TOUGH STUFF: The raised pilothouse’s Portuguese bridge shows that the Selene means business.
Cruising down the west coast of Vancouver Island at about nine knots, I felt the next large wave overtake us from astern. A low-pressure system to the south had added a nasty wind chop quartering on the bow for good measure.
It was good weather to test out the Selene 48, a raised pilothouse motoryacht designed by naval architect Howard Chen and built by Jet Tern Marine. Her full-length keel, combined with fairly flat aft hull sections and active Hynautic stabilizers, seemed to minimize our roll and produce an easy motion. The deep, rounded forefoot and sharp entry cut the chop cleanly and kept us steering straight, while the flared bow provided enough volume and freeboard to keep the foredeck dry.
A substantial Portuguese bridge, covered side and aft decks and high bulwarks along the sides and wrapping around the aft cockpit are the features you’d expect to help keep deck work safe in a seaway. As I stood at the helm, it was easy to sweep the low, wide console for navigation readouts and engine status gauges.
The electronically controlled Cummins MerCruiser diesel is equipped with a SmartCraft display with continuous readouts of engine conditions and fuel usage, as well as other vital information.
The saloon is luxuriously finished in teak; past the L-shaped dinette for four to port, the U-shaped galley forward has granite countertops and modern appliances, including a full-size refrigerator with separate freezer.
Accommodations down and ahead of the pilothouse are truly spacious, due in large part to the full hull sections forward. The master stateroom has a queen-size island berth with teak and holly steps on both sides, plus two large cedar-lined hanging lockers. Fit and finish is exceptional.
One of the nicer touches on this design is a dedicated storage area, dubbed a “commissary, with a beautifully finished wine cellar, plus cabinets for food and other bulk storage. An inspection of the engineroom, accessed through a watertight door, reveals more proof that the Selene 48 was designed for bluewater cruising. There are seacocks with double hose clamps on all thru-hull fittings, a Racor 75/900 dual fuel filter/water separator for the main engine to let you easily bypass the first filter in case of blockage, and a 900MA Racor specifically for the genset.
Selene Yachts are built in China using Cook gelcoats, vinylester resin for the first four layers of lamination, Cymax bi-axis unidirectional stitched roving/mat and Divinycell or end-grain balsa coring above the waterline and in the superstructure. A recessed bowthruster and an integral sternthruster casing are notable features.
I spent three days cruising around the northern end of Vancouver Island and down its rugged Pacific Coast. The Selene 48 was more than up to the task-she seemed to welcome it.
Contact: Selene Yachts, www.jetternmarine.com
