Buddy and Kathy Bethea are the owners of Always Friday, a Nordhavn 55 that they ordered through Jeff while he was employed with Nordhavn. Jeff partnered with Dave Balfour (Nordhavn – Rhode Island) for the build and delivery, and as is quite often the case, the relationship between brokers and owners developed into a long lasting friendship. It has been wonderful following along with Buddy and Kathy as they used their Nordhavn 55 the way this trawler was intended – extended offshore cruising to remote destinations.
Buddy and Kathy are the type of cruisers who are out seeking adventure with a positive attitude to explore, share and enjoy. During their ownership, they covered thousands of miles and started a very popular blog which has since expired and is no longer available to read online. Buddy is a gifted writer and a very entertaining story teller. Along with Kathy and the dogs, they had the time of their lives cruising and developed a life-long attraction to Alaska and the joys of seeing this lovely state by water.
With the success of their blog and their love for Alaska shining through to readers everywhere, Buddy’s longtime friend, Eric Fox, took the initiative to transform the blog into print and make this available as a book, titled Alaska On Our Minds. Jeff had high praise for the book, and it was included in the book and on the cover as well.
This story has a happy ending and though it is a reflection of the past, the memories live on and the crew of Always Friday captured the enthusiasm and support of several million followers. This book is a summary from the blog and is a wonderful look back in time on what it was like to cruise a Nordhavn 55 and travel north from CA to AK, south beyond Mexico, through the Panama Canal and then arrive back home in Virginia.
Alaska On Our Minds would be a great gift for your cruising friends or onboard library, and is available for purchase on Amazon!
