The Salesman, Henk, at Smelne Yachting BV gave is free rein of the boat, having lent us the entryway keys. I am sure Henk did not want to accompany us for several reasons, foremost it was clear, crisp and cold outside and on the boat. He likely didn’t want our minds to be crowded with sales pitches and truly wanted us to throughly check out the boat, every little nook and cranny. He was not a pushy salesman, just gave us the facts and information we wanted.
The boat was built in 1974 and owned by the same person since that time. The boat was built nearby in the Otter Shipyard. That shipyard was closer to Jachthaven Drachten de Drait than Smelne. Supposedly the previous owner’s Doctor recommended he give up his boat for health reasons. Sad for him. He did not speak English so all communication between us went through Henk. Thankfully the boat was not stocked with dishes, pot and pans nor linens. Everyone has their own style so that suited us fine. The curtains were included and they were nicer than most we had seen. The upholstery was not new but was clean and tasteful. The walls and doors were made of mahogany as I stated before. We found out the previous owner and a carpenter friend of his had refreshed the boat’s interior. They haddone such a professional job. None of the windows nor skylights leaked. The carpet was fine, however, not to our taste. We checked out all the holds, drawers and cupboards. Ken opened up the engine compartment to check that out, too.
We had seen enough, pondered enough, thought enough of the pros and cons we were ready to commit. We loved the boat but tried to not let it show too much as we were now in the negotiating phase of the purchase. We were already at the second or third price cut of the season. The original owner put the boat up for sale at Smelne at the beginning of April 2018. He loved her and felt he should get a really good price but to his chagrin a buyer did not materialize until we arrived. We sat with Henk in his office drinking tea trying to negotiate a fair price. Our initial price was not even taken to the owner as we thought it might not be. This day we wanted to be realistic. After all we did not want to lose the boat to a higher bidder. We had a fair price in mind and put in our offer. The offer was pending an inspection (inspection - next post). The previous owner was given time to decide if he would accept our offer.
We were a bit nervous about whether or not the offer would be accepted. We remained positive and would find out the result the next day.
Here are a few interior shots of the yacht we loved.
Ken near the steering station.
Good shot of the lighter wood ceiling and the screened, big skylight.
This is a shot from the galley up to the salon.
Note the lovely mahogany steps.
Good shot of the upholstery. The steering gears are
inside that little cupboard door.
The salon from the stairs going to the galley. Obviously
the table folded up. Note the size of that window and the curtains.
Back in the aft cabin, aka our bedroom. The skylight is obvious. You can see
our closet and the patch of blue on the left is our bed.
Another view of the aft cabin. Great idea
to have a sink in the bedroom.
This looks into the v-berth (lighting too poor to actually see in there) from the salon.
Salon with table open. At least four people can dine here.
The carpet looks rather new. It is a good colour to match the wood.
We are just not keen on carpet.
The head which is tiny, clean and very functional.
This is a TV/monitor stand with lots of drawer and cupboard space.
This is the back deck. You can see a small corner
of the aft cabin skylight. Those white panels are made of
a material called Trespa. They are washable. The wood trim
above the Trespa matches the exterior wood doors and the wood mast.
Back view of the boat showing the swim grid, flying the Friesland flag.
You can, again, see the wooden deck railing
with matching mast and wooden doors.
This is the Friesland flag. Those are not hearts but water lilies. Picture taken from
No comments:
Post a Comment