Original post made april 25. 2009
I think it all started as long ago as when I was a little boy, in the summers at our summer house by Lake Vanern in
Sweden. (The lake is small in comparison with any sea, but still the 3rd largest in
Europe and still today not very dense with boats. You can sail for a day and not geting too close to another
boat, if you prefer that)
I was 6 ears old when my dad first trusted me to take out the
dinghy all by myself.. a small 370cm boat, powered with 6 year old biceps.. my orange colored beaty. A year or so later, I was trusted to use the
outboard engine. A 4hp Johnson that seemed to weigh only a bit less than a ton of bricks as I dragged it on the trail through the forest from the house to the boat. Already then. At that time and place, the DESIRE grew bigger and bigger: I want. I want more. I want it all.
"I wish I could stay on my boat and never have to leave", I remember saying to my dad.
As the years went by the boats were traded in, sometimes at a rate of one per year. From open small boats used for waterskiing, through DCīs and small hard tops where my feet didnt have to peek out of the
cockpit cover every nite. At this time, it was
water sports and camping that possesed my mind. The priorities were made with speed at the top of the list so comfort meant less than an extra
knot.
Then, in my early 20īs I met a girl, we eventually got married and had 4
kids. The boat interest never left, and we had a hard top boat for day trips and later on a wooden boat about 8.50x2.50 for weekend trips when our 4th kid decided to pop out. (Ye I know.. 4
kids, but hey, if youīre good at something, then...
) Anyway, at that time I put the
boating aside. Couldnt afford a boat that slept 4+2 and only kept a
small boat for
fishing and nostalgia. The dream never left me though and being recently divorced I decided itīs now, or it' s never. Said and done. I spent about a year really melting the idea and seriously considering what it would mean. What kind of boat should I get etc. It had to be a good sailer. It should
bed at least 4, for the kids to come join me as often as possible and it should be a BOAT. not a miniature ship. Since I had grown up with
motor boats I had practically never set foot on a sailing boat, so not only did I want it to perform well, it should also be forgiving against a rookie at
sails. I spent a good time searching the ads for a boat both suitable for me and financially possible to overcome. 4 kids, recently divorced, and just laid off from my job... well, you do the maths. It just couldnīt cost a fortune.
I looked at boats from 23ft up to 29ft and finally decided on the Maxi77 (26ft) with a
Volvo Penta MD6A
diesel. Built 1972, but with only 2 owners of which the later one had just died, I took one look at it, and "fell in love" THIS is what I want. Itīs not in mint condition by any means, but itīs been treated well and taken care of throughout the years.
Service books and log
books stretching some 20 years back gave me the confidence to buy her, even w/o returning with friends with knowledge of things to watch out for. That, and the fact that I paid just a bit more than half the going
price for the model.
So, now I was a sailing boat owner. A boat to be proud of. A boat to call home. And a boat that was still a boat and can be handled by one -totally novice- person.
Boat:
Maxi 77 with full wardrobe of
sails, except
spinnaker (is that what it's called in
English too?)
Engine: 2 cyl VP MD6A 7.5 hp/VP100S sail drive
Eqpt: Ardic
diesel heater 4.2 KW.
Toilet,
Origo stove but not much more
Budget: Still under, so I can equip her along the time I see what I need.
THIS WILL BE SOOOO FUN!!! Finally, Iīm going to live my dream.
To be continued oc, but as I said, Iīll do it post by post, and in chronological order