Boat swapping, 2022 edition (Turkey - US)

[jckerner]

Hi everyone,

there's a 2019 thread on boat swapping advantages and (mostly) disadvantages, but being a boat owner for 10 years now, I haven't yet met anyone who doesn't love their boat. Now, I'm German, Germans don't even lend their drilling machine away, and that's not your wife or even your boat.

In those 10 years, though, I've met plenty of people very eager to "swing" my wife and theirs; some of whom were quite inviting, but I'm not that kind of person - and neither is my wife. All of those had really, really nice boats, essentially; they were decent people.

So, while I'm unwilling to trade my wife for a good night, I'm willing to trade my boat for a few weeks. I'm pretty sure there are people out there that are like me and have a boat in at least technically "like new" condition, because they do care for it as much as I do.

I can offer a 1984 35ft Comar sailing yacht, completely refitted in 2010, throughoutly serviced, with a little-too-large rigging, so it's over hull speed quite quickly.

Elisabeth (not my name choice, but I it's considered bad luck to rename a boat) is moored in a marina in Fethiye, Turkey, one of the few places always making the top10 of the most beautiful places to sail on this planet. It's a before-lunch trip to one of a dozen islands, some of which have a jetty and a restaurant, or even more picturesque bays.



We'd like to explore the Bahamas, Florida Keys, Carribean or - that's my wife's dream - sailing into the NYC harbour.

Now, I understand that that area suggests a larger boat than the rather quiet and predictable Turkish coast in the Med, thus of course I'd compensate you for that (the model, not mine, did make it around the world). The "treating the boat like it isn't yours" thing is - in my opinion - a charter guest problem; we both shouldn't do or want that.

As for things going wrong - hopefully they wont, but if your or my fridge compressor or anchor winch or whatever decides to die at exactly that point in time, I expect you to be reasonable enough to know that's not my fault. Or yours, reciprocally. For everything else, there's that nice insurance brokerage company in Hamburg, which will insist you also buy an insurance to sue your insurance company because those are total c_nts. Again, I'm German. They will pay. And you don't have to go to court personally in Germany; unlike the Americas. Thus I'd insist on that; been to court, was boring; some idiot reared me, insurance people and the rear-ender were morons - wrote the judge.

You might sink my boat as well as I might sink yours, but this is so unlikely that the insurance against that won't cost more than an average dinner. Certainly, might take a year, and it's annoying, but we'd both over-insure the boats for compensation, just in case.

If anyone is still interested: Elisabeth comes with (next to the over-rigged mast) a nice 130% Genua which will give you 80% hull speed without even bothering with the main sail at just 12 knots of wind if reaching. And in the Gulf of Göcek, the wind is always reaching. There's a ton of other sails on the boat, including a Spinnaker in the aft cabin, if you like that. I never bothered, but I'd have the sailmaker check if it's fine if you would like to use it.

Comfortably sleeps 2 in the owner's cabin in the bow, but if you spend a minute to lower the salon table two more there, and another one on the port side sofa, both of which I just had the cushions and foamy part replaced. Aft cabin slept 2 when build, but half of that is now batteries; other half ist storage for stuff. Engine is an 29hp Yanmar, replacing the original 18hp 1980s thing. Won't spot-turn conter-clockwise if your life depended on it, though. Loves turning clockwise when mooring. Takes some time to learn, but it's moored in Turkey, there'll be plenty of people to assist (or sabotage) you.

It's a nice sailing daylong trip to Rhodes, Greece. They will take your landline and do ****-all otherwise - well, they will laugh if you can't anchor stern-to. A lot. Our first try ended with the anchor chain run out 2 meters (yards) from the quai. Made me buy another 20 meters of anchor chain.

Send me a PM if interested; might take a while for me to answer the first time.