Long-term readers of this blog will know that our cruising lifestyle came to an abrupt end while living in England with our second yacht Elizabeth, when we reconsidered sailing half way around the world with our infant daughter. We sold up and flew (with a few detours along the way) to Tasmania and became normal responsible land-bound parents.
Well, kind of. We bought our little project yacht Cheval de Mer, and I spent a happy couple of years refurbishing her and getting her ready for some local cruising. One day she was ready, and although our daughter had already outgrown her little bunk, we poked our nose out of the marina for a family sleepover across the channel. The boat performed well enough with a few teething problems, but on the return trip next morning we ran into some big winds and big waves. None of the conditions were outside our capabilities and little Cheval got us home safely, but apart from slightly scaring our nine-year-old when a big greeny did some minor damage to the stern, we recognised that if we wanted to experience family travel further afield in Tasmania, then we needed a bigger boat.
There was no rush. We started browsing the yacht brokers.
The Hallberg Rassy 42
The first serious contender was a Hallberg Rassy in our home marina. We’d always fancied one of these Swedish classics, but they were usually well out of our price range. This one was … just … affordable, and we went to have a look.
At first glance, she was quite lovely, cutter-rigged and well equipped with cruising gear and spares, and with the trademark HR teak deck.
On closer examination, everything was just a little bit too worn. You expect a few dings on a boat of this vintage, but this one seemed to be carrying more small dents than we’d expect. The boat was serviceable, but showing its age, and the teak deck definitely needed replacing.
We calculated the cost of removing the teak deck. We didn’t even consider the massive cost of replacing it, just fairing out the screw holes and painting the deck with something like Kiwi-Grip. We knocked that off the asking price, and made our offer. The seller rejected the offer, so we walked away.
Curiously, much later and in a different part of Australia, we met a man who had delivered this same boat quite recently, and he told a tale of a bunch of guys who would sail her drunk and crash into things, which made a certain amount of sense.
The Arends 33
We have had good experiences with DBY Yacht Sales in the past, so we flew up to see them in Sydney, initially to look at a Vancouver 34 which turned out to be a bit tired, but nearby was a lovely Arends 33. We were blown away by the amazing condition of her inside and out, and she had a solid bimini which would work well in Tasmanian conditions. The only minor issue was a sun-damaged foresail so we deducted the repair cost from the published price, and the vendor accepted our offer subject to sea trial and survey.
Together with the surveyor, we sailed her around Pittwater on the way to the haul-out. She was a sweet yacht and we really enjoyed the experience.
We expected the out-of-water survey to be a box-ticking exercise, but then disaster. The entire hull was scattered with coin-sized osmosis blisters.
She was such a lovely boat and the owner had taken such incredible care of her since new, it was hard to fathom how so many blisters could have appeared since the previous survey two years ago. We even got a quote to have her stripped back and reglassed, but in the end we just couldn’t stomach the work, and walked away.
The Sweden 390
We had been following the progress of a Sweden 390 cruiser as she sailed around the world. She had departed from her home port in Norway some years before and was now crossing the Pacific to Australia, where the owners intended to sell up and fly home.
The spec and pictures appeared too good to be true, but we were set on flying up to Brisbane when she cleared in. Then she got damaged in a storm off Tonga, and spent a while having repairs in New Caledonia, and the whole idea went on the back burner.
Eventually, though, she had her autopilot and rig repaired, and we watched on AIS as she made her way across to Australia, exceeding 7 knots most of the way.
We flew up and found to our amazement that the 26-year-old boat presented like new, from the mahogany interior to the teak decks. Everything was exactly as described in the specifications, and all the photos were accurate and up to date. Anybody who has shopped for yachts will know that this almost never happens! Thanks to Sonia at EziYacht for checking and double-checking every item.
She was about twice our price limit, but she really was just perfect for us and the sailing conditions that we expect to use her in. We made an offer, went for a lovely sail in Moreton Bay, and then lifted her out of the water with some trepidation. We had been here before…
But everything was perfect, both inside and out.
We have a new cruising yacht. Welcome to the family, Vestlandskyss!
