INTRODUCTION:

The motor yacht (m/y) Ocean Pearl is owned and operated by  Martina and Braun Jones. She is a small boat of the ‘Adventure’ or ‘Expedition’ yacht class, designed  for worldwide cruising. She was built by PAE Yacht Builders (Nordhavn) and is a model N64. She has replaced our previous boat a Nordhavn 62, named Grey Pearl which in 2011 was tragically destroyed by fire in Phuket, Thailand. This tragedy temporarly interrupted our leisurely circumnavigation of the world, which began 16 years ago.

      Key Statistics – Ocean Pearl
      LOA 64′  Beam 21′  Draft 7′
      Displacement 98 Tons (full load)
      Cruise Speed 8.5 to 9 knots
      Fuel Capacity 3,200 gallons
      Range 3,000 nautical miles

HISTORY OF VOYAGES – 2000 to present

Here is a recap  of how far we are  along the way of our very leisurely circumnavigation.  From 2000 – 2011 these voyages were made on the good ship Grey Pearl. From 2012 to the present, on her replacement the Ocean Pearl. 

Beginning in 2000 we sailed  the Grey Pearl from the Canadian Maritimes south along the East Coast of the USA, deep into the Bahamas, and departing from Ft. Lauderdale across the Atlantic, via Bermuda and the Azores, with three years spent exploring the Mediterranean, including the far eastern portion and the countries of Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt.

In 2008 after returning from the Mediterranean to the USA,  we departed from Annapolis, Maryland, bore south along Central America, transited the Panama Canal and made for Seattle. That summer was spent cruising throughout British Columbia and the winter of 2009 she berthed in Seattle.

In the spring of 2009, she set sail on the Great Siberian Sushi Run (GSSR) – a  transpacific voyage from Seattle to British Columbia to Alaska (Bering Sea) to the Aleutians to Russia and ending August 2009 in Osaka, Japan.

The winter of 2009/10 was spent in Osaka and in April 2010 the Pearl set sail for Japan’s Inland Sea, the Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, Taiwan, and eventually reached Hong Kong where she  berthed for the winter 2010/11.

In the spring of 2011 the Pearl sailed from Hong Kong across the South China Sea and leisurely through the Philippines. She eventually reached Kota Kinabalu Borneo, Malaysia. 

In October and November, 2011 she sailed from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore and on through the Malacca Strait to Phuket, Thailand where she intended to spend the winter of 2012.  A tragic fire of unknown origin completely destroyed the Grey Pearl in December 2011.

Future plans were to cross the Indian Ocean and then north through the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. However the piracy situation in the Gulf of Aden and adjacent waters was being closely monitored and plans might have been adjusted accordingly. 

 So, all the best laid plans of mice and men… we were concerned about piracy and never expected that losing our Grey Pearl to fire would  so dramatically alter our our thoughts and capabilities. A  fresh start it is and let’s get on with it!

In June of 2012 we purchased a Nordhavn 64 and named her Ocean Pearl. We resumed our travels with the intention of  learning about our new boat and preparing Ocean Pearl for international  ocean voyaging. We took  shakedown cruises to New England in the summer of 2012, to Florida and the Bahamas in the winter of 2013, and returned to the Chesapeake Bay in the spring of 2013.  Along the way we completed numerous refitting tasks designed to ready the boat to cross oceans. 

Finally prepared,  in June of 2013 we departed  Solomons Island, Maryland, bound for Ireland via the Canadian Maritimes. We went north and east to St. Johns, Newfoundland.  In  July 2013, we departed St. John’s  and crossed the North Atlantic  to Crookhaven, Ireland, where we landed later that month.

The rest of the summer  2013 was spent cruising the coasts of Ireland, Scotland, and England and after rounding Lands End eventually sailing up the Thames to London.  Ocean Pearl rested in London until the spring of 2014, when she headed south and east.

In May of 2014 we set sail from London, crossed the English Channel, and bore along the coasts of France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and transited the Kiel Canal. Then into the Baltic Sea to visit Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. Finally returning to Southampton, England to spend the winter of 2014/15 on the hard. 

In England, We splashed Ocean Pearl in May of 2015. We left  Southhampton for Normandy, Brittany, Atlantic France, Atlantic Spain, Portugal, and to Gibraltar. Then along the Costa Del Sol, and Costa Blanca with arrival at Palma in the Baleares mid-September, 2015. We rendezvoused with the other participants in the Great Siberian Sushi Run, yachts Sans Souci and Seabird.

in the fall of 2016 we shipped the Pearl from Palma to Fajardo, Puerto Rico. From there she was sailed by our friends to Key Largo, Fla. in the summer of 2017 we will sail her to Maine and then return to Key Largo. 

More excitement to follow.