In the spring of 2016 my online search alert brought up, after years of scanning, a boat that was meeting my criteria AND was suitable for my wallet. I immediately rang up and was on my way to take a look at it. And that’s where this story began.
The boat was an aluminum Van de Stadt 34 which met the criteria set for the boat: more than 10 meters long, engine 20 hp or more, standing height within the entire boat, separately closed bow and aft cabin. Also, thinking of long distance sailing, I was fond of aluminum boats, of course having drooled after Jimmy Cornell’s Ovni and Garcia.
The owner of the boat had the Alzheimer’s disease, and therefore the boat had been out of use for several years. There were a lot of things that were in need of care and attention. But most importantly, hull, sails and the engine were in good condition. The inside and the outside surfaces were in weak condition, to put it mildly. Seeing beauty in the middle of chaos asked the right character. Also, the comments from my friends were not encouraging, on the contrary.
Balancing with reason and emotions… The fact was that the reason part said never, while there was a strong yes coming from the emotion part. In the end deal was made. Spring and boat fever makes a man crazy! đ
Thinking of the condition of the boat, the thought in my mind was “Opportunity often presents itself in work clothes.”
Jussi
For more articles under the category Personal, click here!
