In my younger years, I dreamed about boats. I loved the stories about expeditions to the North- and South Pol, to mystery places, to fjords with glaciers melting into a bay, to wounderful island in blue water [….]. Nice dreams – but it took many years of work, knock outs and restarts the realization of these dreams comes closer.
When I was 7 years old, friends owned an inflatable with a 7hk outboard. I loved the few days on the Lago di Garda in Italy. It took quite some time and work before I got my first own boat.
2002 I bought a Quicksilver 380 with an Mercury Outboard (2 stroke). I took the boat out on the north sea up to 30nm. I learned a lot at that time……
2005 life changed with the purchase of a Norwegian Sjark – a RANA 22 diesel snekke. The boat was slow (6,5kn) but stable. I crossed the english channel and made longer trips to south England, the French coastline, Denmark, Norway and many other areas. The boat was on a trailer – so I could take her with me on vacations. Longer distances were possible (600nm range), but the size of the boat did not allow real offshort travels. With a little unsafe weather, it was always a hard ride. So I though – a faster boat is what I need…..
2020, I ordered a Partker 760 Quest. A dream boat with a Mercury 225 ProXS and a full electronic package. The boats was delivered in May 2021. At 40kn, CE-B certification and a very stable TSI hull, the boat is just a perfect weekend, fishing and fun vessel. With diesel heater, stove and fridge – the boat is great even for colder times and longer trips. Radar, AIS, Echolot (3d) and many safety and navigation tools, the boat is a dream. The down side: 30-80Ltr/h and limited range of approx. 200nm with the build in tank. The boat was already in Finland on lake Saaima, on the Maas River in Limburg and 4 weeks in the Med (south Italy) – so 2020 was a good boating year.
In our holiday 2020 in the Salento/Italy, by surprise, a Nordhavn 47 was for sale in Bari – just 140km away from where we stayed. I arranged a visit with the help of Nordhavn Europe…..and the journey began. Finally, after a successful survey, long action list for maintenance, repairs and a makeover – I finally took over the “Spirit of Friendship”. End of 2021 the vessel is on the hard and gets a lot of love for the next phase of life.