Ophelia is a 2003 Nordhavn full-displacement trawler. She is hull #25 of 27 N50’s built, since production first began in 1996. There are 29 HINs in the production line, with hull #13 and #24 having never been built. Ours is a rare Plan-B Layout, with 3-Cabins, wide-body and fly-bridge. She is a wet exhaust model, versus most Nordhavns, which are dry stacked (like a truck on the highway). Only 2 other N50-hulls were built this way. Most were built with 2-cabins and only about half of the line had fly bridges, with many dry stacked. For us, 3-cabins with a fly bridge was a must have. Ophelia is also an asymmetrical design, which means she has a wider salon but no walk around deck on the port side.
The boat was “new-to-us” in June 2017. She was formerly named Flat Earth and has done some serious cruising during her prior life, having gone to Alaska, Hawaii and much of the South Pacific. We purchased her in Stuart, Florida and ran her home on the outside for 4-days straight, via the Gulf Stream, stopping for a night in Look-out Bight, North Carolina. We keep her in Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay, in the Baltimore Inner Harbor during summer months. During the Winter, she is stored in the heated shed at Pleasure Cove Marina. She is 51’2” long and a full displacement weight of about 80,000 lbs. She has a single 24-Volt Lugger L-6108A engine that moves her comfortably at a cruising speed between 7 and 10 knots. With her properly pitched prop and new Aquamet-22 Shaft on the Main Engine, she is seeing 10.25 kts at wide-open-throttle, turning 2,300 RPMS. We tend to cruise her at around 1,600 to 1,750 RPM’s to get about 8 to 9 KTS.
1) Bulbous Bow: The bulbous bow (similar to what one often sees on large oceangoing freighters) helps to reduce pitching motion (up and down motion versus side-to-side) and serves to provide a more comfortable ride in larger seas. Apparently it also reduced friction by 8-12%, allowing for less horsepower at given speeds.
2) Modified Full Displacement or MFD™: Full Stern Section (Modified Full Displacement or) The full stern section, while allowing increased space for storage and interior room, also helps to minimize pitching motion, while reducing drag caused by “squatting” at higher speeds. This can help to extend the upper range of Ophelia’s cruising speed.
3) Maintenance Strakes: These are essentially underwater bulges in the hull form, in the engine room area, providing extra headroom in the engine room (lowering the floor) and adding efficiency to the hull by reducing the wetted surface area. Essentially the hull is more slippery due to the strakes.
Ophelia was designed for long range, blue water voyaging (which typically implies very low horsepower engines to allow for long range cruising). Yet she is powered with a larger 300HP turbo Lugger engine, making her able to run slightly faster than hull speed. Her 4 diesel fuel tanks hold approximately 1,350 gallons of diesel. She is extremely well outfitted for both long range passage-making and coastal cruising, with the rugged, seagoing capabilities that serious cruisers have come to expect from the Nordhavn brand. She is also stabilized with NAIAD 252 fins (7.5 sq ft) and equipped with at anchor Port-Side Flopper Stopper to dampen roll when visiting far off anchorages with poor protection from either swell or wind.
LOA | 51′ 2 “ |
LWL | 44′ 2″ |
BEAM | 16′ |
BWL | 14’4″ |
DRAFT | 5′ 8 “ |
DISPLACEMENT (@ FULL LOAD) | 80,000 lbs / 36.29 T |
ARCH HEIGHT ABOVE WATER | 21’ 9 ” |
Cp Ratio | .63 |
D/L Ratio | 419 |
A/B Ratio | 2.1:1 |
ENGINE | Lugger L-6108A |
HORSE POWER | 300 hp |
APPROX. RANGE | 2,800 nm @ 8 kts. |
FREASH WATER CAPACITY | 350 gallons (Fiberglass Tanks) |
FUEL CAPACITY | ~1,350 gallons (4 Fiberglass Tanks) |
BLACK WASTE WATER CAPACITY | 50 gallons (1 Fiberglass Tanks) |
We chose a Nordhavn 50 over other similarly sized trawlers specifically because the boat will be a great coastal cruising platform to explore the east coast and she will allow us to grow into future blue water cruising adventures. In addition, the 3-cabin layout suits our family perfectly. We have kids, so having 3-cabins (bunks in the two forward staterooms) allows them each to bring a friend. And of course we love the large fly-bridge which is a perfect spot to spend time with our 2 dogs (Mango and Ellie), who will most likely be wet, sandy and making a mess of the boat.
Main propulsion is provided by a direct (straight) drive ALASKA DIESEL ELECTRIC, INC. LUGGER Model No. L6108A turbo-charged, after-cooled diesel engine. The engine is directly cooled by a closed fresh water loop which removes heat to a raw water (sea water) loop. Both loops are equipped with engine driven water pumps. The closed fresh water loop pump circulates fresh water through the engine and lube oil and gear oil coolers and a raw water heat exchanger. The raw water pump draws sea water from a dual (port & starboard) thru-hull connections and strainers to the engine raw water heat exchanger and discharges through the engine wet exhaust system back to the sea.
Cylinders: Inline 6, Turbo Charged
Rated Horsepower: 300 BHP @ 2300 Continuous Duty
Fuel Consumption: 2.8 gallons/hr @ 1400 RPM
Crankcase Capacity: 24.8 quarts
Fresh Water Capacity: 4.5 gallons
Fresh Water Flowrate: 67 gpm @ 2300 RPM
Air Consumption Rate: 575 cfm @ 2300 RPM
Ophelia only requires a mere 117 of those 300 hp’s when running at 9 knots, allowing for a very quiet and relaxed vessel, when underway. This combination of fuel economy and a continuous-duty main engine can propel Ophelia for days on end, around the clock. The super efficient Lugger helps Ophelia achieve a cruising range of somewhere between 3,000 Nautical miles at 7kts and 1,100 NM’s at 10Kts, ultimately depending on sea conditions, RPMs, bottom condition & generator usage. We love that it also has the reserve power to pick up the pace to l0 knots, if we want to get somewhere a little bit quicker or offset negative currents. Of course the faster we run, the shorter the range becomes. At wide-open, we believe the range to be in the area of 1,100 nautical miles (yet to be tested).
Secondary propulsion is provided by a V-drive YANMAR Model No. 3JH3E naturally aspirated diesel engine mounted aft of the main engine and to the port side of hull centerline. The engine has its own shaft and folding propeller. Engine cooling is provided by a fresh water loop and a raw (sea) water loop with a heat exchanger. Water in each loop is circulated by separate engine driven water pumps. The fresh water pump loop circulates cooling water to the engine block and then through the heat exchanger where heat is rejected to the raw water loop. The raw water loop cools the wing engine coolers, and the engine exhaust piping. Raw water is drawn thru hoses from a through hull connection and sea strainer by the wing engine raw water pump and is discharged through the engine fresh water and lube oil coolers and wing engine exhaust hoses back to the sea. Additional engine driven accessories include a fuel oil pump, a lube oil pump, and 80 amp AC alternator for charging the generator/wing engine shared starting battery.
Cylinders: 4 In-line, naturally aspirated
Rated Horsepower: 40 BHP @ 3800 RPM Continuous Duty
Direction of Rotation: Counter-clockwise Viewed From Stern
Crankcase Capacity: 5.5 liters
Nordhavn 50 Asymmetrical Wide-Body Layout: Boarding the boat from the starboard side entry door or aft swim platform, there is access to the bow, fly-bridge or aft cockpit from the starboard covered deck. Entering the boat can be from the Pilot House Port or Starboard doors or from the aft salon door. When entering the boat from the aft salon entryway door, there is a large L-Settee to port with hi-low dining table; to starboard are 2 black Ekorn chairs. The galley is a few steps forward on the port side, and there are steps up to the Pilot house. Pilot house has a second L-Settee seating area with table for off-watch crew. There is also STIDD pilot chair. Stairwell down from Pilot house to the 3 cabins, with access to the clothes dryer. Engine room access is through the Master Stateroom. The two guest cabins share the forward head and shower. Master Stateroom has a private ensuite bathroom with shower.
The Flybridge deck holds the hydraulic dingy crane & Tender, along with spacious seating to run the boat on warmer days or simply for close-quarter maneuvering.