Salthouse 65

At the time, Turnbull had a Caribbean 35. The popular Melbourne-made cruiser was, he says, the best 35-footer money can buy. He traversed the Eastern Seaboard in search of big adventure and even bigger fish and did a lot of miles, including trips to Cairns on several occasions, before the boat ended up in Perth.

This experience led him to becoming a preferred hand, either as skipper or first mate, for other fishing buddies inspired by his stories and game enough to take their own pocket cruisers on long-range trips. Somewhat modestly, Turnbull says it's just a matter of looking after your fuel and water. As such, his next boat would have plenty of both.

Driven by an adventurous spirit, Turnbull realised the limitations of his Caribbean 35 at the same time as he had a desire to go expedition fishing in faraway places. Kahala, a long-range gamefisher, was conceived about two years ago. Turnbull says it's a combination of a lot of thought and ideas.

"I basically knew what I wanted as I've been around boats a long time and done a lot of cruising up and down the coast. I wanted something that would cover the distances and be able to do the Pacific, as well as the Kimberleys.

"I wanted a boat that was strong, that was still easy to handle for two people, that had the endurance and the water capacity to go from the Bay of Islands to Fiji," he explains.

"We have 7500lt of fuel onboard and 1000lt of water," boasts Turnbull, thumbing through his photo albums and well-kept diaries on a rather remarkable fishing expedition.

Kahala and crew have just returned from a Pacific odyssey that took in more than 5000nm and some places where no person has ever trolled a lure before. Turnbull adds he: "didn't have a fuel problem going anywhere in the Pacific and water wasn't a problem either."

"Besides the 1000lt, we have desalinators that can make 2400lt a day. So you have the luxury of anchoring up at night and washing the boat down," he says, turning the photo album around so I can get a better view of the picture-perfect sunset captured along the way.

LLOYDS' SMALLEST
An ex-pat Kiwi, Turnbull's quest for the perfect long-range boat led to NZ boatbuilding firm, Salthouse but for reasons other than patriotism. He wanted to build his expedition boat in Lloyds A100 survey, which is unusual for a boat of this size.

Salthouse was obliging and some 13 months later, after countless visits, Kahala was launched. As Lloyds don't normally survey 65-footers, getting Kahala through was a challenge in itself. It added an extra $100,000 to the bottom line, but Turnbull hopes to get that money back... One day.

While Kahala is the smallest vessel in the world to be built to Lloyds, the badge of honour means the boat can work and be sold practically anywhere in the world. Proving the value of that, Tom Cruise was rumoured to have made an offer for Kahala at the Sydney Boat Show.

"It was a very interesting exercise to get the boat through Lloyds," says Turnbull, offering me a cold Crown Lager from one of the boat's perennially well-stocked fridges. "Whatever I build in the future will be certainly built to Lloyds."

Most of their boats are 100-feet plus, so I've set a benchmark. Though based in London, they have some great people in New Zealand. The head surveyor in Auckland, a chap called Nigel Johns, conducted the top-to-bottom quality check. He was at the factory at least twice a week.

"Salthouse couldn't even put a skin fitting, a nut, a screw or a bolt into Kahala without it having certification. Even the anchor chain had to meet Lloyds' standards. When they put 85m of 5/8-inch chain on the boat, they had to change it," explains Turnbull.

Most of the emphasis was on the boat's engineering and hull strength. Thorough testing of the hull occurred before it was laid down. Bob Salthouse had to get computer drawings of the boat and run them under all kinds of probable sea conditions.

Turnbull watched as the boat would ride up the virtual waves and come tumbling down, revealing the pressure points in the hull. It was from these that the Salties got their instructions about how Kahala had to be strengthened.

"The beauty about building to Lloyds is that the builder cannot do a thing until Lloyds signs off on it. This is comforting if you're ordering a boat from across the other side of the Tasman. Not one component goes into the boat that doesn't have certification," Turnbull repeats.

BORN TO RUN, FISH, CRUISE AND DRIFT...
Kahala went straight into service on February 5 this year. It was chartered during the America's Cup. Up to 22 people flocked to the boat's huge flybridge to watch the yachts race. Other days, they wandered up to the bow With high rails and Lloyds A100 survey, Kahala can legally carry passengers on its bridge and foredeck.

After the Cup, Turnbull and a select crew gave the boat a really good work-out. In fact, they embarked on a remarkable Pacific odyssey taking in five different countries. It all began with a trip down to Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island in NZ, across the Bay of Plenty, abeam to winds whistling well past 50kt. The seas were six to eight metres.

The only thing to fail on the initial shakedown cruise was a wind vane. The vane self-destructed because it was spinning so hard. After this 300-mile introduction to long-range cruising, the crew headed for the Bay of Islands and Opua to do a spot of snapper fishing.

It was noted by one crewman, Glen Page from Broken Bay GFC, who fishes most weekends for sharks off Sydney, that the boat rises and falls ever so gently with the swells. This seakindly motion is attributed to the hull's flat aft sections. Thus, Kahala is a nice drift-fishing boat.

Next stop was Latoka, a four-day and four-night run away. The boat and crew stayed in Fiji for two months during the height of the coup d'etat. When things hotted up Kahala was hidden on an outer island.

Next they cruised the Yasawa Island Group before thinking better of it and preparing for the leg to Port Villa in Vanuatu, which was a mere 500nm run. From Vanuatu they made Noumea in 14 hours at around 18kt. Along the way, at an unnamed sea mountain that rose from 3000 to 30 fathoms, they caught a potential all-tackle world record spearfish of around 45kg and plenty of big yellowfin to 75kg on lures.

They ran from Noumea to Lord Howe, 700-odd miles away in 60 hours at around 17kt. Heading due south, they then enjoyed 40 hours of headwinds that averaged 30kt. They were stuck in Lord Howe, unable to fuel-up due to the rites of the local Seventh-Day Adventists, and missed the next window of good weather to head back to Sydney.

"This boat handles 35kt with ease," Turnbull says.

"We came back from Lord Howe at 11pm at night. We had a good night and ran into the most amazing electrical storm. At 8am in the morning we got hit with 47kt of westerly right on the nose and we had to slow her down.

"We came back to about 14kt, got buzzed by Customs 140 miles off the coast and then the wind died. We averaged 20.2kt from Lord Howe to Sydney," he says, adding that the boat was still running on its load of holy fuel.

The skipper, Gavin Markey, who came from working with a large charterboat company, says Kahala handles rough seas really well. Then again, you might expect the skipper to say as much.

Pagey, of Rampage fame, also offers an expert opinion about Kahala.

"I'd go in Kahala anywhere that is what it boils down to. We were 500 miles north of Auckland, 650 miles south of Fiji, and 1150 miles east of Australia. It was just getting dark and blowing 35kt on the beam. But the boat just kept going through it all. I woke up the next morning and it was still running beautifully," Page says enthusiastically.

"It is the best seaboat I've been in. Those Kiwis know how to build a boat. One of the things about it is you can stand out in the cockpit doing 18kt and not get a whiff of diesel. Between the underwater exhausts and clean-running engines there wasn't a mark on the transom after four days.

"The engines didn't burn a drop of oil on the whole trip. I've been through a lot of engines and these Cummins are the engines of the future. The only thing I didn't like about them were the look of the analog dash panels.

"But then Kahala had optional digital dash panels fitted in any case," Page says.

ALL BASES COVERED
Kahala's hull comes from an existing Salthouse model, the company's 55-footer which is represented in Australia by at least two boats named Kiwi and Sovereign. At 65ft in length, Kahala has been stretched. The boat gains a bigger cockpit, alfresco dining area, a bigger cabin and a much bigger flybridge than the 55. It has the same beam, however.

Unlike most other production or semi-production gameboats, Kahala is built entirely of balsa-cored material. Traditionally, the Salthouse battlewagons are lighter in weight not strength than some boats.

For this reason, they are efficient boats that offer plenty of range using comparatively little horsepower.

While Kahala displaces 31,000kg, which is a fair whack, it doesn't need huge engines to get around. The boat is propelled by the latest, electronically-controlled, Cummins QSM11s producing 635hp aside The Cummins' offer a cruising speed of 20kt, and a reasonably economical top speed of a whisker over 25kt.

Fudging about the Heads, I noted the boat was manoeuvrable and, thanks to the flat run aft, it backs down without sinking its transom. The Twin Disc electronic controls have a useful amount of detent and there is no hesitation between gears. Slow-idle mode helps with everything from no-wash zones to towing livies around bait schools. The bow thruster will be handy at competition weigh-ins.

In the bridge with hardtop, you gain protection from the elements and a good view ahead. Outside, on the overhang, is a second control station which works brilliantly as a base from which to drive the boat when someone is hooked-up. While adept at gamefishing, long-range cruising and charter work (for up to 35), Turnbull also sought a good social and family boat in which you feel truly comfortable spending time together aboard.

To this end the Salthouse 65 has some quite ingenious design touches. The so-called alfresco dining area set behind the cockpit, under the bridge overhang, works a treat as a viewing platform from which to watch the lures. Nearby is an outdoor head and shower which makes brilliant sense in any of the aforementioned roles.

Cockpit inclusions take in everything from an electric barbecue to a bait-rigging station, tackle drawers and livewell. Gaff and tagpole storage is through a hatch running back under the super-wide gunwales that make Kahala a true walkaround boat.

To meet Lloyds survey, the stainless pumping system can ship a shipload of water. Try 10,000gal/hr!

Nonetheless, pneumatic seals lock the aft deck hatches and keep the lazarette watertight The same air pump is used for the electric aft saloon window and to raise the television from its cabinet in the saloon. Lower the aft window in the saloon and the galley becomes part of the outdoor as much as the indoor living areas.

Close to the centreline, the galley is functional at sea. The skipper makes the point that traditionally the kitchen is the hub of the home and that this is how Kahala's galley works. L-shaped and immediately to port as you step inside, the galley has a four-burner Miele electric cooktop, convectional microwave, Miele oven and grill, and Fisher & Paykel dishwasher.

There are three fridges, each able to accommodate six cartons of lemonade and two freezers including one in the cockpit which can be used to hold bait. A fold-out crockery cupboard on the galley return keeps everything which is breakable in one piece. The starboard-side of the saloon is taken up by one continuous amenities cabinet made from teak.

Features run from a wet bar and bottle storage to cupboards devoted to holding the first-aid kit. The entertainment systems includes flat-screen television, DVD and video, and a Yamaha CD stacker. Opposite is a massive U-shaped lounge finished in emerald-green leather.

The saloon lounge can seat nine people around a feature table with a burl-maple top and joinery that is hand-made, not jigsawed. Despite not having a lower helm, the for'ard window isn't covered. The boat has a nice, airy and open feel, even if it is a bit narrower inside than some other 65s.

Accommodation comes in the form of a starboard-side guest's cabin with two single berths, a port-side guest's stateroom with an oversized single berth and another single alongside, and an owner's stateroom in the bow with an island berth. All cabins come with opening portholes and individual controls for the airconditioning, intercoms and stereo systems.

Wall liners are easy-clean marine vinyl, furniture takes in fully-lied teak hanging lockers, and there are plenty of under-bunk drawers The two heads are among the best I've seen on a production cruiser. You get teak fiddle rails, Headhunter loos, opening hatches, heated towel rails, and huge showers with water pressure to die for.

ENGINEERING MARVEL
But above all else it's the engineering from Salthouse to meet Lloyds specifications which will impress seafarers looking for a boat they can back to get them home. The engineroom has watertight bulkheads, solid Totara-wood engine beds, support rails for servicing, and easy access to all parts of the Cummins. An oil pump makes changes a snap, while every wire and hose is labelled. A cool breeze blowing inside suggests the engines also breathe well.

Meanwhile, electronics take in a 72nm JRC radar, deep-water JRC sounder, Simrad GPS plotter, JRC 250W HF radio, forward-scanning sonar, laptop with separate GPS with Endeavour charts, weather fax and satellite phone linked to normal fax. There are back-ups for just about everything including two Onan generators and two alternators.

As the boat makes a ton of electricity, power is cheap to come by. On the foredeck, a Davco davit launches an AquaPro 3.3m RIB powered by a 25hp Yamaha. During their Pacific odyssey, the crew dropped the run-around in at every opportunity and used it much like a marine hatchback.

According to the digital displays, each Cummins engine burnt 15,500lt of diesel during the big trip. The fuel cost less than the sea-freight to deliver Kahala from Auckland to Sydney, so in a strange way the Pacific adventure didn't cost a brass razoo.

When it comes to boating, there's another saying that rings true. One the water, actions speak louder than words. The actions of the crew from Kahala, therefore, say something about Salthouse boats. The Kiwi cruisers are built for going places and by that I mean not just your suburban anchorage.