My journey to Nordhavn ownership started like so many others it seems and now four years after first setting foot on a N40 at the Southampton UK Boat Show in 2012. Now, I am the very proud third owner of N57 39 and I know I would not have succeeded without Jeff’s’ encouragement and unfailing commitment and patience.
I found myself a year later with a day to spare in LA on my way home to Australia at the end of a family holiday while planning my itinerary. So, I emailed Nordhavn Dana Point and fortunately for me I picked Jeff’s contact to write too. Jeff agreed to pick us up in Santa Monica in six months’ time, drive my wife, Valerie, and I to Dana Point, show me over any brokerage boats for sale at the time, and then drive us back to LAX for our evening flight. True to his word, he did not forget and kept in touch as the time approached.
Jeff asked two new owners if we could look over their 52 and a 60 that were being commissioned and then a couple of brokerage boats. Jeff took the time to listen to our position and was obviously proud and keen to share his experiences of the brand Nordhavn with us for the day, nothing was too much trouble it seemed.
We returned home to Adelaide, Australia and Jeff and I started more than three years of email conversations as my plans progressed. He was instrumental in re-introducing me to the new Australian owners of the N60, Dianne and Rick MacClure, and I was very fortunate that Rick invited me to return to Dana Point two months later and assist on his first trip up the west coast to Seattle. I was hooked.
Not long after this, Jeff advised me that he had decided to leave Nordhavn and start his own brokerage and I was very pleased to offer him my best wishes for his new venture. By then I thought I knew him well enough to sense he had too much energy and experience for the constraints of the Nordhavn sales office and would be far more successful on his own. Jeff’s passion for the trawler market and the lifestyle it can offer is infectious and unbounding and his genuine interest in his “clients” needs and aspirations I found helped me to keep going for several years as I sorted my business and personal life out to get to a position that I could be an owner.
When the time arrived in August 2016, I had no hesitation in asking Jeff if he would help me to find the right used Nordhavn for us. I felt with Jeff’s experience, contacts and support we would find a better boat and get a better deal. With one month’s notice Jeff agreed to fly to Australia with his lovely wife Pam, and spend a week checking out a N57 that was for sale in Brisbane, for a very reasonable and fair financial arrangement.
Jeff worked tirelessly for six days with me, going through every detail of the boat, checking, and at the same time “starting my training” in all the systems and what is involved in owning a Nordhavn. He worked all day and then answered questions and discussed the boat all evening. His support made all the difference in giving me the confidence to complete the purchase. I do not believe I would not have proceeded without his assurance that the boat was sound and an excellent example that would be perfect for us.
The search and purchase process is a large undertaking that invariably takes years for a first-time owner particularly, Jeff has been there for me the whole way, never getting frustrated or impatient, and I know that this support will not end now that I have purchased. Jeff is not the type of “salesman” who you never hear from again once he’s got his commission.
Thank you, Jeff, and Pam for all you have done to help me, I know I could not have done it without you. If any of your future clients would like to contact me, you are welcome to give them my details.
Kind regards from a very happy new owner.
Richard
Richard and Valerie Harris – Nordhavn 57 – Bonheur
