Sailing to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean 1500

The Boat

Night Heron in its slip at Tidewater Marina before leaving for the Caribbean. Click on the left-hand picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here.

More views of Night Heron at Tidewater Marina.

Night Heron is a custom 52-foot cutter that was designed by Ted Brewer and built in the Philippines in 1990. The boat is of very sturdy construction (with a displacement of about 60,000 lbs) and is designed for safe and comfortable offshore passagemaking. Previous owners have made numerous, lengthy, offshore voyages.

The boat is a "raised salon" type with a large well-lit saloon having excellent all-around visibility. There are comfortable double berths in the fore and aft cabins, along with fore and aft heads, each including a separate shower stall. Throughout the boat, storage space is abundant with numerous lockers, cubbies, and drawers.

The boat is rigged as a cutter, with an electric furling jib, a conventional furling staysail, and an in-mast furling main with a boom gallows. At the bow is a powerful Maxwell electric windlass and below, a bow thruster. On the foredeck is a new Revere life raft. On the stern, there are sturdy davits to support a hard-bottomed inflatable dinghy with 15-hp outboard.

In the commodious bilge area beneath the saloon, there is a new Cummins diesel and a powerful 14.5 kw generator, along with two fuel tanks totaling about 300 gallons.

The electrical system is powered by a large battery bank with more than 900 amp-hours capacity, plus an inverter/charger, with two 40-watt solar panels on the coachroof. The principal electronic items include two Furuno Navnet chartplotters, a Furuno radar, a Furuno weatherfax, an ICOM M802 SSB (with antenna tuner), a Furuno FM-3000 VHF (with remote control at the helm), and a Simrad AP-27 autopilot, all new in 2007.

The efficient galley has a new propane stove (with oven), a new microwave, a large refrigerator and separate freezer, and a deep double sink. The boat carries about 300 gallons of fresh water in two tanks.

Conveniences include a combination washer/dryer and three separately-zoned air-conditioner / heat pump systems.

There's a lot more information about Night Heron on a web site maintained by a previous owner; I have a link on the next page. The site lists the full specifications and has numerous pictures, but the information is several years old and some details have changed since then.

I mentioned before that Jeff bought the boat in Rhode Island and brought the boat down to Portsmouth. He told me some colorful stories about bringing the boat down, including one about a pretty scary electrical fire caused by a massive short-circuit. If you want to read some of his stories, take a look at the early entries in his blog; I have a link on the next page.

There are more pictures of Night Heron on the next page.

Night Heron at Tidewater Marina.		A nighttime view with the Norfolk skyline in the background. Click on the picture to see a bigger version; use your browser's "back" command to return here.