Salthouse 65

The 60nm of coastline we had covered since leaving Cabo San Lucas at the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula gave me the time required to get to know the 65 Salthouse Sovereign a bit better.

On first impression, I found it to be surprisingly fast for a big boat carrying only 1270hp (twin Cummins QSM-11 635hp diesels). Obviously, the moderate horsepower was a good thing in terms of fuel economy and range.

The sleek, enclosed-flybridge, aft-cockpit motoryacht ran dry, planed quickly and easily, and tamed a roll promptly while sitting in the trough - all features apparently resulting from the modest vee (six degrees) it carries in its stern and, perhaps more importantly, Bob Salthouse's many years of hull design experimentation.

In fact, the big Saltie rode like it was stabilised (which it was not, following Bob Salthouse's admonition that stabilisers would not be necessary on this hull), despite its comparatively narrow beam (15ft 4in or 5m).

I was brought up to speed on the New Zealand-built beauty by Capt Xavier "XR" Andrade, who is most often referred to by his nickname, Scorpio. He had come to know this vessel intimately since he'd taken delivery of it fresh from the Salthouse yard in New Zealand, roughly 18 months and 10,000nm earlier.

Scorpio was clearly proud of his ride, and it sparkled with his good care, looking every bit like a new boat - from engine room to pilothouse and everywhere in between.

Our trip north through the Sea of Cortez to the vessel's homeport in La Paz would be interrupted occasionally by one gamefish or another, which was testament to this long-range cruising vessel's ability to raise and land gamefish. The first of those was a gleaming gold and iridescent blue 54lb bull dorado, making the menu for dinner certain.

After that catch the engines were throttled up to 1900rpm, which pushed the big Salthouse along easily at just over 20kt, burning roughly 145lt/h. Thus we ran in to the southern lee of Cabo (Cape) Frailes for the night.

STRETCH LIMO
Our test platform actually started life as a 57 Salthouse. The hull was stretched to 62ft to incorporate the buyer's desire for greater range and accommodation; and with the bow pulpit, it measures close to 65ft length overall.

Today, a new longer and beamier 65 Salthouse has also hit the water.

The stretch is not obvious outside, until it's pointed out, but it does make a huge difference in the engine room and living accommodations. Not only does the pilothouse have a back porch, but so too does the main cabin, where a large U-shaped dinette area separates the galley from the cockpit.

As you enter the boat from the cockpit, this area also includes a handy dayhead with shower to starboard and an ingenious hanging locker for rods and reels.

Continuing into the interior from the back porch, one passes the partial spiral staircase (90°) up into the pilothouse on your right. The galley is to port. There, practical cabinetry, deep sinks with fitted cutting boards, moulded countertops, fine trim work and quality appliances by Miele and Fisher & Paykel are fitted into the fine teak joinery with white ash inlay, which is also found throughout the boat.

Forward of the galley to port is a luxuriously appointed lounge with suede couches. This is the perfect place to enjoy the satellite-fed television entertainment centre mounted in more fine cabinetry in the forward starboard corner of the lounge. 

Aft to starboard are additional storage drawers and a liquor cabinet.

Atop those cabinets is a padded pilot berth that doubles as a comfortable window-level lounge - perfect for reading or napping close to the action while underway. Fine wool carpets cover the decks in the interior (hey, this is a Kiwi-built boat after all).

The steps down into the forward living area lift to reveal access to the spacious engine room, where glistening white surfaces are easy to keep spotless. The twin Cummins engines and all their related gear are easily accessed and serviced; the wiring runs are clean, and the plumbing is thoughtfully engineered. Watermaker, water heaters, pumps, genset in its hush box and secure toolboxes are all easy to get to.

On your left as you descend the stairs is a large wine-storage cabinet and a capacious storage compartment under the forward brow of the vessel. Four steps down, there is a stateroom with over and under berths to starboard; and another one with parallel single berths to port, which also includes a full head with a circular shower stall equipped with a rotating shower door.

The master stateroom is all the way forward and features a pedestal king-sized berth, his and hers hanging lockers, an en suite master head and tons of drawer and storage space - a feature that is notable throughout the boat.

OUT OF THE WEATHER
I didn't think I was a fan of enclosed pilothouses on sportsfishing boats, but I may be a convert. Certainly on a boat that could find itself in nearly any environment and a range of sea conditions, the dryness and protection of the enclosed bridge is a big benefit.

On the Saltie, the enclosed bridgedeck was big, comfortable, well equipped and utilitarian. From the command console at the forward end, with its pair of comfortable pilots chairs (one centre, one to starboard, right behind the glass-topped chart table) you feel like you are in a comfortable living room.

A full-length lounge to port is divided by a cabinet from another that runs aft before it curves around amidships, providing comfortable seating for a big party and plenty of room for long-legged midday nappers. Additional storage cabinetry is to port.

Sliding doors separate the pilothouse from its back porch, which includes a practical centre control station, with a bolstered leaning post for security and a pair of wraparound benches that provide a great stadium seat from which to view the action in the cockpit below - or just to watch the ocean go by.

The electronics suite in the bridge control console was compactly and efficiently laid out, thanks in part to the petite digital instrumentation the electronic Cummins engines allow for; thanks also to multiple windows available on the Furuno NavNet panels; and thanks again to some excellent co-operation between the builder and the buyer. The flat-black instrumentation and electronics console face was the just the way it oughta be. 

ACTION APLENTY
We slept soundly in the placid anchorage behind the cliffs of Cape Frailes and awoke to a gorgeous sunrise over the tip of the cape, which also peeked through a cleft in the rock formation.

The foredeck davit easily launched the boat's inflatable, so we grabbed a couple of pictures of the serene anchorage as the new day broke.

As he found more productive-looking water, Scorpio turned more to the north, and we slowed and put our lines in the water at about the same time the cruisers from the Buena Vista area of Baja's East Cape region began congregating in a likely spot offshore. We soon had a blue marlin in the pattern - the first of many that day.

The big cockpit of the 65 Salthouse is well equipped for gamefishing. Padded cockpit coamings all around, practical tackle lockers with vertical rodholders on the forward port bulkhead, livebait well on the forward starboard bulkhead, and a pair of transom gates with flip-open tops and sliding transom doors.

At 4:30pm, after our first full day of fishing, the engines were throttled up to cruising revs and the skipper headed down the serene, glass-flat channel between Cerralvo island and the Bay of Ventana, on our way into the huge bay that includes La Paz.

The broad, placid channel delivered up a large school of pilot whales and allowed us to view the spectacular cordellera (midriff mountains) of the Baja peninsula. Turrets of upthrust stone, wrenched skyward by the mighty San Andreas fault, turned pastel ore-coloured hues as the sun sank and eventually disappeared behind the gnarled ridges - many of which were also defined by rivers of sand pouring shoreward.

As the twilight darkened, we wound our way along the shoreline channel, through a maze of functional and non-functional markers and buoys, eventually slowing at the entrance to the Club de Yate Palmira marina - the Salthouse's well-protected home during hurricane season. The marina was also home to several megayachts and many large sportsfishing machines including a new 45 Viking and a new 70ft Mikelson on the same dock we occupied.

The marina docks opened onto the malecon, an unobstructed sidewalk along the shoreline of the city of La Paz that ran for miles.

An after-dinner foray into the heart of La Paz gave us a quick taste of the capital city of the Baja California Sur - a city more devoted to commerce and government than tourism, but with all the requisite tourist features. The waterfront malecon was dotted with nightclubs, hotels, restaurants and shops, and revellers filled the sidewalk.

The next day we cruised and fished around the islands that dot the Sea of Cortez off La Paz, and then anchored in the broad serenity of Ventana Bay for my final night aboard.

It had been a great way to get to know the second example of the fine work of Salthouse Marine Group in New Zealand that I've had the pleasure to review. The Kiwis are great boatbuilders, and the Salthouse products I've experienced are as well made as most of their competition worldwide.

We found little rough water in our multi-day examination of this custom-designed long-range yachtfisher, but what little we did encounter told me it handles snotty water well.

It certainly handles its fishing chores well. Wide sidedecks made it easy to sprint forward to cast a bait (or drop an anchor or launch the dinghy); the big cockpit was eminently fishable; twin transom gates made reviving billfish easy on either side of the stern (or boarding from a dock of either side); and its long, stately hull manoeuvred very easily in pursuit of big game.

What didn't I like? I was not impressed with the non-skid on any of the decks. I'd also move the helm position slightly aft to move the instrumentation and electronics out from under the windshield, where they cook when the sun is overhead. I'd probably also choose drawer-type fridge-freezers rather than a side-by-side.

Other than that, it was an impressive vessel - one I'd be happy to fish in any waters.