The sights and sounds on board the Nordhavn N96 New Journey

His boat is well suited for these new journeys. Her general specs as a world girdler are impressive, particularly for her size. She carries 7,000 gallons of diesel (plus another 900 gallons of water) and with fuel reserves, she has a transoceanic range – 3,000 nautical miles at nine knots. Her twin 600-horsepower Caterpillar C18 engines spin burly 48-inch props and she has redundant 50kW Northern Lights generators.

It’s uncommon to find these kinds of numbers and this kind of mission on a sub-100ft boat built in fibreglass, but that’s what this owner was looking for. “I didn’t want to go with steel,” he says. “I’m unfamiliar with the ensuing rust and corrosion factors. Fibreglass is what I knew and I decided to stick to it.”

Although Cole, an experienced designer, has a 46-metre Delta Marine and a 39.6-metre Northern Marine under his belt, he specialises in boats from 20 to 29 metres and enjoys a laid-back lifestyle, so he was quite comfortable with the owners’ brief.

“My favourite feature on this boat is the bar,” he says. “It’s unusual [for a boat] because it has eight barstools so the owners can cook and entertain like they do at home, with their hanging out at the bar while dinner is being prepared.”

“The bar made sense for us because when we entertain, we like to prepare the drinks and appetizers ourselves. We aren’t very formal; we treat the boat more like an SUV than anything else”

New Journey also has an al fresco, boat-shaped dining table for 10 on the main deck aft, which can be used in all weather conditions thanks to air conditioning and an Isinglass enclosure.

The Nordhavn’s interior has a “transitional” style according to the designer. “It’s not too contemporary or modern and not too traditional or old-fashioned looking,” Cole says. This design decision has the dual purpose of meeting the owner’s taste and will likely help the N96 when and if she hits the resale market.

Smith also fancies the layout choice on the main deck. “It’s a huge open concept inside,” he says. “You can stand at one end of the boat and see the other end. And with that big bar in the middle, it creates a country kitchen like you might see on a classic Westport.”

“The bar made sense for us because when we entertain, we like to prepare the drinks and appetizers ourselves,” the owner says. “We aren’t very formal; we treat the boat more like an SUV than anything else.”

And they come along for the ride. The owner says that while they enjoy hosting, it’s usually just him, his wife and crew who do the long-range cruising and that their guests tend to meet them wherever they may land.

This necessitated the N96’s next big customisation, an amidships owner’s suite. “The master on this model would typically be on the main deck or on the skybridge,” the owner says, “but I wanted to do those longer crossings myself – that’s a major reason why I got this boat – so I put the master on the lower level.” Situating the stateroom as low as possible helps keep the owner’s berth more stable while underway, mitigating motion.

As for the skybridge, or upper deck, that’s where the fun really happens. During the design phase, the owner made clear his desire for this space to be his own personal lounge. Both the guitar amp and the owner’s electronic drum kit can be stowed in a specially made leather-upholstered ottoman, while the amplifier for the drum kit fits snugly into a custom end table. Recessed LED light strips overhead frame an impromptu dance floor in the centre of the deck, for when the party gets going.

If you’re not into dancing, you can enjoy the show from the Jacuzzi aft or from the curved bar with four barstools on the starboard side. But, of course, you can’t party all the time. The skybridge also serves as a gym, which required yet another customisation in the form of a six-inch recess in the sole to make space for an elliptical machine. There is also dedicated stowage for free weights as well as a weight bench. This exercise space was critical. “For long durations, my experience is the more you are on a boat the easier it is to be inactive,” he says, “and being active is critical for keeping friends and family happy.”

One final customisation that project manager Smith is quite smitten with is not on board New Journey but rides along behind her. “The owner chose a 5-metre Life Proof tender with a somewhat unusual 150-horsepower diesel outboard by OXE; the tender is indestructible,” he says. “Diesel is safer than gasoline, and he can only hold about 125 gallons of gas on board anyway, whereas he has 7,000 gallons of diesel. So we actually have it set up where he can fill up the tender from the main tanks. That way if he is in the Marquesas or somewhere and can’t find any gas, it’s not a problem because he has lots of fuel on board.”

And New Journey will need every drop of it. The owner has an aggressive six-year plan in place that he says will see the yacht going from the Sea of Cortez to Alaska to Costa Rica to New Zealand to Palau to Japan back to Alaska all the way to the Med, down the coast of Africa and culminating in the Caribbean. Got all that? In the immortal words of Robert Plant: “Ramble on, and now’s the time, the time is now.”

First published in the January 2024 issue of BOAT International U.S. Edition. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.