boat to swap in Holland

[George DuBose]

I know it's still early for making the coming summer's cruising plans,
but the early bird catches the worm...

To Southern New England Monohull Owners

Next summer I am interested in a boat swap. Boat for boat, no monetary compensation.

My boat, Skylark is a 1973 Pearson 36-1 Hull nr. 58. and is located in a berth at Compagnieshaven, (awarded four gold anchors) a very nice marina on the IJsselmeer in The Netherlands.

The marina is extremely well run with helpful and friendly English-speaking harbormasters and conveniently located one hour by train from Schipol Airport near Amsterdam. The marina is located in the picturesque village of
Enkhuizen, which was one of the original Dutch East Indies harbors dating back to the early 1600s. Dutch people normally can speak English.

The IJsselmeer provides a freshwater, lake-like sailing experience. There are several other ports and marinas on the Ijsselmeer that are all reachable in a day. The Dutch Friesen Islands, Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling are all within a day's sail. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Baltic sea, the south coast of England and Ireland, the coast of Normandy and Brittany are all within a 2-3 days sail. One could reach the east coast of Scotland in 3-4 days, go through the Caledonian Canal to the Inner Hebrides to explore the wonderful cruising grounds there.

The period I can offer Skylark is during my sons' summer holidays, July 20th thru September 1st.

I bought her after a survey in 2007 and as she had a Yanmar 3GM30F with 100 hours on it, it was the best example of this yacht on the market at that time. I put her through a full refit, the only original parts are the bow and stern rails, hull, deck, ports, boom and mast. A complete suite of Raymarine equipment, C120, radar, etc., was installed, the standing rigging was replaced, all the electric cables were replaced, new self-tailing winches, windlass and anchor rode with a 45 lb. Manson Supreme anchor, new mainsail and a good #2 genoa on the Schaefer furler, new three burner gimbaled oven and a Dometic 110 liter refrigerator. Skylark also has Superwind 350 wind generator, a Givens DeLuxe 6 man offshore liferaft, a Jordan Series Drogue and completely new cushions and curtains. A 2009 3 meter Avon Rover with a 2012 Yamaha 6hp is also available.

I have created a .pdf manual for all the extra equipment, switches and general operating instructions, not a how-to-sail manual

In all, Skylark is a well-found, well-kept example of a safe, sturdy, yet fast sailor. Since 2009, she has one transAtlantic, a 1000 nm cruise to The Channel Islands, a 1500 nm cruise to the Inner Hebrides and a loop around the North Sea to Helgoland and back.

I can send photos of Skylark's interior and deck. The hull's paint has many paint scratches from the steep learning curves she met in the Dutch locks and topped off by the double transit of the Caledonian Canal this June/July. I may have her painted by next summer. She got a new GelShield/Micron bottom in 2012.

I just want to get back to East Hampton, NY and the marina where I was keeping my P26 for 30 years. The P26 is still there, but needs a total overhaul before my wife would sleep on it. The swapee's boat doesn't have to be in pristine condition, but odor free and clean enough to keep my wife from complaining. We just would like to hang out in Three Mile Harbor for 2-6 weeks, do a little light sailing around Gardiner's Bay and visit with my friends in the area. I have access to a mooring in Three Mile Harbor.

I could also provide a very well maintained 1966 Volvo station wagon for use during this period of exchange.

Sounds like a great deal to me, one only needs to come up with plane fare and operating costs and get a great tour of northern European waters.

Please respond thru the forum.