46 posts
Sailboat polar diagrams usually tell us what the boatspeed will be, based on wind speed and angle. I thought it would be nice to flip it the other way: if we want to achieve at least, let’s say, three knots of boatspeed, what kind of wind will we need to achieve that?
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With our heads held high and our second season nigh*), here are some things we are thinking about getting to our dear sailboat before next summer. *) Needed something to rhyme with “high” and this is one word I fell in love with when reading Moby Dick a long, long time ago. (Next to a... Continue reading Upgrade to Season 2.0
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A commonly held view in the sailing community, I believe, is that brand new boats are riddled with kinks and problems. Therefore, better to buy them second-hand, a couple of years down the road, when the original owner has fixed everything that wasn’t properly done in the first place. I wanted to believe that our... Continue reading Hanse Warranty Issues
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So, how fast does our Hanse 388 go? This summer, we gathered over twenty million data points to compare our sailing speeds with what HanseYachts’ marketing material had promised. Here are the results.
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I’ve received quite a few emails (from all over the world!) from people who are interested in buying a Hanse 388. Some are in the “we’re thinking about it” stage, others are already committed, but have questions about their final selection of options. It’s really cool to get these emails! In this post I’ll share... Continue reading FAQ About Hanse 388 Options
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After our July summer vacation, unfortunately we didn’t use our yacht that much. We had a big (and exhausting) moving project in August. September was filled with work. And after that, the weather started turning a bit against us. Cold to freezing temperatures, high winds and too much rain.
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In this post, I will take a look at the two aft cabins in our Hanse 388.
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In the third post of the “Every Nook and Cranny” series we’ll jump straight into the master cabin of our Hanse 388. Or “our bedroom”, as we like to call it.
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Earlier on, I started a series of posts with the intention of describing our Hanse 388 in a bit more detail than what you get from the official marketing documentation. The first post was called Hanse 388 — Every Nook and Cranny, and here’s number two, continuing the deck storage theme.
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Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go for a short trip to England to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday. We stopped by “Britain’s Biggest & Best Boat Festival”, the Southampton Boat Show, as well. To find our next dream boat, maybe, some years down the road. But also, with some freshly acquired experience of our... Continue reading Hanse Yachts in Southampton
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Matt sent over a good question about what it’s really, honestly like to sail on our Hanse 388 with children aboard (“realistically, how organized can it be?”). I started to write down a few thoughts, but there were so many that I decided to write a blog post instead.
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It was a bit before eight in the morning. We were blessed with clear skies and beautiful sunshine. I woke Charlotte up to help me get us politely reversed away from the Kyrkogårdsön pier, and then we were off. Next destination: the open seas and our biggest adventure yet.
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Half a year ago, I was trying to figure out (among other things) what gas bottle would fit on a Hanse 388. It was a bit challenging since I couldn’t find any measurements for where it’s supposed to be stored. Now I know better, so starting with the gas bottle, and slowly progressing through the... Continue reading Hanse 388 — Every Nook and Cranny
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It was Sunday and time to turn back home. We were thirty-five miles from our home harbor and after having done ten-fifteen miles a day the previous days, this was to be our longest sail yet. All in gentle to non-existing downwind.
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Last week we found out that 20+ knots of upwind with one reef in the main and a fully rolled out jib equaled too much sail for our newbie family sailing. Previous experience suggested that reducing sail area by partly furling away the jib wasn’t a good option. But what would have been? I asked... Continue reading Don't Reef the FCL Jib
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Midsummer is the holiday in June when people flock away from their workplaces and city apartments towards their summer cottages and boats. The weather looked nice so we thought this would be the perfect time to go out sailing, all of us, and see what it would feel like, to spend a few days, as... Continue reading Sleepover in a Sailboat
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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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It looked like the perfect day to try it for the very first time: to go out on a short boat trip with the whole family (including our newly arrived rescue dog from Romania), and see whether it would turn out ok or a disaster. I was pretty exhausted after our delivery from Germany, but... Continue reading With Charlotte, Children and a Dog
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Our first weather reports for our last leg, Visby to Turku, showed 30+ knots of headwind, and that looked so very uncomfortable that we were seriously contemplating plans B and C, and even leaving the boat in Visby for a while. Reality, however, turned out differently.
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From Greifswald to Rønne it was about 75 nautical miles, so we were able to that in just one long day (from morning to sunset) of sailing. Our route from Rønne to Visby, on the other hand, was set to be over 200 nm, so that meant sailing overnight as well.
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The evening before the start of our trip, the four of us— Pirjo, Mia, Ben and I— were having dinner at the local restaurant, right next to the marina. It was a lovely place, filled with great food and happily chatting people (and even Michael Schmidt was there, the founder and previous owner of HanseYachts!).... Continue reading Greifswald to Rønne
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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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In a bit over a week, we should be well on our way, sailing s/y Charlotte on her first leg from Greifswald to Rønne. This means that right now is a perfect time to start stressing about the weather.
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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!
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When we received the order confirmation for our new sailing boat from Hanse Yachts, I really wanted to write something about the quite fascinating history of the company and yard. After having done some research, though, I changed my mind. So many other people have done it much better than I ever could, so I... Continue reading An Inside History of 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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