Review: Moonen Yachts 100' Explorer

The double lockers, well separated by vented solid wooden panels, include bilge pumps and excellent finishes to best assure tangle free anchoring and easy care in one of the highest potential maintenance areas on a steel yacht.

The aft deck steering station is well set up for Mediterranean docking or any three-toot maneuvering.

The lockers are air circulated with moisture withdrawing suction so dock lines stay dry when stowed. It’s also a nice place to stow shoes instead of the standard wicker basket at the door.

An extension from both the port and starboard side of the aft deck provides an area convenient for tossing or receiving lines from a dockhand, as my short arms discovered, or also makes for handy small fender stowage. Nice raised platform for line-up of double double-bollards and hydraulic capstan.

There are 5 watertight bulkheads on this ship with the preeminent watertight compartment being the engine room. Access to the engine room is via the exercise room through one of the 3 exterior entries.

The easiest walk-in access is from the transom watertight door. On the starboard sidedeck, protected by the walkway overhang, is another watertight door approach option in case of following swallowing seas.

The aft deck hatch entry gives fast access to the emergency steering station and engine room ingression in case the transom or starboardside doors not be the preferred entry.

The steering wheel is a direct connect to the rudder rams. The aft facing camera, open transom door, or telephone headsets help the captain with steerage even if the pointy end isn’t forward of the helm

Two sea chests are in the engine room and a third is in the adjacent pump room for the fire fighting system. Water ingress is for sure minimized in this 100 feet afloat.

Tanks alot! A total of 18 tanks are built into the hull for holding various liquids, including 8 fuel tanks for the 9,000 gallon diesel capacity. Easy level monitoring on the Tijssen screen.

Or for a close-up and in-person look, there are 30 hatches in the soles throughout the yacht to give access to inspection plates, hatches, or senders.

Steel plates are adhesive affixed to tanks for sound attenuation. This application was created in the design stage although I haven’t extrapolated how it translates to lower decibels. The jigsaw puzzler in me loves this project.

Dirty water of various types are handled by the RWO and Hamann custom bilge water separator and blackwater systems.

Squeaky clean water is achieved with sand and carbon filtration and chloride dosing purification systems. The UV light setup is for eradicating biological growth. The 220 gallons of fresh water tankage capacity is supplemented with the Idroma MC2 Duplex stainless steel watermaker.

I would like to see the engineering team give one more pass at the drawings to assure that everything is easily accessible and as well laid out as can on a ship with gargantuan needs for sustaining traveling thousands of non-stop miles in safety and comfort. There is nothing particularly amiss, but so much of this yacht has had complexities minimized and the engine room has too much over-the-top equipment and systems to not have simplicity in layout tweaked a bit.

The port sidedeck overhang has an air intake vent. This is the only source of fresh air coming in to the living quarters aside from the one opening window in the galley. The fresh air ventilation system was maximized to provide temperature and humidity controlled oxygenation while minimizing sound and outside environmental intrusions.

The fresh air and HVAC configuration is comprised of the Heinen & Hopman Engineering ventilation low decibel air conditioning and heating system and Salor fresh air system for the staterooms.

After the anywhere-in-the-world air is sucked in via the sidedeck intake, the H&H deck equipment housed on the upper deck removes the moisture, and in conjunction with the control box in the forward basement, heats the air, and regulates the temperature and humidity as necessary. The modified, precision controlled fresh air is then pumped into the rooms, beneath floor storage areas, bilges, and into all exterior lockers.

The Moonen 100 Explorer carries a Lloyd’s RS 230 classification and is MCA LY2 compliant. One of the safety requirements of course is the emergency escape from each stateroom.

Moonen deftly veils the now you see me, now you don’t panic button in the leather patchwork headboards.