My wife and I just got back from a wonderful week’s charter on Sweet Hope, a Nordhavn 64
based in Finland.

We are actively looking at purchasing a Nordhavn and this was a fantastic way for us to
experience a Nordhavn trawler cruise as a “taster”, so to speak. We have a bit of sailing background and currently live full time on our 58 foot narrowboat on the English canals. But, we had never been cruising on a trawler before. We thought this would be a great way to get first hand experience.

What can I say about Mika and Katri, our hosts on Sweet Hope? Mika is extremely
knowledgeable and has done much of the upgrades and maintenance on Sweet Hope himself.
He was very willing to share his knowledge and was open to any question. Katri was Mika’s deck hand and skillfully handled all deck chores while docking or anchoring. But, oh my goodness, what she could accomplish in the galley was amazing! Katri is a trained chef and has worked all over the world in high end restaurants and hotels. Each meal was better than the last!

I found out that the Finnish Archipelago has 50,000 islands. I don’t think we saw all of them in a week but we saw a lot! Having told them we wanted to experience Nordhavn cruising, we left the itinerary up to Mika and Katri. We visited islands with small settlements, saw WWII gun emplacements, 1800s lighthouses, islands with no humans but us, small towns and bustling, modern marinas. We cruised every day and explored every afternoon.

The one non Nordhavn thing I requested in advance was to experience Finnish saunas. I researched and found out there are 3.3 million saunas and 5.5 million Finnish people! The first sauna was in a converted WWII army barracks, the next one was brand new and on a private island with a secluded ocean swimming area. The last one was a very traditional wood fired sauna, run by the bar next to it which probably had not been changed in 50 years. Each one was a treat and an experience in its own right and the saunas were a highlight of the trip.

In short, we had a truly wonderful, relaxing vacation while experiencing a great Nordhavn yacht. I’d encourage any Nordhavn Dreamer to consider Sweet Hope as a “fix” for your Nordhavn dream!