Sonal Desai and Hement Kanakia had owned a Freedom 40 sailboat that they kept in Annapolis, Maryland, and from that homeport, they spent 15 years cruising the East Coast. They traveled as far north as Maine, where they made great memories, particularly in Camden, one of their favorite destinations. But after they sold the Freedom, the couple got to thinking about their next boat. The choice would be important, because the vessel would take Hement into retirement and Sonal into semi-retirement, when they’d have the chance to spend more time on the water.
“We loved our Freedom, but I realized that for me, if our plan was to be aboard more than a couple weeks at a time, it would not be as much fun on a sailboat. So I said to Hement, ‘Let’s go to a powerboat.’ He didn’t buy that at first.”
To ease into the idea, the couple booked charter boats in different locales aboard a variety of brands and then made the decision to cross over to power.
“We spent a lot of time researching boats and learning as much as we could,” says Sonal. “All of our lives we’ve managed to work in tandem on a variety of interests. Now, boating had become a passion for us.”
Part of the learning process included prioritizing their needs. “We needed a boat that would be livable,” says Hement, “and we wanted a full displacement hull, because our plans call for cruising the East Coast, then the the Caribbean. We’ve talked about running the Panama Canal and the West Coast, where our children and granddaugther live.”
Their research included talking with boat owners and marine consultants about different types of passagemakers. Sonal and Hement also got aboard several boats to assess handling and layout. One of those was the Kadey Krogen 50 Open, a design that impressed the couple. They liked the company’s reputation for reliable, long-range voyagers that combine seaworthy construction with comfortable living spaces. And on the 50, they appreciated the layout, which allows for an open space encompassing the pilothouse, galley and salon. “We didn’t want a boat that separated the pilothouse from the living areas, because we want to be near one another when one person is driving and the other is cooking. For us, family togetherness is important,” says Sonal.
While they liked the open layout on the 50, the boat’s LOA was shy of the couple’s goal. They hoped for a larger boat with space for a sizable office for Sonal, who, as a research professor at the University of Maryland, will work while cruising. She’ll also start writing a book. At the same time, they didn’t want a boat too big for two to operate—they won’t run with crew. Fortunately for the couple, at the time they started shopping, Kadey- Krogen was developing plans for a larger boat, a new flagship called the 60 Open.
“We love it,” says Hement, who talked with Soundings as the couple was taking delivery of Hull No. 1 of the 60 Open, which they’ll keep in Stuart, Florida. “Tara fulfills all our expectations.”
The couple says working with the builder through the construction process was also fulfilling. In addition to meeting the manufacturing team at Asia Harbor Yacht Builders in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, they had design sessions with experts at Krogen’s U.S. headquarters in Stuart, including a naval architect, project managers and their salesperson Bill Harris, who was particularly helpful—as a former liveaboard, he had a unique perspective. “We had experience as boat owners, but this was the first time we were buying a boat that was the first of its kind, so there were moments when we were not entirely sure what we’d need,” says Hement. “The [Krogen team] had many helpful suggestions.”
Among those were ideas for the office. The 60 Open has multiple floor plan options on the accommodations level, anywhere from 2 to 4 private cabins. Sonal and Hement went with a full-beam master stateroom amidships, a guest cabin forward and an office between them on the port side of the boat. A built-in desk, plenty of drawer and shelf stowage, plus an L-shape settee make for a functional and comfortable area. To maximize the available space, Kadey-Krogen suggested a sliding cherry wood pocket door that looks as good as it operates.
The 60 has many creative details, like the thoughtful pantry design and the concealed appliance cabinet that rises from the galley countertop. Kadey-Krogen even created a custom liquor cabinet when the couple asked for something that could hold bottles of different shapes. The location of the TV is thoughtful too: It’s concealed in a low bulkhead between the galley and pilothouse. Push a button and it rises, to do double duty as a partition that reduces glare from the salon that might decrease visibility for the skipper when running at night. “Early on, I was worried about the height of the TV, and whether or not it would interrupt sight lines, but the company shared measurements and distances in advance, talking us through it, and it’s worked out great,” says Hement.
Of course, the couple didn’t agree to every suggestion. “Bill told us a dual anchoring system might not be the best use of space, but we wanted one electric and one hydraulic, for backup.”
Redundancy is important to the couple. That’s illustrated at the helm, where many things come in twos, from the Stidd helm seats to a pair of autopilots and VHFs. The boat also has two NMEA networks. For the electronics suite, they worked with Voyager Maritime Alliance Group in Fort Lauderdale.
“Hement is a retired entrepreneur and venture capitalist, but he also has a background in electrical engineering, so he really enjoyed the process of putting all of the boat systems together,” says Sonal.
“This is the largest boat built by Kadey-Krogen in its 50 years in business, and we’re very proud of hull number one,” says Tucker West, president and CEO of Kadey-Krogen Group. West and his team launched the boat publicly at the Palm Beach International Boat Show in the spring, where it generated a lot of enthusiasm from long-distance boaters. Highlights on this build, according to West’s list, include a pair of 200-hp John Deere diesels and 1,800 gallons of fuel that can push the boat to a range of 4,005 nautical miles at 7 knots with a 10 percent reserve. Propulsion is housed in one of the largest engine rooms on a boat in this size range; it has 8 feet of headroom and plenty of beam to make machinery access easy.
Other key features are a Kevlar-reinforced collision bulkhead, an island-friendly draft of 5-feet 8-inches, an optional crew cabin, hinged radar arch to ease navigation under bridges, wing stations on the bridge and Dockmate for easier tie-ups. There’s also a second helm station on the entertainment-friendly bridge, which West seems to like. The helm in the pilothouse is a great place to navigate from, but as West points out, “why drive from the living room if you don’t have to?”
And then there are the salty details that make Kadey-Krogen a respected brand among seasoned skippers. At every hawsepipe, for instance, the builder places two cleats so you don’t have the hassle of extra lines on a single cleat.
“Tara is very well-equipped,” says Sonal. “The boat was built intentionally as a comfortable cruiser and a serious saltwater boat.”
LOA: 63’1”
Beam: 19’6”
Draft: 5’8”
Displ: 120,000 lbs.
Bridge Clearance: 21’3”
Fuel: 1,800 gals.
Water: 450 gals.
Power: (2) 200-hp John Deere diesels
