2017 North Pacific 45 Build

Hi Folks,

I've been skulking around this forum for a while enjoying some builds and a lot of great info. Now I'm going to finally post my build since all the documents have been signed and the new North Pacific 45 is officially mine. I hope you enjoy the post. I wish I had done a better job of documenting the build but I'll do my best.

I first contacted Trevor by email in early 2017 and asked him the price of a new NP45. He called me the next day and told me that they had one currently being built and if I was willing to take it as is he would give me a deal on it. It was surprisingly just a little higher than my budget but close enough, so I made the leap! I promised that I wouldn't disclose the price so please don't ask.

They have an agreement with the Ningbo Fuhua factory in China. They have all their tooling and molds. They work very closely with the factory. I got the idea that if Trevor doesn't like something he gives them an earful. Here are a few pics of the factory:

The last picture is of Trevor the owner standing by one of his builds. My next post will have some pics of work being done on my boat. Various stages of construction etc.. It took from early in the year, about April until November that the boat was finally delivered. During that time I got a lot of phone calls and emails from Trevor asking me how I wanted this and that. I thought that I wasn't going to have much input since he said the build was mostly done. It turned out that I did have quite a bit of input and it really felt like I was getting a custom boat. I guess I did to some extent. The overall layout was already determined but I had a lot of input as far as types of counter tops, blinds vs curtains, flexiteak on the swimstep and cockpit, tile in the shower, (he actually added that as a surprise), type of tile in the galley behind the oven, type of stove and a bunch of other stuff. It was fun! More to come.

It's always interesting to see what various manufacturers' factories look like, especially ones that are in regions such as the Far East.

Gotta admire the phenomenal workmanship that goes into the moulds especially!

Must be cool

To essentially see your boat being built. You now know how all the wires and plumbing runs and you don’t have to necessarily guess if you add things later on.

Wow, such a nice looking boat..congrats..

Here are some pictures of my boat under construction in the China factory. There aren't many. Only what Trevor sent to me when he happened to be there and the boat is almost complete when I put a down payment on it. I wish I had more pictures earlier on in the build.

The thing that amazes me is that after multiple craftsmen, crawling in and out of tight places with tools and then shrink wrapping, then loading it on to the ship and sailing for weeks then unloading it and removing the shrink wrap, then having a captain deliver her. There were very few of the tiniest scratches, most of which, were barely visible. Incredible work by seasoned professionals from the builders to the shippers a job well done! Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of the first seatrial in China.

This picture is of Trevor with Mr Yu (Chairman of Ningbo Fuhua Yacht Builders), Carmon (North Pacific Yachts) and far left is Jenny (Explorer Yachts). I'd say Mr. Brice (Trevor) is doing quite well. Here are a few more factory shots:

Love that there is a Niche builder who turns out quality yachts from an off shore builder. He obviously has production expectations down and monitors the product. Really nice boat at a good price point.

All that and Trevor is a super nice, honest guy, too!

Moonfish said:

All that and Trevor is a super nice, honest guy, too!

Click to expand...

Trevor really is an ethical business man who wants his product to be the best that it can be (for the price) and happy customers are very important to him. He added three high end options for free and without me asking for them. He added tile in the shower. He said my boat is the first to have it. He added some very cool stainless steel tile in the galley and flexiteak on the swimstep and cockpit. For some reason it won't let me post the picture of the stainless steel tile.

Sailor of Fortune said:

Love that there is a Niche builder who turns out quality yachts from an off shore builder. He obviously has production expectations down and monitors the product. Really nice boat at a good price point.

Click to expand...

Sailor,

I love your picture of the trawlers sitting in the mud.

NP is truly a small quality niche builder. I was recently offered substantially more than I paid for my NP45. The gentleman didn't want to wait for a build so he offered to buy mine. With new quality boats like Selene, Kadey-Krogen etc. currently available on the market he chose to pay substantially more than the new price for my NP45. I think that says something for the brand.

Here are some pics of the first sea trial in China. I only have been on the boat once. It's in Bellingham Washington being commissioned and I'm in Palo Alto CA. Doing this at least lets me look at it.

And getting it ready to ship.

Loading and getting ready for the long trip to Washington from China. It's amazing how small it looks deep in the bowels of the ship.

Congratulations on getting your biggest Christmas present yet. I would bet you are like a little kid awaiting Christmas morning!

GFC said:

Congratulations on getting your biggest Christmas present yet. I would bet you are like a little kid awaiting Christmas morning!

Click to expand...

Hi GFC,

It's really hard to keep from bothering the fellow doing the work on the boat everyday. Asking him for pictures and texting questions. He has been very patient.

I recognize your boat. Did you post a trip to San Francisco? I think it was a delivery. Quite a long post with video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was it you and a couple of other guys aboard?

Thanks,

Congratulations. Great photos of a very nice boat. If I could buy any new production boat in that size regardless of price, it would be the NP45.

dhays said:

Congratulations. Great photos of a very nice boat. If I could buy any new production boat in that size regardless of price, it would be the NP45.

Click to expand...

Dhays,

It looks like you already have a beautiful boat! The interior is almost identical to mine and so is the exterior except for the reversed raked windows. The RR windows are what sold me. I love the look.

Cheers!

After waiting for a few weeks while the AALSingapore was delivering things on the way here, I was busy tracking it online. And then - it finally arrived! Here is the only pic I have of them unloading it. They had taken all of the shrink-wrap off and were lowering it in to the waters of Seattle, Washington, for the last leg of it's voyage to Bellingham, WA.

Thank You Trevor for taking and sending me all of the great pictures.

By the way, this is my retirement present. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to sit in the house watching TV. After starting my small business 30 years ago and working for over 40 in total I decided it was time. My last working day will be the last day of 2017. This new year is going to be pretty special for me. Early next year I'm going to run the boat down to Mexico.

Before I do that, next comes Commissioning. Now the boat gets torn up again. The boat came pretty well equipped with electronics, Garmin 7612 multi display, radar, auto pilot and IAS with a smaller Garmin and duplicate controls up on the flybridge.

I decided to add a couple more things, another Garmin 7612, two 13" Maretron displays one for FLIR night vision and the other for cameras. Two cameras at the back for docking and two in the engine room. Four 4" displays to show important things - at a glance - like depth, engine temp etc.. Intellian i5 for TV, KVH V7 Tracphone for communication, email, and internet so I can communicate with the office if they need me (OK, yes I kept the business going). I'm broke after buying this boat and I've got to pay for fuel somehow. FLIR M625sc for night vision and one Panasonic Tough Book all on IMEA 2000 network. It's getting a little crowded up on the hardtop with antennas but it's going to be sweet. And for the tender - a Grand G340 with a 30 hp outboard. That's for my need for speed.

First, congrats on your business, your (pending) retirement, and your boat! I have met two very happy NP owners, happy with their boat and their experience with Trevor.

I'm interested in what's up with all the plywood in these pictures. In all the modern builds I have seen the deck/house are a single FRP structure made in a mold. The deck is then joined to the hull structure.

In the finished pictures, the deck area looks just like every other boat. So what happens after the plywood is completed?

Congratulations! I hope you get years of pleasure and enjoyment out of it!

The plywood plug is usually cut up after the mold is made, sometimes to get it out of the mold.

I think those are just molds. You would have to ask Trevor. Call North Pacific Yachts and ask for Trevor Brice. If you look at the ceiling of my wheel house it's all aluminum beams.

Cheers

Got all the hardware up on the flybridge roof, the tender canvas and the name on the transom. She's looking pretty good. No list either!

Looking god Doc, I am surprised that the radar was not mounted higher. Sunny an chilly here today..

DD

Is vessel stabilized for those thousands of miles of offshore work?

What a beaut, David! Looking fwd to some interior and ER pics.

Congrats on your successes and retirement! Nice reward.

Holler if you see us on the water or are planning a delta excursion and would like an accompanying vessel on an anchor out.

I don't have many interior shots. I only have what has been texted to me. The one time that I went up to Bellingham to visit the boat it was full of boxes. Here are a couple.

Very nice. I’m jealous...

This is the salon as it was setup for a show. It's the only picture I have of the salon. The TV is a promo pic that I found. Mine does the same. It pops up from a cabinet so you don't have to see it all of the time. Pretty cool. I wonder how long it will take for the motor that raises it to break. No TV on that day.