Boatlife: Cruising Aboard NB Valerie: November 2005

Saturday, November 12, 2005

UPDATE

Well, as promised, an update on how we have suddenly got a boat under construction, but first I have completed the sale of my house and am no longer a home owner - HOORAY!!!!!!
As in previous blogs you will have read about boat show visits and my thoughts on part-fitted boats. Around mid-September Sue and I decided to view a fully fitted Anderton boat at Iver, which turned out to be a great disappointment in quality of fit-out.We had also arranged to view a 58' semi-trad that we'd seen advertised in a boat mag lying at Berkhamstead on the same day. The difference in quality struck us immediately on entering the boat. The builder is a young man who builds 3-4 boats per year and the one we viewed was recently completed and he was just starting to fit out the next shell to a different spec. At this time we were not in a position to leave a deposit or make any firm commitment to purchase as the house sale was not close enough to completion to risk the outlay. However, we knew that this was the builder and quality we were looking for - just loved the boat. We decided not to blog as we didn't want to give away too much info that may have attracted other buyers! After about 5 weeks had passed curiosity got the better of us and phoned to discover the finished boat had been sold and someone had also expressed interest in the current build. 2 days later we spent 4 hours of discussion with the builder on site, paid a holding deposit and decided on some mods to suit us which he was happy to accomodate. We have now paid the 10% deposit and will settle the balance on hand over in late January. So after all the head scratching regarding part-fit, 2nd hand etc we are now having a boat built to our spec and are so delighted with this choice. We will update with photos of stage progress as Les still works in London and passes close by the yard on his way home.
Sue gets the 1st viewer of the bungalow tomorrow, so that part of the scheme starts to take shape, and there is further interest being shown by other potential viewers.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

WOW!!!!

The pictures show the galley beginning to take shape and the micro-wave housing and also the bed base with 3 under bed compartments the nearest housing the waste tank for the vacu- flush loo and the other 2 will be sliding drawers on runners. Also can be seen shelving and wardrobe in bedroom. Doors will be added later.
A full story of how things have developed to this stage will be blogged in the next few days, as i am sure some people following the blog might be confused.