Back to business, with SoZ

What with a holiday trip and the stolen boat drama, Panbo suffered recently. I will definitely get back to business next week, but in the meantime how about a peek at the all-business helm I got to see aboard Spirit of Zopilote last Friday. You really must open the larger shot (link fixed!) to appreciate how well the electronics are laid out—all within reach of the comfy double helm seat—and what good sight lines are retained (here looking out along the west side of Camden’s inner harbor).

SoZ, as it’s sometimes called, is the very first Northern Marine 64’, in fact the first Northern Marine anything, built in 1997. Trust me, she feels at least as hunky as she looks. The helm is in the “best of breed” style popular then, and still popular with many salts like captain Bruce Kessler. Note Furuno CRT fishfinder and radar, Northstar GPS, and PC running Nobeltec Admiral, all separate. Note too the lack of a steering wheel! In fact there is one—down at knee level, for emergencies only—plus the power steering jog stick can run either of the two entirely independent Simrad Robertson autopilots. It feels like everything’s been thoroughly thought through on SoZ, as you will gather in this Trawler World feature on bringing her around from San Diego. I also found this nice speech apparently penned by Georgs Kolesnikovs when Kessler (seen below in SoZ’s very squared away engine room) was awarded Passagemaker of the Year.