Blackwattle - Cruising Life for Sale

by Des Ryan on 12 Aug 2008 She is ready for serious ocean cruising, but her owners aren't. Sail-World's Cruising Editor Nancy Knudsen and her Skipper husband Ted Nobbs have reluctantly decided to sell Blackwattle, the Peterson 46 which has safely and comfortably borne them around the world during the last five years.

Blackwattle's journey has been described by Nancy on a weekly basis in Sail-World Cruising's News Magazines as they crossed the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Pacific, arriving back in Sydney in March this year.

'We're not intending to do any long-range cruising in the near future,' says Nancy a little wistfully, 'and Blackwattle is totally set up for crossing oceans. She is happy drifting around in protected waters, but when she sees the open sea, it's what she's bred for, and she wants to get up and go!'

'She is much stronger than when we started,' says Ted. 'When we left Sydney in 2003 we had renewed everything – the electronics, the rigging, the sails, everything – and we had upgraded all her systems

and installed others that were more modern than those normally found on a standard Peterson 46. However, the extra pressure that non-stop sailing puts on a boat soon saw much of the installation work done in Sydney fail, so we were continually strengthening as we travelled.

Then in Turkey, the one known weakness of the Petersons - the inner forestay - was also strengthened and attached to a strong point.

'She – like all Petersons – is a beautiful sea boat. Even in an angry sea, when you're down below you can be quite unaware how bad the conditions are. However, there's always something to be done on a boat – renewing, upgrading,' says Nancy, 'You can go on forever. Now we'd like to completely repaint her, but maybe we'll leave that to the next owner. The best place to do it is in Thailand.'

Originally, the hull was constructed in 1988 in Taiwan, and she was launched in 1989. The electronics were installed in Hawaii, where she sat, unused, for several years by her first owner. Then she was sold to a couple who sailed her for four years, and Ted and Nancy purchased her in 1997 from New Zealand, becoming her third owners.

At the time of purchase some osmosis was detected, so the yacht was put up on the hard for five months at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron to thoroughly rid it from the yacht. They then spent several years preparing themselves and the yacht for their journey.

(Further images of boat at the end of the Technical Details)

 

And the price? 'Well the 'experts' say that in this market it's worth around A$265,000,' answers Nancy. 'We don't know, we've spent a lot more than that on the upgrading of her, but we're taking their advice, and A$265,000 it is.'

To enquire about Blackwattle, email to svblackwattle (at) yahoo (dot) com,
or phone +61 400 401 304 or +61 420 401 280