Looks like it's getting cold in Sweden

Just got a note from the Broker indicating that it's very cold in Sweden (yes that is snow) and the boat needs to come out of the water soon. I wonder what they do to protect them over there? My friend, Ed, sent me a picture of a plastic wrapping technique that they use on Rhode Island over the winter. I assume it will be something similar...

A bad day financially

Further to "Obsessed with Forex": The Swedish Krona has strengthened against the British Pound (or maybe the Pound has weakened againse the Krona).

1 British pound = 11.5695856 Swedish kronor

I think it was 12.5 when we had the offer accepted. Basically this means that the boat now currently costs £4K more than we were going to pay for it and £6K more than we could have paid for it if we'd closed at the right time. Really is an emotional rollercoaster.

Feeling a bit bad

After complaining that the surveyor had not called. I got a call from him saying that he had been ill and he was returning to work today. The boat looks good apart from rigging, saildrive diagphram and propeller, though I keenly await the official document.

Further to my comments about the demise of Sweden Yachts mentioned last month: He also mentioned that he thought that Sweden Yachts would live to see another day. It turns out they negotiated to pay a percentage of what they owed to the creditors to allow them continue trading rather than they were liquidating and the creditors would only get 25%. So here's hoping.

Discovery 55 Discovery

I was really surprised to find out something today about the astonishingly beautiful Discovery 55: They were nearly a Westerly. This month's Practical Boat Owner (No. 504 December 2008) states: "The last era of the Westerly saga started in 1995 when the final set of new owners took over and asked Ed Dubois for yet another 33 footer and went to Ron Holland to design new Ocean 43 and 55 models. In conjunction with the Dutch yard Trintella, a plan was hatched to lift the westerly marque further upmarket and further away from its traditional roots and core clientele. A mere 10 of the fine Ocean 43 were build and Westerly died before its first 55 appeared. However the 55's moulds survived and are put to excellent use by John Charnley who has since sold 27 discovery 55s from them". I'm not sure if that makes them a bit less aspirational for me - anyway I think the HR62 is still the ultimate blue water cruiser.

We first heard of these boats when Becks & I were sailing with an Australian boat in Thailand. We were doing the King's Cup Regatta. We got protested by someone who in our opinion who was taking Ocean Rover class a little too seriously we ended up meeting the skipper of another boat who had also been protested by the afore mentioned wanker. Nick Pochoin & his Discovery 55, Festina Lente had been protested for something like "attempting to propel the boat by means other than sail". There was almost no wind and for a joke they'd got one of their crew to take a line from the bow to her teeth and attempt to tow the boat. Anyhow - We got talking to him at the ceremony and he was doing the Blue Water Rally as a kind of midlife crisis after his wife died. Seemed like a really nice guy - apparently he's written a book.

Frustrated

I remember when I was sailing on a boat in 2005 the owner of the boat would continually grumble about people in the boating industry, citing them all as being incredibly unreliable. I didn't really think much about it at the time.... Anyway I'm someone that sits in front of a computer during my working day, as are most of the people that I work with, which means you usually get an answer in hours or minutes. During the negotiations with the broker and particularly with our surveyor I find that emails are checked every few days. This is making progress very frustrating. For example - I know from the broker that the surveyor visited the boat last Friday... No phone call, email or any communication from him. /Sigh

Obsessed with Forex

Since we've agreed to buy this boat, I've become more addicted to checking the exhange rates between the UK and Sweden than a 16 year old to Facebook. With these turbulent times and the UK's finances going down the toilet, the price that we've agreed to pay is fluctuating wildly (we're talking about hundreds of pounds a day). I'm like a horribly addicted gambler feeling pleased at making £250 only to hit rock bottom when the pound tumbles 3 hours later. This must be what bankers feel like all the time right now.

So lesson learned: If you're buying a boat overseas (particularly during turbulent economic times) - Plan for the boat costing 10% more than you expect before considering all the other stuff like surveys, registration, tax, etc etc.

Mini Book Review: Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die

I was killing time in a bookshop at the weekend and bought "Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die" by Chris Santella.

Initial Impressions: My first reaction was to the "by the author of 50 places fo play golf before you die" on the cover. Now call me a cynic, but I'm already suspecting that the author is in this for the money rather than his love of sailing.

It's actually quite a nice coffee table book / spare bedroom fodder in terms of size and presentation. I'd have liked to have seen a few more pictures

I think the selection of the top 50 cruising grounds is a tricky challenge (though obviously less tricky than say the top 10) that being said he and his band of mercenary-contributors haven't done a bad job with the selection. The actual content is where the whole thing starts to fall apart. Having sailed in some of the places mentioned, I didn't find that the magic is really conveyed to the reader.

Irony

One of the reasons that we were looking at Sweden Yachts was that they were a brand we liked and we perceived them to be here to stay...

IBI News: "Sweden Yachts under Reconstruction"

YBW: Boat Yard Blues

The comment about Creditors agreeing to take only 25% of what they're owed feels very final to me.... Unless that negotiation has bought them time to continue on.

I guess we'll find out in due course.

Looks like we're buying a boat...

We've been in negotiations for the last few days for the Sweden Yachts 36 that we went to see in Stockholm last month. A few minutes ago we had the offer accepted - so looks like we're buying a boat!

Stockholm syndrome: boat viewing - Sweden Yachts 36

After losing out on the Sweden 36 in Rhode Island, we decided to go and have a look at one in Stockholm. We travelled out ridiculously early to catch an early flight from Heathrow T5. After a nice breakfast in the BA lounge and an adequate flight we arrived in Arlanda International airport in Stockholm.

We rented a car and drove down to Bullando Marina to view the boat. It's worth mentioning that from the short hour's drive we were astounded by the scenery, every few miles seemed to take up past a bay, river or estuary more spectacular than the last. We arrived to find the broker office empty. A few calls later and it turned out that we were 35 minutes early and they were expecting to meet us a bit later. The marina itself is large and very well equipped.

The brokerage boats were floating on a dedicated pontoon. Someone arrived shortly afterwards and found the keys to the boat that we'd come to see.

Up On Deck...First Impressions: Ancient electronics, good deck, running rigging OK, but above all a very nice boat. Down below, almost everything was almost immaculate - Hard to believe that it was all 21 years old.

Becks & I examined her in near silence and exentually sat down in the saloon. I asked her what she thought and she replied "she's everything we're looking for". I too was totally blown away by it. Unfortunately due to the Stockholm Boat Show, the only staff on duty was a guardian of keys, but not of information or boat knowledge.

We were staying at the Stockholm Grand, which is apparently one of the best in Sweden. It is a truly brilliant city-archipelago, full of history, astonishing architecture, bridges and picturesque streets. That evening we roamed around the old quarter looking for somewhere to eat. I had a starter of elk and a main course of reindeer (apparently these animals are different... I remain sceptical).

In terms of a boat viewing this one was fairly expensive:

Flights	£281.60
Hotel & Breakfast	£280.19
Car Hire	86.14
Public Transport	21.32
Supper	£65.46
Total	£735.06

Ed's viewing

Ed came back from the viewing very enthusiastic. He'd taken about 30 minutes of video on his digital camera, which I'll get up here shortly.

Ed's Verdict...

• Deck good, but not perfect
• Rigging in good condition (but original, so needs replacing)
• Interior has seen a flood at some point as cabin sole and 4" of cabinetry have water damage. 
  
• Other than above interior really nice
• Bilges a little gunky (seems to be a trait of this model or maybe of deck stepped masts)
• Liked the electronics

Geoff

All Rhodes lead to here...

We've decided to take a look at a Sweden Yachts 36 in Rhode Island. Fortunately I have a friend that lives 20 minutes away from the boat, which will save on air travel. With the £ being strong against the US$ right now, the boat could be a seriously good deal. It has lots of modern electronics including two chart plotters which is always nice... It is also the first blue hulled Sweden that I've seen. Not sure if I like it. Becks particularly likes blue hulled boats, but it feels like not the "proper colour" for these boats. Still, it does look classy...

We'll see what Ed turns up when he visits this Friday.

Sweden Yachts 340 viewing

I went to view a Sweden Yachts 340 at Berthon in Lymington last week. I saw it and completely fell in love. These Swedens are really pretty boats...



Prior to this I'd hankered after the likes of Najads and Hallberg-Rassys. I love these Swedish boats because of the build quality, the woodwork and the reputation for seaworthiness. The sewden just felt like a younger person's boat - somehow a bit more sporty, but still with that legendary quality.

I went back with Becks the following day and as with any second viewing you see all the issues you missed the first time. Nothing was particularly serious except for some questions I had around a messy looking repair to the keel. Becks decided that she didn't want a boat where the head complartment was only accessible from one of the cabins. She was worried that guest would not want to walk into someone else's cabin to use the toilet. It didn't bother me personally, but if it wasn't right for her, then it wasn't right for us. Plenty more boats in the sea.