The Valhalla V-33 Brings the Donoghue Family Together
John Donoghue grew up in Maryland but has spent most of his adult life living and boating in southern North Carolina. As a teenager on the northern Chesapeake, he got his first boat at the age of fourteen and has owned at least eight boats over that time.
He explains at one point he was looking at hull one of the 35’ Ocean, but around the same time, he and his wife found out they were expecting their first child—with a young family in the making, they decided a serious boating lifestyle would have to wait.
They went many years without a personal boat, but John’s business career involved owning a car dealership, and one day he took in an old boat on trade. He kept it for a couple years for personal use and his kids wound up loving it, leading to multiple sets of family jet skis, a center console and their own lifetime appreciation for on-the-water recreation.
John explains that in 2014, he eventually bought his dream boat, a 35-foot express fisherman purchased at the Annapolis Boat Show. After about 10 years of enjoying that sportfish, and now entering retirement, he decided it was time to transition to a large center console. With the kids now grown, this would be easier to operate on his own and offer much more versatility between day trips and fishing excursions.
He attended the Annapolis Boat Show in October 2023 looking to buy a center console in the 30+ range. When his eyes fixed on the Valhalla V-33 his search essentially stopped. “I had seen a lot about it on social media but had never been on one. I fell in love instantly once I saw it in person,” John recalls. At that show, he met with Hawk Ennis of Bluewater’s Maryland sales team and set about listing his express boat for sale while working on the details of his V-33 order from Valhalla, which were finalized by the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show later that month.
With help from Hawk, as well as Wyatt Lane and Baxter Lusink in Bluewater’s Beaufort headquarters, the Donoghues’ V-33 was built to his specs at the Valhalla factory in Mullica, New Jersey (formerly the Ocean Yachts factory). Upon visiting the factory, he found himself face to face with John Leek IV (who’s grandfather started Ocean in 1977) telling him about the new 35’ he had almost bought decades earlier.
Among the decisions that Donoghue made during the contracting process was deliberating on the power package. Having “always been a Yamaha guy,” he was unsure about taking Baxter’s recommendation of getting the boat with the Twin Mercury 400 V10s—the highest horsepower available from Valhalla. Not only would this boost performance, but it would also ensure the best resale value explained Wyatt and Baxter. After speaking with a mutual friend with experience operating Mercury engines, John reached a comfort level to proceed and was ultimately glad he did.
He also performed his due diligence before adding the Seakeeper gyro upgrade, going so far as to charter a 46’ Viking when visiting Cabo San Lucas. On this trip, he specifically sought out a charter boat with a gyro stabilizer to see if it lived up to the hype. “I was hooked up to a striped marlin and saw this eight-foot wave coming… I braced myself [expecting a big roll,] but never even felt the wave,” he explains. So that was that—his Valhalla order was sure to include the Seakeeper 2 stabilizer option.
Making a Splash
Upon taking delivery of the boat, it’s been the talk of the town in Ocean Isle.
“The boat turns heads everywhere we go.”
On the entertaining side of the coin, he cites day trips to the sandbar and Atlantic beaches, plus doing cocktail cruises for his wife and her girlfriends a few times per year. Aside from that and local cruises to restaurants, he is eyeing longer range trips to New Bern and Beaufort, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, with hopes of trailering it to the Keys next winter.
The Donoghues also looking forward to going north to the Chesapeake this summer to revisit the stomping grounds of John’s youth. “St. Michaels, Annapolis and Oxford are some of the spots I haven’t been to in thirty years, since I moved to North Carolina,” he says. The boat will be based at his brother’s house on Rumsey Island for a time as they reconnect with those popular Maryland destinations.
A Great Experience
Overall, John deeply appreciates his time spent with the Bluewater Yacht Sales team, citing not only their professionalism, but many deepening friendships. “I consider Hawk a good friend now and would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone. He’s very versatile and knows both power and sailboats. He’s easy to get a hold of and has great follow-through. He was a great ally in buying this boat and selling the other one.”
Most importantly, John said, “I really enjoyed working with Wyatt and Baxter too. They’re very hospitable and fun to be around. Thinking back to my days owning a car dealership, I’d be very pleased with how Wyatt represented Bluewater, and Baxter was a great listener.
“Everyone was very easy to communicate with and highly responsive.”
