zeehond
Member
Any liveaboard got info on the suitability of the Northwind 435 as a bluewater liveaboard?
northwind 435
- Thread starter zeehond
- Start date
wklein
Member
Looks ideal! Good price too.
Presume this is the one you were looking at:
http://www.williamsandsmithells.co.uk/used-boats-for-sale/boat-details.php?BoatID=3778019
Presume this is the one you were looking at:
http://www.williamsandsmithells.co.uk/used-boats-for-sale/boat-details.php?BoatID=3778019
zeehond
Member
We were hoping someone who has one of these would offer an insight into their liveaboard suitability but thanks for your comment.
beormakate
New member
Our Northwind 40 Ketch
Hi there!
Sorry, meant to reply to this ages ago but forgot password. Yes, we have a Northwind. Are you still interested in hearing about it? Hope so.
We have a Northwind 40 Ketch, 1983, Angus Primrose build, centre cockpit - so a bit different from the one you are looking at but very similar. She has had a scoop added at some point so is now nearer 44ft and a good quality teak deck laid (which we are currently re-routing and re-caulking - massive job but she is going to look gorgeous).
We absolutely love our boat and (like most liveaboards!) can honestly say that within our budget, we could not have chosen better. We bought her as a dooer upper and have been living on her in the Med for nearly 5 years now and she gets better and better every year. We have spent A LOT of time working on her but as we do everything ourselves (with friendly help), it has not cost us too much so far and certainly not as much as we had expected.
Space-wise, it is a fantastic liveaboard. We have a huge aft cabin (it was once 2 cabins before our time) which we have adapted further and now have a super-kingsize bed with v comfy quality memory foam mattress (best bed I've ever slept in). The rest of the accommodation is v well laid out. The forward head and bathroom were long ago turned into a toolshed but still have a decent forward cabin for guests/Tim's junk.
My only word of warning here would be the windshield. It provides an amazing amount of light and really adds to the feeling of space and headroom inside. However, when we moved onto the boat, ours had a crack in it (not sure whether it was there when we bought it or whether it happened during the lift during survey but hey ho). It was also gaffer-taped in a few key places (alarm bells should have rung, I know). We have noticed that time and time again, when Northwinds come on the market you can see the tell-tale gaffer tape in exactly the same places - so it is an obvious weakpoint. In our case, after going through all possible options, we ended up paying over £1500 for a replacement windshield as it had to be formed on a mould (by a place in Glasgow who were v good) and custom made. This was quite a big deal to us at the time but at 10mm thick and now a perfect, leak-free fit, it was totally the right decision. And will last for years (we hope) as the one it replaced was the original so more than 20 yrs old. It looks like they may have added an inner GRP strut, possibly from the photo, on theirs (not a bad idea and something we looked at) - so make sure you look closely at this as it could be costly if there are problems.
Our only other problem was that we had our rig over-tightened then ended up in a horrendous storm which pulled the sides of the hull in very slightly, amidships. This has now been rectified by glassing in some heavy duty wooden ribs which go down to the stringers and act like a super-strong cage. It was overkill but we need to know she is sturdy again. So again, it might be worth checking whether there are any similar problems with hull stability with a boat of this type and age.
She is very seaworthy, sails pretty well (very well with someone other than us at the wheel!) and is steady.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy the same boat again. let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions, just let me know.
Good luck!
Katie of Monty B
Hi there!
Sorry, meant to reply to this ages ago but forgot password. Yes, we have a Northwind. Are you still interested in hearing about it? Hope so.
We have a Northwind 40 Ketch, 1983, Angus Primrose build, centre cockpit - so a bit different from the one you are looking at but very similar. She has had a scoop added at some point so is now nearer 44ft and a good quality teak deck laid (which we are currently re-routing and re-caulking - massive job but she is going to look gorgeous).
We absolutely love our boat and (like most liveaboards!) can honestly say that within our budget, we could not have chosen better. We bought her as a dooer upper and have been living on her in the Med for nearly 5 years now and she gets better and better every year. We have spent A LOT of time working on her but as we do everything ourselves (with friendly help), it has not cost us too much so far and certainly not as much as we had expected.
Space-wise, it is a fantastic liveaboard. We have a huge aft cabin (it was once 2 cabins before our time) which we have adapted further and now have a super-kingsize bed with v comfy quality memory foam mattress (best bed I've ever slept in). The rest of the accommodation is v well laid out. The forward head and bathroom were long ago turned into a toolshed but still have a decent forward cabin for guests/Tim's junk.
My only word of warning here would be the windshield. It provides an amazing amount of light and really adds to the feeling of space and headroom inside. However, when we moved onto the boat, ours had a crack in it (not sure whether it was there when we bought it or whether it happened during the lift during survey but hey ho). It was also gaffer-taped in a few key places (alarm bells should have rung, I know). We have noticed that time and time again, when Northwinds come on the market you can see the tell-tale gaffer tape in exactly the same places - so it is an obvious weakpoint. In our case, after going through all possible options, we ended up paying over £1500 for a replacement windshield as it had to be formed on a mould (by a place in Glasgow who were v good) and custom made. This was quite a big deal to us at the time but at 10mm thick and now a perfect, leak-free fit, it was totally the right decision. And will last for years (we hope) as the one it replaced was the original so more than 20 yrs old. It looks like they may have added an inner GRP strut, possibly from the photo, on theirs (not a bad idea and something we looked at) - so make sure you look closely at this as it could be costly if there are problems.
Our only other problem was that we had our rig over-tightened then ended up in a horrendous storm which pulled the sides of the hull in very slightly, amidships. This has now been rectified by glassing in some heavy duty wooden ribs which go down to the stringers and act like a super-strong cage. It was overkill but we need to know she is sturdy again. So again, it might be worth checking whether there are any similar problems with hull stability with a boat of this type and age.
She is very seaworthy, sails pretty well (very well with someone other than us at the wheel!) and is steady.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy the same boat again. let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions, just let me know.
Good luck!
Katie of Monty B
macd
Active member
Jojo58
New member
did you buy it? if so how is it. Im looking at one nowI'll let you know after survey....
