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Guest
Guest
The guy who ordered hull number 24 has ducked out, said the salesman, so you can have number 24. Ah, no, said his colleague, he’s in prison. Anyway, you can have it in April. Okay, but my berth ain’t free till May. Okay , we’ll moor it in Cannes till then foc.
Then four meetings with Rodriguez in Golfe Juan. R are the sole distributors. But the guy from Ancasta “did the deal” and has proved helpful in getting stuff that wd be very very useful. His idea all the stainless steel in the cockpit, the pop-up extra cleats, etc etc.
Sometimes the meeting is me and the frenchies, sometimes me and frenchies (rodriguez) and the italians. Lots of drawings on the table etc etc.
Most of these meetings are held in a an Aladdin’s cave full of expensive stuff . Very expensive stuff. If your company made expensive stuff that could possibly be nailed on or in a boat, free samples are in that room. From marble, wood, taps, crockery, taps, lights, and even statues. There’s a half-sized brass leopard, ready for a 108 mangusta, entirely upholstered in leopardskin. Cripes. We’ve found a 2-foot bronze statue of Diana the Huntress, they said, how about that? Go on then.
The taps are next. Walloping great big taps with marble innem, look like an absolute fortune. Ah but they don’t show if it's hot and cold. Nor do they have red and blue washers. They could be engraved they said. Engraved with what, I asked thinking of resales or praps just being awkward– H and C as in English, or C and F as in French? We could deliver an H and a C and an F spare? Umm okay that should cover it.
Floors. I’m sick of hoovering carpets in boats, an even though there’s a central vacuum system, I don’t want carpet in the saloon, only in the cabins. In the med it goes all sweaty, in the uk it gets muddy, and all the boats with dark wood wall paneling that they then try and lighten with white carpet soon realise that having white or cream carpet in a marina full of massive diesels means the carpet cleaning men are rich. Okay then, wood it is. Choose some wood from the tons of examples. What about this? You can’t have that Mr S, it’s too um well….Too what? You said I cd have anything! The salesman translates: they are saying it is too cheap, not expensive enough! Oh. Well, what about this v light teak and holly, I said. Okay then, and if you don’t like the wood, we can always put an overcarpet on it afterwards, they say.
Cutlery next. Cutlery? Yes, the boat comes ready to go, so crocks and cutlery all included. Sort of Leopard cutlery, like f’line and s’seeker do on the big boats? Pah, of course not. You choose the cutlery you want, say the ladies. Out comes walloping pack of cutlery, and they’re all rather swish and heavy like in a ££restaurant. Coo, this one looks silver, says my wife. They’re all silver, say the nice ladies. Praps you shd look around some shops, remember the type, then tell us. Glub.
Despite going back thru lots of mags, it seems that MBY and MBM haven't ever reviewed cutlery, which is rather remiss. As a result, I know sod all about it. We went to Harrods to have a look. Lots of cutlery here, 2 or 3 grand for loads of the stuff in a box. But over there is Christofle. Aparrently they are the absolute dogs bits of the cutlery world. They have just one spoon and knife of each type. It has to be ordered. The "Marly" type is silver, French second empire style curly leaf bits around, but not too oldy or weird. These curly leafy bits can be gold, say the bloke, and shows us his one dessert spoon which costs about 120 quid. Wow. It looks like it's been nicked from Versailles or Fontainblau. But it’s silver so cleaning and what about over winter? Soddit, we’ll bring it home at the end of the season, or even keep it at home if it’s no good in sea air, says wife.
So next meeting we tellem the product code of this cutlery. The lady writes it down. There’ll be 12 place settings , she says. Even in cheaper France, the tiniest coffee spoon is thirty quid. I'm trying to work out waht a place setting will be, and they were blathering on a bout serving spoons, but I daren't push it. We’ll never get away with this, I'm thinking, they’re just bound to tell us to sod off. An hour or so later I get a call on the mobile. It’s Rodrigues, about the cutlery. Ah well. “Do we also want the the fish knives and forks?" asks the lady. Umm, I think we'll probably be alright without the fish knives, at least for the first season, I said. I shd've said of course we do, but best be nice about it.
Soon, we're going to the factory to see the boat in build. The man says it’s not a production environment such as Fairline. Eh? Anybody who has any idea of manufacturing thinks that Fairline is like a homebuild would be if you had a dozen very helpful mates in a big garage, so what will this be like? More later.
Then four meetings with Rodriguez in Golfe Juan. R are the sole distributors. But the guy from Ancasta “did the deal” and has proved helpful in getting stuff that wd be very very useful. His idea all the stainless steel in the cockpit, the pop-up extra cleats, etc etc.
Sometimes the meeting is me and the frenchies, sometimes me and frenchies (rodriguez) and the italians. Lots of drawings on the table etc etc.
Most of these meetings are held in a an Aladdin’s cave full of expensive stuff . Very expensive stuff. If your company made expensive stuff that could possibly be nailed on or in a boat, free samples are in that room. From marble, wood, taps, crockery, taps, lights, and even statues. There’s a half-sized brass leopard, ready for a 108 mangusta, entirely upholstered in leopardskin. Cripes. We’ve found a 2-foot bronze statue of Diana the Huntress, they said, how about that? Go on then.
The taps are next. Walloping great big taps with marble innem, look like an absolute fortune. Ah but they don’t show if it's hot and cold. Nor do they have red and blue washers. They could be engraved they said. Engraved with what, I asked thinking of resales or praps just being awkward– H and C as in English, or C and F as in French? We could deliver an H and a C and an F spare? Umm okay that should cover it.
Floors. I’m sick of hoovering carpets in boats, an even though there’s a central vacuum system, I don’t want carpet in the saloon, only in the cabins. In the med it goes all sweaty, in the uk it gets muddy, and all the boats with dark wood wall paneling that they then try and lighten with white carpet soon realise that having white or cream carpet in a marina full of massive diesels means the carpet cleaning men are rich. Okay then, wood it is. Choose some wood from the tons of examples. What about this? You can’t have that Mr S, it’s too um well….Too what? You said I cd have anything! The salesman translates: they are saying it is too cheap, not expensive enough! Oh. Well, what about this v light teak and holly, I said. Okay then, and if you don’t like the wood, we can always put an overcarpet on it afterwards, they say.
Cutlery next. Cutlery? Yes, the boat comes ready to go, so crocks and cutlery all included. Sort of Leopard cutlery, like f’line and s’seeker do on the big boats? Pah, of course not. You choose the cutlery you want, say the ladies. Out comes walloping pack of cutlery, and they’re all rather swish and heavy like in a ££restaurant. Coo, this one looks silver, says my wife. They’re all silver, say the nice ladies. Praps you shd look around some shops, remember the type, then tell us. Glub.
Despite going back thru lots of mags, it seems that MBY and MBM haven't ever reviewed cutlery, which is rather remiss. As a result, I know sod all about it. We went to Harrods to have a look. Lots of cutlery here, 2 or 3 grand for loads of the stuff in a box. But over there is Christofle. Aparrently they are the absolute dogs bits of the cutlery world. They have just one spoon and knife of each type. It has to be ordered. The "Marly" type is silver, French second empire style curly leaf bits around, but not too oldy or weird. These curly leafy bits can be gold, say the bloke, and shows us his one dessert spoon which costs about 120 quid. Wow. It looks like it's been nicked from Versailles or Fontainblau. But it’s silver so cleaning and what about over winter? Soddit, we’ll bring it home at the end of the season, or even keep it at home if it’s no good in sea air, says wife.
So next meeting we tellem the product code of this cutlery. The lady writes it down. There’ll be 12 place settings , she says. Even in cheaper France, the tiniest coffee spoon is thirty quid. I'm trying to work out waht a place setting will be, and they were blathering on a bout serving spoons, but I daren't push it. We’ll never get away with this, I'm thinking, they’re just bound to tell us to sod off. An hour or so later I get a call on the mobile. It’s Rodrigues, about the cutlery. Ah well. “Do we also want the the fish knives and forks?" asks the lady. Umm, I think we'll probably be alright without the fish knives, at least for the first season, I said. I shd've said of course we do, but best be nice about it.
Soon, we're going to the factory to see the boat in build. The man says it’s not a production environment such as Fairline. Eh? Anybody who has any idea of manufacturing thinks that Fairline is like a homebuild would be if you had a dozen very helpful mates in a big garage, so what will this be like? More later.