We moved to our own domain

Dear readers, friends and visitors!

We both, Adriana and myself, have the great pleasure to announce you that this blog has been moved to his own domain, at The Yacht Owner which is a Wordpress platform.
I'm not going to explain now the reasons of neglecting it here, but it'll be all right to visit there, and to see a real evolution in yacht brokerage. The schedule there will be better planned, :)

Thank you for being patient, :)
Visit The Yacht Owner!

Back Again (insider tips)

I have to expose now some "secrets" about assessing brokers and boat owners, when approaching them to buy your first boat. Doesn't matter at this stage if you buy a motor boat or a sailing one. Let's presume you don't have the minimum budget for a brand boat, like the samples exposed in my previous posts. They can be "custom" made, definitely no name brands, like a few that I'm going to show you here.

 This is the boat, as real as it could be. Seeing the name is no help in a better society. 

  This is what you got. No name. You depend exclusively on the broker. Please click on each picture to see the difference. In a better organized society, if the broker spoke beforehand with the boat owner, they'll have at least an agreement, if not a "concrete molded" contract, so he will not start negotiating with you, the client, to "cut off" the broker. What is happening when there are no brand names involved? For example, in a country like Turkey, a foreign customer, and believe me, the farther away he is, the "better" he'll be "treated", there is no way for him to find the real price a boat owner will be happy with. That is the "not written law". If you act alone, you will be told a bunch of lies. The broker has his own price, not even the owner knows. Of course, the owner "agreed", verbally agreed to an asking price when contacted by the broker, but if you, as a customer, try to contact directly the owner, you'll be told a different price, maybe bigger than what the broker will tell you. In Turkey, this is called pazarlik, and they, the Turks think of themselves as "good" traders. If you accept the asking price, you're done. It is always more than he expects, because he expects from you to try to down the price automatically. If you come from a highly civilized country, you'll accept maybe just a little reduction from the initial price, a 2% perhaps, which is actually with something between 40 to 50% more than what the owner told the broker. And it's done.
If a broker is not experimented, he won't have an answer for any question. He'll lie, and lie, and lie some more, just to close the agreement, to have some 10% of almost any price, (as advance payment, or deposit, or whatever it's called) money you'll lose in any good designed contract if you change your mind to buy. If he has some experience, he'll know the real price of the boat (the owner will be happy with any sum close to the real price), he'll put separately the commission and start negotiating with the boat owner exactly in your name, because he represents you. In reality? There is no such a broker in Turkey. Also, the bunches of owners dream to big money for their boats, even if they worked them up to more than their value, sometimes without refitting, but pretending the contrary. 
In Turkey, you will be advised from the beginning to not survey the boat. "It's not necessary" you will be told. And it's right, in a way. The greater majority of the boats for sale in Turkey, don't have what is called Class Certification. If the surveyor is Turkish, he'll be in an agreement with the broker, 99%.
If he's foreigner, he'll advise to not buy that peculiar boat, but if you made your mind, he'll know of another one, with a "positive" survey as recent as possible done, so you "will save the money for surveying this one". If this is the case (and I've seen plenty), he'll absolutely have a commission from that deal, even greater then the broker's, from the surveyed one. The difference between the two boats is minimum, the second one maybe dearer, being "freshly surveyed" and all.
Unfortunately, I've seen brokers in other countries who are the same. Check this:

"Part of our offer will be to have a marine survey completed with the findings to your satisfaction.  I know many certified surveyors and I’ll recommend several that are “top shelf” and ask that you interview and select the one you prefer"- this is part of an American broker presentation. It continues with some Q&A style : "I've heard that surveyors and Brokers team up just to sell a boat?"

"I've heard of that happening but I do nothing of the sort.  I know surveyors from a professional standpoint". That is a lie. It is better for you to come to buy with a specialist you know from before, a guy you trust, and it is not a local, that of course, if you are new to anything related to yachts, boats, and the stuff... To be continued... 

Sailing Yachts 3

Today, I'll present two models from Germany, this time, The Hanse Yacht Building Company.

The sources of the success of HANSE yachts which include ultra-modern developments, originate in Wedel at the Elbe. In 1981, times were changing and Michael Schmidt had to make a major investment into the insolvent Schwarz shipyard. Motor yachts had been built there. Sailing yachts were to be the future of this yard. Rolf Vrolijk, the designer of the America`s Cup winner “Alinghi” and now one of today’s most successful yacht designers in the world, was still at the beginning of his career. He, as well as Wilfried Reiners were assigned to design and build a boat in Wedel for the Admiral`s Cup which was sponsored by the Düsseldorf exhibition. This project determined the future. The big bang of Hanse`s history was the HANSE 291. This boat was an unbeatable offer which caused great fuss and excitement comparable to that of a big bang. That was in the summer of 1993. All workers of the old shipyard in Greifswald were unemployed and coincidentally in Sweden, Karl Baier, the builder and owner of all of the rights to the “Aphrodite 291” was willing to sell and Michael Schmidt bought the tooling and name.

Now it was time to take the chance: the shipyard together with the Swedish boat builder Bent Elgaard, was ready to take-off. After four weeks of taking up the work in Greifswald, the HANSE 291 was exhibited at the “hanseboot” as a best buy offer of only 44.444 Deutsche Mark. There was symbolically a big hammer hanging above the yacht so that obviously there was something special going on at this exhibition booth. The HANSE 291 offered all the basics of a sailing boat: good sailing features, auxiliary engine, bunks, pantry, and pump toilet. Being so well equipped for the price, the boat gripped the hearts of sailors and Michael Schmidt drew up thirty contracts at the show. From then on the motto was “Evolution instead of Revolution”. The HANSE 291 was developing from the experience of its owners and the shipyard evolving into the HANSE 292 and 301. Of all the models, I choose the 545 and the 630e. First, the 545

The master cabin, a sample of comfort.

Still from the en-suite bath.

Still of saloon.

You can drink your own water.

Galley area, classic and stylish..

Another caption from the beautiful interior.

The standard layout.

The deck. Below, a visual of the aft.

The Hanse 545 has a LOA of 16.20 m / 53'9", a LWL of 14.60 m / 52'10", the beam of 4.91 m / 16'1", the draft of 2.80 m / 9'2", a displacement of ~18.7 t. An approximate price in USD is 350,000 for the newborn.

It is just gorgeous, and most of all, economic. They have a M/E of 110 HP/80.9 KW.

The 630e is a high luxury item, counting the prices requested by some brokers. I've seen a 900,000 Euros quotation and I've seen a 770,000 Euros quotation, for the same year, 2011. One can easily estimate it at around 700,000 Euros.

Doesn't look different, but it is, I assure you.

At a LOA of 19 m / 62'4", a LWL of 17.10 m / 56'1", a beam of 5.20 m / 17'1", and a draft of 2.95 m / 9'7", the displacement of just 23.7 t makes her suitable for any boat lift.

The interior is as any luxurious yacht can provide. Below are more captions, from almost all the parts of this magnificent boat.

The master bedroom.

Work area, which is provided also in the cabins.

The functional galley.

Dining in style.

The super functional interior layout.

The spacious deck.

The navigating equipments are exactly what you need.
I'm impressed by this German company. At a series models production rate, they offer quite a lot. This is not advertising here, it's only a presentation, a personal one to be more precise, for any specialized consulting in the matter, your requests are welcomed.

Pricing in a Marina

I just found this table for the pricing method of some Turkish Marina, which may be a custom there, but one have to check first. For a calculation in advance, it is good to anticipate.

To calculate your price, multiply your boat LOA with your beam to get square meters, then find the column corresponding to this size. As you see there are sizes between 24 - 59.99 m², 60 – 119.99 m², 120 – 179.99 m² and 180 m² and more, fact that makes four area columns. The time period is calculated in days, and as you see, the smallest factor is for a whole year. Find the multiplication factor for the number of days you plan to stay. Then, multiply this factor with the boat area you found in m² and after that, multiply it with the number of days you plan to stay. The result will be the price in Euros, for the whole period. The best part is that this includes a half price haul and launch with ten days of hard standing, with the water and electricity costs also included.

Let’s say you own a Beneteau Oceanis 58, and you plan to stay 365 days.

Multiply 18.24 m LOA with 4.99 beam which makes the area 91.01 m². You look in the 2’nd area column the 60 – 119.99 m² column and find the multiplication factor 0.255

Multiply 91.01 with 0.255 and the result with 365 and you’ll have the price of

8,470 Euros for a whole year, which makes the parking of your luxurious 5 star yacht, cheaper than any sort of lodging you can find outside the marina, with electricity and water costs included, 20.20 Euros/day, a joke.

Price List m2 24.00 59.99 60.00 119.99 120.00 179.99 180.00 + Daily 1,153 1,210 1,328 1,502 30 0,713 0,749 0,820 0,957 60 0,551 0,632 0,691 0,841 90 0,461 0,530 0,576 0,704 120 0,429 0,451 0,486 0,597 150 0,401 0,419 0,450 0,555 180 0,373 0,391 0,417 0,516 210 0,346 0,363 0,386 0,480 240 0,324 0,339 0,356 0,446 270 0,300 0,317 0,330 0,414 300 0,280 0,294 0,305 0,385 330 0,260 0,273 0,281 0,358 365 0,243 0,255 0,262 0,333

The Marina view looks like this:

and your Oceanis looks like this:

Just imagine! 10,000 Euros are a small part of a week price if you charter your 3 cabins Oceanis.

Sailing Yachts 2

Still in Europe, we're going today in Germany.

Since 1978 Bavaria yachts have been synonymous with premium quality, solid and lasting values as well as an outstanding price-performance ratio. More than 3.000 motor and sailing yachts per year leave the shipyard ranking among the worlds largest and most successful yacht manufacturers.

Cruiser 32, a 9.99 m ocean cruising yacht, with 2 cabins and a small Volvo Penta 18 HP.

 Looks cozy, isn't it? 2'nd hand models can be found with 40-50,000 Euros.

This is a Cruiser 55, 16.75m three, four or five cabins as you wish and your purpose may be, as well as an 110 HP Yanmar Shaftdrive for main engine.

One of the best offers of the Germans, it is around 280,000 Euros the 2011 model. Actually I like so much this model, I'm gonna show some more pics of her.

The three cabins interior plan.

The cooking area.

The master bath, and below, a bath detail.

They have also in development a model called Vision. Below are an exterior picture and a picture of the interior living area.

This is the one. Sleek and comfortable 15.70 m with 3 cabins and a main engine or 75 HP.

An accredited Bavaria yacht dealer is offering the a Vision 44 made in 2006 with 130,000 Euros, this pushing the price of the newborn 50 toward 200,000.

The Southerly brand has become internationally recognised as the market leader for variable draft cruising yachts. Innovative design, powerful sailing performance, superior build quality and luxurious accommodation are the characteristics of this British ten models current range. I'm going to present here 2 models.

The Southerly 110, a 2 cabin 10.82 m LOA with 3.57 m Beam and a Yanmar 29 HP as a main engine.

The interior is not bad at all, but my pick of this company is the next boat:

The 57 RS, a 17.73 m LOA / 5.20 m Beam 3 cabin cruiser with a 140 HP main engine acquired from Volkswagen, and al the luxury and comfort an English person would imagine.

The saloon.

The galley.

One master cabin, better looking than more I've met at this type of vessel.
Enough for today, I hope to find the time to entertain my visitors as soon as possible, with some sea travel stories. I think I'm going to bother you with some procedures first, of purchasing a boat for yourself, after that a spicy pinch of insider info.

Sailing Yachts 1

Let me continue the yacht types presentation with some famous sailing brands. The first which come in mind is one you find in all the world marinas, and that is Jeanneau. This is a Beneteau Group brand, of whom I'll present more with the time passing. A short presentation of this one I found necessary.

In 1957, Henri Jeanneau, already passionate about airplanes and automobiles, had just discovered a brand new passion for powerboating, one that began as he watched a boat pass by his window. Soon afterward, in Les Herbiers, France, home to a rich heritage of artisan work, he began building a wooden hull with which he participated in the 6-hour Paris race, the largest national race at the time. He was first to cross the line, and this galvanized him. So, a past time became a trade. In 1959, he hired canoe builders as apprentices in his new business, “the Nautical Hall of the West,” which would become, a few years later, the Jeanneau shipyards. France was seeing unprecedented economic growth, and the new company executive quickly understood that the appearance of new electric appliances designed to ease household chores would allow families to devote more time to leisure activities – to the sun, to the sea, and to boating!

From the artisan work of the 1960’s that was the norm in France and elsewhere – each boat was unique, and often customized while still on the production lines – to 2007 and the new technological advances similar to those seen in the aeronautical field, allowing Jeanneau to create boats using 3-dimensional design software and digitally controlled laser-cutting machines. Over the past 50 years of development, the men and women of Jeanneau have evolved in their fields while preserving their passion for the sea and love of work well done. At Jeanneau, the woodworkers have held on to their planes and mechanics have kept their tools for repairs. In the beginning, to test the solidity of the first fibreglass boats, a boat was hitched to a towrope and put in on Lake Tricherie, about 10 km. from the Les Herbiers, France factory and yards. There, at full speed, it was launched over a wooden ramp and into the air, clearing a nearby road, to land in a field. Henri Jeanneau was at the helm, of course. Today, real-life tests are conducted on ocean crossings or circumnavigations.

The smallest of them all is Sun 2000. (around 16,000 Euros for about 6.64 m of fiberglass)

Here is the Sun Odyssey 409, a model of 12.34 m / 40' , and below, you have an interior image.

They come equipped with a 40 HP motor, but are mainly sail drive. The company estimates this model at around 120,000 Euros.

This magnificent, seaworthy sailboat is a Sun Odyssey 45 DS, estimated at around 183,000 Euros for her's 13.75 m / 45' and is equipped with a M/E Yanmar of 54 HP.

These are only samples of sailing boats built by Jeanneau who has some power models as well.

We are meeting again this French firm. The BENETEAU adventure began more than a century ago on the quays of Croix-de-Vie in Vendée. For 120 years, the core of the Boatyard's profession has been innovation. From the first sardine boat to the First 50, from the shipbuilding tradition to more advanced technologies, our expertise has grown. However, it is still the pioneering spirit of Benjamin BENETEAU that is the driving force behind our 2,500 co-workers. To date, more than 42 000 BENETEAU yachts have sailed the seas of the world. At their helm, keen owners with whom we share the same values of performance, modernity, safety and respect.

The Sense 50' is a 14,98 m sailboat blending simplicity with refinement.

 The First 50 is another 14,99 m model. I think the nicest and the best models of sailing boats built by Benneteau are the Oceanis. From 31’ to 58’, all nine Oceanis models are tireless cruisers designed to deliver comfort in all its forms, beginning with the comfort of a stable, high-performance hull.

The new Oceanis 58 is 18,24 m LOA and has a luxurious interior design.

 There are many brands on the market. Looking through the models, online or at the exhibitions or in walking through a yacht port, generically named "marina", you'll see that the differences aren't so noticeable giving some parameters. They can change a little bit the interior design and it is normal as the LOA become bigger so will be the fantasy of the designers. I'm talking now for both types, the sailing and the power boats. The great majority of sailing boats have main engines, it is normal, as it is easier to enter a port or to throw the anchor by maneuvering the motor, not the sails. I'd like these days to dedicate a few posts to Beneteau Group, because they reunite power and sail alltogether, and the brands they have put together are all at the highest standards. So, my future presentation will be mixed, from now on. I'm sure that when you buy a boat for your own, you know already what you want.