About our boat
S/Y Cloud Nine
Built by Bowman Yachts in 1975
Cloud Nine is 57 feet long
Cloud Nine, under the ownership of Roger Swanson, was the first American sailing vessel to complete the journey through the Northwest passage , sailing east to west in one year.
She is one of 14 Bowman sailing yachts. She has sailed around the globe 3 times and has a US record for being the first ever US boat to traverse thru the Northwest passage and back in the same year!
Why use a boat in ministry?
God called us specifically to the pacific. How best to reach these island people? In the fall of 2014 we purchased Cloud Nine in San Diego and sailed her to Hawaii. In May of 2015 we set sail to The Republic of the Marshall Islands.For the next 7 1/2 years we used Cloud Nine to take teams to the isolated islands in the RMI.In 2021 God made it clear it was time to take Cloud Nine to dry dock and get her back in shape for more ministry. After doing some research we felt God was saying take the boat to Fiji to do the work.
Boat = Boat work
As you can imagine there is always work to be done on a boat sitting in salt water. In the Marshall Islands there was no marinas or haul out systems in place, let alone any marine stores.
So as you can imagine I had to order online and ship all boat parts and supplies to the RMI. (thanks to friends - you know who you are). We were able to keep the boat running and safe but it was time to replace or redo many old or outdated systems.
In 2021 God made it clear it was time to take Cloud Nine to dry dock and get her back in shape for more ministry. After doing some research we felt God was saying take the boat to Fiji to do the work.
After a miserable 23 day sail to Fiji the work began. The work of taking the teak deck off, replacing all the rigging, ordering new sails, painting the entire boat.
Fast forward 3 years later and we are in New Zealand waiting on a new Beta 90hp engine to be installed along with a new exhaust system and a newly rebuilt transmission. After all this work Cloud Nine should be good for another 10 years of operating in the Pacific.
