Darren Rude and his wife Patty spent 20 years dreaming of the perfect Nordhavn – which turned out to be the 28.4-metre ourtheory. From custom design details to chasing marlin off the coast of Mexico, their yachting life has proved worth every mile.
We’ve been told we are Nordhavn’s longest dreamers. My wife, Patty, and I met with them for 20 years before we decided to build a boat. My family has always been in boating, but mostly freshwater; we spend a lot of time on the Colorado River in Arizona. A boat for the ocean was always on the horizon though.
We live near Dana Point, California; I couldn’t figure out why all these big boats were in that little harbour, until I was up in Seattle and ran into Nordhavn’s sales guy, Don, who explained it was the headquarters. He invited me to see one and I told him, “Sure, but I’m not buying one. I just like them.” From there the relationship grew. I had to go to Seattle a lot for business and ended up having lunch or dinner with them almost every time I went up there.
Patty and I pulled the plug six years ago. We had chartered the 76, and that was the boat we loved. We went to sign a contract, and they said, “We’re building an 80 and you might like the 80 more.” It took 20 years to decide on the 76, but I looked at the 80 and really liked the space. The beam of almost 7.3 metres makes the sky bridge huge. We didn’t want anything out of the box, so we had the designer of our house design it.
It’s like a home, with white painted walls, a lot of stonework and a different wood, all marine grade. When it came out of the mould, we wanted to see it. Nordhavn said, “You realise it’s being built in China?” Apparently, we were their first customer to fly to China to see our boat. We were thrilled to see how they were made and take a tour. Two months later, Covid-19 hit, and the build ended up taking five years.
Right now, we have eight boats, including jet boats, a deck boat, pontoon boat and bass boat. We’re building our dream house on the river with a 9,000-square-foot garage for our toys called the man cave. The Nordhavn, ourtheory, is the largest, but perhaps not big enough. When we started the build, we had no grandkids. When the boat was delivered, there were toddlers. Now we have 13 grandchildren.
We love the community. We talked to a lot of “Nordies” and learned that it was a solid boat and that owners stay with the brand. It’s like our NASCAR motor home community, where everyone drives a Newell or Prevost. We were just in Seattle for the Nordhavn Film Festival, which had more than 50 boats. Last year seven of us went to Mexico and acted like Vikings. We didn’t just put out a line, we really chased marlin.
In November, I brought on a Mexico fishing guide and we set up the cockpit like a sportfisher. We were backing up in eight-foot seas and caught seven marlin, as well as yellowtail, bluefin tuna and wahoo. We plan to play in Mexico one more season. We might then take the yacht up to Glacier Bay, south to the Panama Canal, spend a year in Florida then ship it to the Med.
While ourtheory may have been a long time coming, the timing was great: once the boat was delivered, we retired and sold our company. That wasn’t the intention, it just happened, and now we have so much more time to enjoy it.
Read More/My Life in Boats: Bob Loquercio on family cruising and building a custom yachtFirst published in the March 2025 issue of BOAT International US Edition. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.