.com

Here is a video from last spring. Our first sail aboard our beloved Islander 28. Let me know what you think of the video! As spring seems to be fully upon us now, I thought it would be nice to see a little sailing from last year. I have some boat projects this year before Aurion will be ready for spring commissioning (don’t we all), but anticipation is running high! Temperatures in the mid to upper seventies, in March! In Minnesota!

My wife and I toured the ship at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN recently. We were awestruck by Robert’s tenaciousness and his unwavering commitment to complete his dream even after being diagnosed with leukemia. Unfortunately, Robert passed away before his dream of sailing the ship to Norway was realized. He did however, sail her as captain for four months on Lake Superior as they worked out the bugs and prepared Hjemkomst for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Two years later his family and other members of the crew decided to complete their brother’s dream and sail her to Norway. This coming August marks the 30th year anniversary of their voyage.

Their voyage was not without incident. 500 miles from the Atlantic coast the Hjemkomst suffered severe structural damage in the form of a 14 foot crack in the garboard. The resourceful crew made repairs at sea and continued on making landfall on August 9th, 1982 to a celebration and reunion in Oslo Norway. The crew’s accommodations consisted of what amounted to a canvas tent with wooden bunks inside, if you could call it “inside”. The tent was on the floor of the open boat and just aft of the mast. The ship measured 76 feet long and had a beam of 17 feet. She had rocks for ballast.

If you have the time I recommend watching the video, it is quite interesting.

Watch The Hjemkomst of Robert Asp on PBS. See more from Postcards.

I found the beauty below while perusing sailboats which are for sale in the Great Lakes region. She is offered by Larsen Marine which is located in Racine, WI.

Photo courtesy of Yachworld.com

Below is the sail plan drawing, my inner boat nerd loves these.

Image courtesy of Yachtworld.com

The Passport 40 has been described as fast, nimble and sea-kindly. There were two different cabin layouts it appears. The video shows a conventional layout with an owners suite in the bow section, while the one listed on Yachtworld shows the other layout with a Pullman style double berth to port and the head in the bow. I love the Pullman arrangement, but wonder how much fun in would be to use the head while pounding to windward in heavy seas. I love a challenge, so maybe it would be fun. Or perhaps my over active imagination is creating situations that don’t prove out in the pudding. In either case, I love the lines above and below the waterline of this beauty from the drawing board of Robert Perry.

Another interesting tidbit I discovered while researching was that the design for the Passport 40 was initially requested by Wendell Renkin of Passport Yachts based on Bob’s work on the Islander Freeport 36. I think you all know my affinity for Islander’s of any flavor. That little piece of information just makes the Passport 40 all the more attractive to me. Coup de foudre!