After selling Zoe, we weren’t ready to say goodbye to life on the water. We settled on the Pacific Northwest to be our next cruising ground after the Mediterranean. From a weather standpoint, they are quite similar – warm dry summers and cold rainy winters. Perfect for us as we want to escape the heat of Arizona summers. The PNW is so much closer to home so more frequent visits would be much easier.
With the cruising ground selected, the next choice was what kind of boat? After much research and talking with friends of ours who own both a powerboat and a sailing catamaran, we decided that a sailboat would not be the best fit. The Pacific Northwest is noted for its very settled summers with little wind. That leaned us to a powerboat, and indeed marinas in the PNW seem to be majority powerboat – the act opposite of the Med. We aren’t the only ones.
After eight seasons of extended living on a catamaran, would we want a power cat? Putting aside issues of affordability, marinas in the PNW are not well setup for catamarans and berthing space can entail multiple year waitlists. So a monohull, more conventional powerboat would seem to be a better fit. Especially since the waters in the part of the world tend to be protected, which means there aren’t a lot of waves to make us miss the stability of a wide beam cat.
With all of that in mind, we did also want a boat large enough to host family and friends since we were close to home. After many hours spent crawling through internet ads and working with a boat broker, we made an offer on an Alaska based Meridian 580 that had been moved to the Seattle area for sale. With survey and sea trial done we came to an accepted deal and closed mid October 2025
Bella Vita – 2006 Meridian 580
Specifications
Length: 59.4 feet
Beam: 17.3 feet
Draft: 4.75 feet
Displacement: 59, 920 lbs dry
Engines: Twin Cummins QSM11s 620 HP each
Fuel capacity: 800 gallons
3 cabins (Master, VIP, bunk beds)
2 heads
