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Old 05-09-2015, 01:27 PM   #40
Retriever
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City: Seattle, WA
Vessel Name: Akeeva
Vessel Model: Nordhavn 50
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 449
I have no experience with the Mainship, but I have quite a bit of experience with my NT 37.

First of all, the NT will not really do anything that the Mainship can't do. They're both coastal cruising boats and will take you anywhere within their fuel range as long as you keep a decent eye on weather.

A NT37 is closer to a Mainship 34 in size. The 37 is way more boat than the 32—an island berth in the master, a second cabin (either for guests or storage), a stall shower in the head, a much bigger engine room and standard generator, no step down into the salon. I know a really nice early model NT 37 just sold for $210k on the East Coast—it probably would have sold for around $250k in the PNW. That's a double edged sword—on the one hand, the price back east means it's not as desirable a boat for that area, and on the other, a NT 37 might not be out of reach for you.

With the dinghy on the swim step I have lots of space on the "boat deck" (above the salon) for entertaining. I've had 8 people up there for drinks, and routinely have 4-6. But when it's sunny in the PNW, I like to be outside in the sun. In hot and humid areas, it'd probably be nice to be under a bimini.

Build quality on Nordics is excellent, but they're certainly not maintenance free. While the factory mostly installed "best of breed" components, they all wear out over time, and they can be expensive to replace. Thankfully, I've found access to almost everything is pretty easy.

That said, I could have bought a very nice 4788 Bayliner (or many other boats) for the same money as I paid for my 37 NT and I'd have WAY more living space, both inside and outside. But for my use (singlehanding over half the time, about 700 hours per year, living aboard almost full time) the 37 NT struck the right balance.
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