At every anchorage, all sailors look around to make a mental reckoning of the boats in the bay. Each gets a score. And inevitably there’s one stand-out; it becomes the ‘Boat of the Bay.’
Similarly, whenever there are two sailboats within sight (or just within knowledge) of each other on any ocean or coastal passage, there’s a race on.
It takes some honesty to be clear about these things. And Captain Nemo is a winner in both scenarios. No contest.
Lesley and I pulled into The Nook, a favourite and sheltered anchorage just inside Whangarei Harbour, on our way to do an Up the Creek story.
And there she (he?) was – Captain Nemo, one of those purposeful-looking, no-nonsense, unpainted aluminium, definitely French-design ocean passage-makers. This was a boat worth investigating. So I swam on over, while Lesley was doing a tour of the bay in the rubber dinghy, photographing. Naturally Captain Nemo featured.
Our initial impressions were confirmed when we were invited aboard by Miky Fari, a resident of Tahiti in French Polynesia; and a professional skipper when he’s not sailing for fun.
So naturally he knows what to look for in a good boat. And Captain Nemo, from the drawing-board of innovative French designer Gildas Plessis, caught his eye years ago. Trouble is, the then-owner wasn’t selling. That owner was an interesting character himself, working in space technology, launching satellites from Kazakhstan and Guyana, and sailing when he had time off.
Captain Nemo was built in 1997 by Alu Marine in Bouguenais, France – the last of its type built at that yard.
Miky first saw the boat at Marina Royale at St Martin in the Caribbean. “This boat has real character,” he remembers saying to himself, “made for expeditions.” At the time Miky was skippering a Swan 65 named Scarlet Muse. He then settled in French Polynesia and kept working as a skipper of charter boats.
Miky pestered the owner for years and finally prevailed, being able to buy Captain Nemo in 2014. Miky was engaged in a circumnavigation on the big boat Scarlet Muse at the time – incorporating Australia, Indonesia, Bali, and then towards Cocos-Keeling.
Thing is, Remy the previous owner had met a “red-haired woman” reports Miky. Who distracted him somewhat. And then a series of strokes meant – for Remy – “sailing was finished.”
Miky received an email from Remy, offering to sell, but “at a big boat price.” Miky’s wife demurred. Then a second email from Remy in Mauritius, saying he’d prefer Miky “to take care of the boat.” The deal was done.
Miky flew to South Africa, and took delivery of the boat. Then sailed it back to the Pacific, going down to 46o South; and on one occasion surfing Captain Nemo at 27 knots. From Tahiti, he explored the Marquesas.
And after all that certainty, that perseverance, there’s no post-purchase remorse. All Miky’s parameters of what constitutes a fine yacht have been fulsomely confirmed.
Like the time he left Tahiti on a voyage westwards across the Pacific, to Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas, leaving port in the company of a fully-crewed Swan 65 (the design that won the first Whitbread Round-the-World Race). Miky single-handed on the 13.7m Captain Nemo. After a 13-day passage, Captain Nemo arrived a full day ahead of the much bigger yacht.
Perhaps – no, it’s certainly because – with the wide hull, solid hull sections, generous rig, a draft that means business upwind and twin rudders all working in an efficient combination, Captain Nemo lives up to a fine heritage. These are yachts that take no nonsense from the sea.
Nemo is interesting for having had all these attributes quite some time ago – further testimony to the vision of designer Gildas Plessis. Take a look at his website, and you’ll see he’s still an iconoclast extraordinaire, designing floating laboratories, high-speed search and rescue craft, Imoca round-the-world racing yachts, maxi catamarans, ocean-going scows and super-funky power proas and trimarans. No wonder Miky was impressed!
Miky and Nemo had just sailed from New Caledonia to New Zealand when we met them – the trip took seven days – for a re-fit here. Later this summer and autumn the boat will do a circum-navigation of New Zealand.
So it’s probable many other New Zealand boaties will have the pleasure of seeing Captain Nemo being the boat in their bay in 2024.
