Nordic 40?

[forward62]

Hello to the Community! A newby to the system so please pardon any errors. I am moving in a new direction from small boat to looking at a live aboard. I seem to be drawn to a Nordic 40 and would be greatly appreciative to any opinions from people with any experiences on it.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, forward.

"CW" Review ➥ http://www.cruisingworld.com/sailboa...lle-bellingham

[Hudson Force]

forward62, Welcome to the community. It would probably be best for you to add more information to your question by including your expectations for the boat. The Nordic 40 appears to have some fine characteristics,- 'more of a performance boat than some of the other Perry designs. The draft can be a drawback in some cruising areas. Where would you be using the boat? What size family or crew would you expect? "Live aboard" is defined differently by many. What are your cruising expectations?

[jtsailjt]

I had a Nordic 44 for 11 years and loved it. If you want an aft cockpit cruising boat with decent performance around that size range, I can't think of a boat that's better. They are very ruggedly built and no shortcuts were taken in construction. One nice feature that's a bit unusual is that just after the transverse bulkheads are installed, they glue a layer of closed cell phone on the inside of the entire hull and that prevents sweating and dampness which avoids the growth of mold and mildew in addition to giving you a bit of thermal insulation. They sail very nicely and you can have confidence in them in really nasty weather. Bob Perry knows what he's doing and he still speaks highly of these boats. Layout below is very good with a decent galley and a separate molded fiberglass shower stall tucked in under the wide coamings. For a liveaboard that's a nice feature, both for showering and for use of a wet locker for your foulies while off watch while offshore.

The deck was covered with many pieces of a glued down non-skid material that will probably need replacing. The guy who bought my old boat patterned all the pieces of non-skid and had new pieces made and glued it down himself and that's probably the best solution. If you buy the boat and need info, I can put you in touch with him.

I think the 40 is very similar to the 44 but you can always use the extra storage space and with everything led back to the cockpit they're easily to sail shorthanded, so why not try to find a 44?

[Cheechako]

Great design. Each boat needs evaluated. Look also at the Passport 40 maybe.

[forward62]

Thanks for all responses so far. In response to a few details I did not include. It would be a crew of 2, husband and wife, with occasional guests. Being presently small boat sailors, and not in the position to leave just yet, the plan is to spend time on the north east coast, presently live in Maine, and fine tune our skills on the larger boat with intentions of heading south and towards the islands, Anguilla is on list, as well as others certainly as a start. A large concern of mine is the 6'4" draft that is specified and the change in draft as the vessel is provisioned unsure if the 6' range is considered a bit much for much of those areas.
I have been flip flopping on center bds. researched a couple of interest, Allied xl42, Sabre 42, and have sailed on a Bristol 38.8 and seem to be leaning in the cb. direction but am keeping eyes open on various options as is obvious with the Nordic. All opinions are of great value to me. Thanks

[Cheechako]

I did the E. Caribe with 6-6+ draft. I would have liked to have less in the Bahamas, but didn't feel it was too restrictive really. Didn't have a problem anywhere else. Ran aground at least 3 times in Florida/ICW though.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by forward62

Thanks for all responses so far. In response to a few details I did not include. It would be a crew of 2, husband and wife, with occasional guests. Being presently small boat sailors, and not in the position to leave just yet, the plan is to spend time on the north east coast, presently live in Maine, and fine tune our skills on the larger boat with intentions of heading south and towards the islands, Anguilla is on list, as well as others certainly as a start. A large concern of mine is the 6'4" draft that is specified and the change in draft as the vessel is provisioned unsure if the 6' range is considered a bit much for much of those areas.
I have been flip flopping on center bds. researched a couple of interest, Allied xl42, Sabre 42, and have sailed on a Bristol 38.8 and seem to be leaning in the cb. direction but am keeping eyes open on various options as is obvious with the Nordic. All opinions are of great value to me. Thanks

I had my 7.5' draft Nordic 44 in Marsh Harbor over one winter and did plow a few furrows with my keel entering and exiting harbors, but it wasn't really a problem. Usually, in these harbors with shallow entrances, there's only a small area that you have to get over and then it gets a bit deeper in the actual harbor so you just have to time your arrival and departure near high tide, and in most harbors, 6'4" would be no problem at all and in pretty much the whole rest of where you'll likely be cruising on the east coast of the US and the Caribbean, deeper draft is a definite asset. Since the Nordic has bolted on lead ballast, slowly dragging the tip of it through some sand doesn't hurt anything. Also, you're not going to spend much time sailing your 5' draft CB boat in areas that are only 6' deep so harbor entrances and exits are really the only place where it's an issue and for me at least, I didn't find it to be much of a problem at all.

In high seas and high winds, I really appreciated the general ruggedness of the boat and the stability of that deep keel because I fell off a few big waves and that boat always landed upright like a dropped cat on it's feet. The shallow draft of the CB boats would be convenient entering/exiting those shallow harbors but they won't have the stability of the Nordic and for 99% of the time you're sailing it, you'll enjoy its greater stiffness and stability. Also, if you put them side by side and compare details of the build quality of a Nordic vs a Saber, you'll start to appreciate the Nordic.....