Silver Tern has second owner

We signed the Bill of Sale for Silver Tern with the new owner on September 19, 2015. He plans to world cruise with his family starting in Thailand next year. He was the first one to look at the boat when we listed it last May and we had an accepted offer by the end of his visit.

It was bittersweet selling the boat. We worked hard making her work for us.  But after a few cruises in SE Asia, we were ready to return to the Pacific NW. We now have a Nordhavn 46 on Vancouver Island and we plan to take her to Alaska next summer. Our new boat is named Rover, we may start a blog with that name.

We heard from Silver Tern's owner that the boat is now, Feb 2020, enroute to the UK. We wish her crew luck sailing up through the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. She'll be the fastest boat in the fleet heading to windward.

Silver Tern Specifications

Silver Tern 2013 Mumby 48 This catamaran was professional built to the highest standards so it could be sailed safely anywhere in comfort at high speeds. This is number 40 of these ocean going boats. She is a three cabin version with a workshop, laundry room and huge dry locker on deck. Silver Tern was built specially for the owners who wanted a very strong, easy to sail and comfortable to live on voyaging boat. She has extra structural supports running along the hulls. There are fore and aft crash bulkheads. Her salon and cockpit accommodate the owners 1.85 M height and the inboard areas of the aft bunks are 50 mm higher than normal. She was built with custom hand rails allowing safe access to the transoms without the danger of going overboard. These handrails also make it much easier to get in and out of the dinghy. She was custom built with integral in-hull fuel tanks. These allow the weight of the fuel to be lower and outboard. There is a custom double helm seat with storage under. All normal sail handling is done from the cockpit. The galley was redesigned to accommodate larger refrigeration areas, a spice rack, an integral rubbish bin and easy access to cooking tools. The chart table is extra-large and the electrical panels are very comprehensive. The salon settee has corners instead of a circular shape. This does not look as good, but is much more comfortable for lounging, sleeping or watching the built-in 12 V. TV. The interior is beautifully fitted out in seamless molded fiberglass, it is easy to clean and is maintenance free. The floors are hand-built rosewood and beech wood, the cupboard doors are hand crafted from red cedar and Philippine rattan. It has kick up rudders with shaft driven folding propellers that allow it to float in only 0.6 meters of water. All deck gear is over sized to safely handle the loads and speeds of long ocean voyages. She is rigged to be easily single handed. There is sufficient solar to allow the boat to sit at anchor or sail for extended periods of time without running the engines. Lights, refrigeration and the water maker are all 12 V and solar powers them all. We have never used shore power when in a marina or on the hard.

Vessel Name	Silver Tern
Year	Hull first registered 2011, boat completed 2013
Length	47' 5" - 14.46m

Beam	7.4 meters
Draft	0.5 meter rudders up 0.7 meter rudders down
Displacement	8 tons at cruising weight
Keel / Ballast	Dagger boards

	Designer	Tim Mumby
	Builder	Harwood (Hulls) and Tim Mumby
	Hull Material	Aluminium
	Decks Material	Aluminium
	Engine	Two Yanmar YM30hp engines with shaft drives, dripless shaft seals and two blade folding propellers
	Engine Hours	453 hours port engine.456 hours starboard engine
	Engine Room	Spotless with excellent access, Sound proofed, Racor fuel filters and valves to choose fuel tank (either or both engines can use center tank under cockpit).
	Fuel	Three tanks, one in each hull (250L) and one center tank under cockpit floor (200L). Total of 700 liters. <3L per hour at 2700 rpm, one engine. 6.5+ knots in calm water
	Water	Two tanks 280 liters each.
	Dinghy	AB10 AL lightweight with aluminum floor and anchor locker
	Outboard	Yamaha 15 hp 2 stroke, Yamaha (decals removed to make it less inviting to thieves). 3 hp spare Yamaha engine
	Covers	3 Cockpit covers, winch covers, helm, covers, forward and main cabin awnings, window shade covers, hatch covers. Eisenglass rain and windscreen Vinyl/Eisenglass cover for stbd. cockpit window to allow access to chartplotter from helm during rainstorms Large lightweight sunshade for foredeck lounging.
	Heads.	Two electric toilets with holding tank. Two showers plumbed, only port shower in use. Hot water heater installed but not plumbed, no need for hot water in SE Asia
	Accomodations	: 3 king, queen double beds and one single. Executive cabin with two fans, two reading lights and bookshelves. Eleven Hella two-speed ventilation fans. Laundry room with Lemair washing machine, laundry sink and extra fridge/freezer. Lots of storage with pad eyes to secure stowed items.
	Galley	Four Burner cook top with oven and grill. Twin sinks with drain tray, pressure water. Salt and freshwater foot pumps. Plenty of counter space and storage. Built-in spice rack and utensil holders. Built-in rubbish bin under cover on counter top next to sink. Extra storage for heavy items. Barbecue is stored under helm seat and attaches to propane tank in cockpit locker.
	Refrigeration	All 12 V Novacool air cooled refrigeration. Larger side by side fridge and freezer in galley; fridge 181L and freezer 59L. Extra 68 liter fridge or freezer in laundry area.
	Ground Tackle	80 meter short link 3/8 chain Manson 60lb supreme anchor, Spare anchor is Manson Racer lightweight. Heavy duty Electric anchor winch Hutton Orca VE1200. Large anchor and wet lockers. Spare chain and nylon rode, extra lines, etc. Anchor and mooring bridles.
	Safety Gear	Life jackets, , 4 fire extinguishers, Bosun's Chair, Life sling recovery system, MOB pole, air horn, anchor strobe
	Electrics	JYINS 3000 W pure sine wave 220 V inverter wired to outlets throughout boat, plus Cobra 400 W 110 V inverter mounted above chart table for laptops etc. Water maker Spectra Ventura 150, makes 30-35 Liters per hour, automatic flush system.  Led deck lights. Four each 230 W solar panels, Morning Star 65 amp solar regulator with monitor at chart table. Five 130 AH AGM batteries. All LED lighting. Wiring connections; Anchor Marine crimps.
	Electronics Navigation	Raymarine C 90 W chartplotter, integrated Sitex class B AIS transceiver and integrated 48 mi. radar. Raymarine X5 autopilot, ICOM IC-M710 SSB/Ham radio with tuner and antenna on shroud. Pactor 3 Modem. Standard Horizon Matrix AIS VHF. Standard Horizon handheld VHF mounted by chart table. Blue Sea battery and tank monitor. High gain external Wi Fi antenna with router.
	Sail Inventory	UK Halsey radial cut spectra fully-battened main sail with 3 reefing points. UK Halsey radial cut spectra furling headsail with UV cover UK Halsey spinnaker 1.5 oz 148sq. m with sock. UK Halsey stay sail with slab reef to storm sail. Lazy jacks with boombag / cover
	Mast / Rigging	18.5 meter allyachtspars 7/8 anodised mast with removable batten car track. Ronstan top of the line fast release 7 roller bearing cars. Spin lock jammers.. Twin car head board with 2.1 spectra halyard. 6 meter anodized boom. Single line in-boom reefing system for first two reefs. Pro-furl furler on genoa, hanked-on staysail. All spinnaker gear and lines
	Deck Gear	3 car roller bearing main traveler on 5 meter curved track. Spinnaker prodder and blocks, Winches Hutton Orca 2PC 66 st 2 speed. 2 PC 52 st 2 speed. 3 PC Hutton Orca 46 st 2 speed. All gear oversize. Spectra Halyards, spin lock jammers Hutton 2 speed electric winch at helm allows for mainsail to be raised and reefed from helm station, no need to go forward; fast, easy and safe. Main halyard reefs 1 and 2 and topping lift led to jammers in front of electric winch. Dual helm chair with storage under for cockpit gear, fishing tackle and BBQ. Entertainment: 12 V TV with USB and HDMI inputs. HDMI cable to chart table. Will play video from DVD player, external hard drive or computer.  Sony DVD, CD, USB and mini jack inputs for movies and music.

Boat is complete with new custom-built Jordan series drogue, SCUBA compressor and tanks, tools, galleyware and bedding. Owners are leaving SE Asia.

See more photos below

 Aft Cabin looking aft

 Nav. Station and helm chair

 Safety rail on stern

 Navigation table and electrical panels

 Midship (executive cabin)

 Galley with oversized refrigeration, spice rack and storage cubbies.

 Galley looking aft into aft cabin
 

 Outoard side of galley with SMEV stove/oven

 Double helm seat with storage under, electric winch above to right

 Laundry room storage with small fridge/freezer, water heater above

 Lemair washing machine in laundry

 Looking aft from laundry past workshop into aft cabin

 Laundry looking forward into head. Filters are for Spectra Watermaker

 Built in rubbish bin next to drainboard in galley

 Salon with comfortable seating and beautiful table

 Mumby 48 (sistership) under sail

 Normal late morning solar.

 Watermaker

 At anchor

 12 V TV

 workshop with storage and single bunk

 Engine panels

Singapore to Phuket

Singapore to Phuket

Our new Crew, David and Noreen quickly fit into Silver Tern’s mode. David is a retired biologist, Noreen a retired physician and both are avid birders and good natural historians. We spent a couple of days at the dock in Puteri harbour, marina getting ready for our trip from Singapore up to Thailand. A number of the pictures in this blog were taken by either David or Noreen, thanks!

Puteri Harbor with Silver Tern about half-way up the right side of the dock.

While working around the boat I noticed a small (1”) crab that appeared to be swimming on its back on the surface of the water, then I noticed another doing the same thing. On closer inspection, there were lots of them, and they were using leaves as floats, grabbing onto them with their hindmost legs and using the next set of legs to “row” themselves around,usually upside down. I had never heard of this behavior, nor have my invertebrate biologist friends, so I wonder if crabs making boats is another example of “tool use” among animals. If their leaf was taken away and another floating object (cardboard, wood etc.) offered, the crab would quickly grab onto and make off with their new “boat”.

Leaving Puteri harbor we had to go under the same two bridges that we passed on the way in. They were still intimidating. While they were supposed to be 25 meters tall and our mast is only 23 meters, looking up it appeared like we were way too close. In any case, there was enough clearance and we left Puteri and headed up the Malacca Straits. 

Still lots of freighter traffic, but nothing like we encountered entering Singapore.

The Straits of Malacca are rich with the history of trading and colonial ventures. In the town of Malacca we took a ride on a canal boat that took us through parts of town that seemed like an amalgamation of Venice, Italy and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

There were a huge number of museums from colonial history to maritime to a kite museum.

This is also a very heavily fished area. Fishing ranged from individuals with cast nets

To trollers, to draggers, to seiners, even pair trawlers.

In addition, everywhere there were floats, some supporting surface gill nets but most just marking fish traps. The floats ranged from quite substantial to a pair of soda bottles with a piece of bamboo with a rag on top. The only danger these posed was running directly over them and tangling the line in our propellers. The other problem is that the traps were home-made from bamboo and old gill net material. As they get old they are abandoned and end up floating around just at the surface. A structure of bamboo and netting would also easily catch a propeller.

What all of this meant is that a constant watch was essential. Both David and Noreen became expert at spotting fishermen, flags, floats and traps.

The trip north included stops at several marinas, in one of which we met our friends Fred and Christianne from the Nordhaven 46 Arcturus. They have taken Arcturus from Dana Point, California all the way to SE Asia and have cruised her extensively for the past 15 years. We had a great visit and dinner with them before heading on north.

When we could, we went ashore and took hikes, often running into local inhabitants.

and enjoying the offerings of the local markets

Approaching Thailand we anchored up a river Sungai Selangor) where we explored the mangroves and watched the fishermen and birds as the evening set in.

A bit north, Noreen said we should watch out for milky storks, a rare bird sometimes found in the area. As I had just taken a photo of a stork flying by I showed it to her, and we actually have an OK if not great photo of the rare milky stork

Anchored at Pulau Bidan, three of us went ashore while Pat stayed on the boat and made dinner.

Like many other deserted beaches in SE Asia and around the world, this one was full of litter, mostly plastic trash. Among the trash of course were beautiful sea shells and animal tracks.

 We also found ruins that appeared to be from WW II. And David and I saw a monitor lizard that was easily 6’ long and must have weighed well over 100.bs. Back on the boat we were abbe to watch a Brahminy Kite fishing nearby.

However, the real king of the skies is the white bellied sea eagle

The sea eagle started to chase the kite off, but the tables were quickly turned when the kite’s mate appeared and the two of them chased off the intruding sea eagle.

The northernmost set of islands in Malaysia are around Lankawi and we enjoyed several days exploring this area. Beautiful islands, great wildlife and protected anchorages. However, the water was too murky for snorkeling so we decided to continue on into Thailand

North of Lankawi we were in Thai waters. For reasons we don’t understand, the waters are clearer here. We took a week to cruise the islands here, sailing for a few hours and then anchoring at interesting islands. The first anchorage was at Ko Tarutao where we took several dinghy rides up a pristine mangrove estuary.

 We were lucky to spot a variety of birds and monkeys including more hornbills and spectacled langurs.

This mother was carrying a very young infant, but it did not seem to slow her down much

Most of these islands are limestone (karst) and in the middle of the mangrove swamp we found some really interesting limestone cliffs and formations

Leaving Tarutao Island we tried David’s fishing rig and caught a military seapike (a small relative the barracuda). Very nice dinner.

As we traveled on we had to avoid lots of low-tech FADs (fish attracting devices). Again, lots of eyes watching as most were not as easy to spot as this one was, sometimes just a single small bamboo a couple of feet above the surface.

Our next stop was at Ko Rok Nok where we were able to tie to a park mooring and do some marvelous snorkeling. The water was clear, the coral was in good shape and there was the incredible diversity of animals you would expect in the tropics.

 This sea snake wandered through the reef, completely unperturbed by us. Notice how similar the head is to the tail! Which is which?

 This anemonefish was not in any of our books but was quite common. The anemones that it lives in are quite beautiful as well as unique.

Black-spotted Puffers were common and usually completely oblivious to our presence.

 I never get over the patterns and colors on a coral reef. This giant clam (Tridacna) has colors that beautifully match its surrounding coral

 While this individual has a suite of simply outlandish colors and patterns.

Sea Cucumbers are the bottom cleaners of the reef, removing organic materials from the sand.

 The dusky wrasse is one of those pickers who looks for small animals among the corals.

Golden and Java rabbitfish were both common on the reefs

 

Christmas tree worms come in a variety of colors but are incredibly intricate plankton feeders

 This crown of thorns seastar was very different from the ones we have seen elsewhere, turns out there may be a number of species, all of which presumably prey on living corals.

 Bicolor blennies are simply too cute to ignore, this one was feeding on its small algae patch.

 The powderblue surgeonfish (yes, that is its real name) was another striking reef inhabitant.

After that we cruised to Ko Muk, the home of the well known “Emerald Cave”. We were able to visit it first thing in the morning before the tour boats arrived. It involved a 100 yard swim into a dark cave, but near the end was a side channel that led out to an enclosed beach open to the sky from a past collapse. You could walk 20 ft back into tropical trees before the rocks led straight up 250 ft. to the top. When you swim towards either entrance, looking underwater, the color is an emerald green.

 At the end of the cave, a small opening to a completely secluded beach.

The anchorage here was big enough for only one boat and it was the most picturesque anchorage yet, so a photo was in order.

 The tall, karst islands of Thailand are stunningly beautiful and many are home to countless numbers of of swiftlets and bats.

We checked into Thailand in Ao Chalog, the main yacht harbor in Phuket at their one stop building for customs immigration and port captain- Very efficient.

We had dinner at the Yacht Club with our friend Bob Mott and had a quiet night anchored in the harbor.

 

The next we headed the next day to our destination, Yacht Haven Marina. Nice marina, but pretty isolated. Once again, our solar array has proven invaluable. We have not needed any external power since we launched Silver Tern. 

Going to a movie in Phuket was an interesting experience. You choose your seats when you buy your tickets and they are very comfortable with high backs. But before the movie starts, after the upcoming movie trailers, everyone stands and listens to the King’s anthem. The fact that we had to sit through the Avengers was incidental; the theater was air conditioned and the sound and picture quality were stunning . Outside was 98 degrees with 90% humidity.

We are now getting Silver Tern ready for her six-month layup on the hard here in Northern Phuket.

SILVER TERN IS FOR SALE

Sadly enough, we have decided to sell Silver Tern. Having two boats in different hemispheres is just too much for us and we feel the need to be closer to friends and family. So, as of right now, Silver Tern is for sale for $325,000.00 US dollars. That is almost exactly what it cost to build her, not counting our labor, so she will be a great buy for someone.  She will soon be listed with a broker, but you can purchase her directly from us if you wish.  email: steveandpatstrand@gmail.com