27 posts
So, just a few weeks after getting our new boat to Finland, it was up on the ground again. We wanted it to “go all the way to eleven”, and there was just one final push over the cliff (onto land) to make that happen. (If that previous sentence felt partly like nonsense, forgive me,... Continue reading It's a Wrap!
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A while ago Torbjörn (the dealer’s representative) left and now I’m sitting here alone in our boat. I’m drinking some champagne and eating strawberries while writing this. A moment ago I poured a bit of the champagne outside on the bow and said (quite quietly so that only the two of us could hear): “Your... Continue reading Handed Over
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I was standing on the walkway, next to one of the new Hanse yachts in the Greifswald marina, when I saw a man walking in my direction.
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I’m getting a bit nervous. My flight for Germany is in three days and the todo list keeps getting longer, not shorter! Also, the pile of stuff I have to bring with me, that is growing as well.
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A while back I listed all the stuff we will need in the boat to be able to sail her home. Now, we have placed most of the orders and are patiently waiting for the deliveries. (The things are shipped to two different countries with some picked up from a third!) Additionally, there are a... Continue reading A Few Final Touches
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This week we finally ordered a life raft for our Hanse 388! The decision process took over a month (!) in calendar time (and who knows how many hours in googling time), but now it’s finally done. The obvious choices turned out to be less than obvious, though, so hopefully our little story will be... Continue reading The Life Raft Story
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Our dealer sent us dates confirmed by the commissioning yard! On the 29th of April s/y Charlotte will be launched into water and on the 9th of May she will be handed over to us (me) in Greifswald.
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After a lot of back and forth with our dealer, we’re still not sure when exactly our handover in Greifswald will be. We had planned to go there beforehand with Charlotte and have a naming ceremony. Unfortunately, that probably won’t happen either.
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Maiden Voyage is the name of a jazz tune by (the legendary) Herbie Hancock. I used to play it a lot in my previous life as an aspiring jazz pianist, but little did I know that one day I would actually embark on a maiden voyage for real, on our own boat. It’s wild. We have... Continue reading Some Day In May
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The weather in Greifswald is looking good! I just checked the forecast and temperatures don’t seem to drop below freezing anymore. This means that a bunch of yachts, their owners (along with extended families and friends), yacht dealers and yard workers are all digging in and preparing for that mad dash in spring, when within... Continue reading Only a Few Hundred Things Left Until Our Hanse 388 Is Ready
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Things are looking good! Charlotte is back from her first sailing experience not only alive, but maybe even a bit hungry for more. And in a few months a (probably nice and smiling) guy from our Swedish dealer will hand over the keys to our lovely boat, and then we’ll sail it from Germany to... Continue reading Finding a Marina for our Hanse Yacht
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The bulk of this post is about the actual costs of owning a Hanse 388, but to not be too clickbaity, I’ll start off by reporting the final results: what we actually paid for our new Hanse, and what the cost of owning has been so far (16.11.2020).
Continue readingIt has been an interesting couple of weeks dealing with our financing provider, our insurer as well as the tax authorities of Finland, but as far as I understand, the final payment of the boat has now been made, and at last we may be brave enough to actually call it: our boat!
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Whoa! Our dealer just sent us a dropbox folder with the surveyor’s report as well as 100+ pictures of our new boat!
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Any day now our new Hanse 388 will be delivered to us! (No, not actually really delivered to us physically, but to someone somewhere in Germany, who is acting on our behalf, as we have been told.) The boat won’t be put into water before spring, but once it’s delivered, it’s our responsibility to have... Continue reading Insuring Our Hanse Yacht
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It will be ready in two weeks! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
Continue readingIt takes an amazingly short time for Hanse Yachts to construct our new sailboat— they’re supposed to start putting it together in mid-November and get it ready just a bit over a month later! The impatiently waiting buyer, though, is waiting impatiently.
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I think we decided to visit the Cannes Yachting Festival at the same time as we put in the order for our new boat. We both like sunny places with warm water, obviously, but we did have one additional excuse: to check out our material and colour selections “in real life”, and maybe make some... Continue reading Cannes Yachting Festival: The Hanse Yachts
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Our dealer, BohusCharter AB, forwarded the first document we’ve seen from the actual Hanse Yachts yard! It’s saying they will start production of our new Hanse 388 in the first half of November, and have it ready for delivery in the second half of December. Wow. Second only to my VIC-20 (which I got when... Continue reading Merry Christmas, H388!
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It’s super easy to buy a new sailing boat! Open the HanseYachts Configurator, select your boat, the materials, the options, press Buy and within a few business days your dream yacht will be delivered to you; the fridge stocked with strawberries and your favourite brand of Champagne, and a very delightful customer service representative giving you... Continue reading Configure Your Own Hanse Yacht
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“I am so very sorry, but there has been a small misunderstanding on our part”, the very amiable bank employee said on the phone, “so is there any chance you could consider paying the extra amount (of about 9 000 eur) yourself (today)?”, she continued with the kindest of voices.
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As it happens, we actually didn’t include all the optional items in our new boat. Some were without a doubt unnecessary, but others frustratingly hard to decide on. Here is the list of what was left out (including some brief comments as to why), as well as some other things we changed (see previous post)... Continue reading What We Left Out
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A few hours ago I scanned and returned to the dealer the signed contract for buying a new Hanse 388!
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This weekend we saw it for the first time! A real Hanse 388! But first some words about how we actually got here, and the quite amazing hotel we’re staying at.
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New sailing boats can seem quite affordable when looking at their base prices, but then there are the options.
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We have been online window shopping for sailing boats, both used and new, for most of the summer, and more and more frequently we end up on the HanseYachts site looking admiringly at the new 388 and 418 models. They are quite beautiful, both.
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This spring it happened again. I got bitten by the sailing bug and after that I have been using generous amounts of my spare time to figure out how to get our newly formed family (two adults and four children) a sailing boat and out on the open seas.
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