Do you like taking a yacht and heading for points unknown? In that case, the Kadey-Krogen 48 North Sea is a fine choice to live aboard and travel to far-flung destinations.
“The [48] embodies our tag line, ‘At home on any sea.’ She’s a go-anywhere vessel,” said Larry Polster, Kadey-Krogen’s vice president. Polster gave impressive numbers to support his statement. Powered by a single 210 hp Caterpillar diesel (later models have a 200 hp John Deere), the 48 is good for more than 4,600 nautical miles at 6 knots. At 8 knots, it’ll take about 2,000 nautical miles to burn through her 1,000-gallon fuel capacity.
Bluewater performance and cruising safety are paramount in the 48’s build. Her full-displacement hull is solid fiberglass below the waterline and reinforced with Kevlar. Deep in the keel, 4,500 pounds of encapsulated lead ballast settles her lower in the water for increased stability.
If safe passage-making is one key element in her design, the other is at-home comfort. Owners “feel like they are cruising in their living room,” Polster says. This is partly because of the salon and galley’s open floor plan. Large windows in her superstructure and an aft sliding glass door allow light to flood the space. Galley stowage is built to last for multiple weeks of bluewater cruising, and, on later models, a full-size Viking stove is the pièce de résistance in a chef-appointed galley.
If safe passage-making is one of the key elements in her design, the other is at-home comfort.
Of the two layouts available for the salon, I like the Wide Body 48. On this model, the salon is made larger by pushing the space all the way to the port gunwale. You lose the port side deck, but the covered 24-inch-wide walkway is retained to starboard. The extra interior volume is worth the trade-off. Belowdecks, owners had a choice of two or three staterooms, with a forepeak master in both layouts.
For the helmsman, the pilothouse is three steps up from the salon. It’s an ideal gathering spot while underway in poor conditions; like most people, I would prefer the flybridge in nice weather.
Polster mentioned that owners often refer to the aft deck — completely covered by the aft section of the flybridge — as the “back porch.” They’ve figured out how to get four-season use out of the space. In the South, it’s screened. In cooler climates, Isinglass and an electric stove are the choices for one owner who spends his fall Sunday afternoons watching football.
From 1995 to 2010, Kadey-Krogen delivered 49 of its 48-footers. At press time, only five were available, ranging from $499,000 to $675,000 for a well-optioned 2006 model. If I had my way, I’d be taking that 2006 from New York City to swim with the piggies of Exuma in the Bahamas, all on one tank of diesel.
