thejonesey
Well-Known Member
Having been boatless for the first time in four years we set about finding a replacement for our beloved Maxsisi. (Now in the safe hands of Baseplate.) Having decided on a Jeanneau Prestige 46, we scoured the websites, missing out on a lovely boat in the Hamble but then struggling to find anything within our price range in the UK.
The solution was to look further afield and thanks to the advice and support of those on here, we trekked off to Belgium on Wednesday, leaving at 5am and returning by 10pm. I had been in contact with the broker a great deal prior to the trip and agreed a price in principle, having seen the provenance of the boat and talked through VAT, UK paperwork and so on. They are the Jeanneau dealers for Belgium and the broker's Dad sold the boat initially, then sold it to the current owner, the broker himself had moved it to winter storage a couple of times and they had done all the maintenance work... So boat well known to them. We also used a local (Dutch) surveyor who came to the boat on the day we visited so I could talk things through with him. We talked about the hull at length and he assured me that it was in excellent shape as this was an area that some Forumites had warned me about. The survey actually only showed up a couple of minor issues.
... And so we came to arrive at a great big warehouse, filled with boats and caravans all in storage for winter! Our boat was tucked in at the back and even in this rather unromantic situation it became clear that we had unearthed a gem. 2006 with Cummins engines, excellent condition and the bits we found were added to the to do list before hand over by the broker... Not at my cost!
The catch... I can own her but cannot play with her until April because of the storage situation. That said, they are going to sand, prepare and antifoul the hull, polish and clean the whole boat and fix those bits and pieces ready for collection. I am planning to bring her back on her bottom (apologies Jon for not ringing yet... I will in the New Year) but the broker has said that I cannot leave until he has come out for a short shakedown to ensure that all works as it should... I can't help thinking that this is what happens when you buy new, not secondhand!
Many thanks to all for their help and advice. I will post photos as soon as photobucket has uploaded them. Better ones to follow in April.
The solution was to look further afield and thanks to the advice and support of those on here, we trekked off to Belgium on Wednesday, leaving at 5am and returning by 10pm. I had been in contact with the broker a great deal prior to the trip and agreed a price in principle, having seen the provenance of the boat and talked through VAT, UK paperwork and so on. They are the Jeanneau dealers for Belgium and the broker's Dad sold the boat initially, then sold it to the current owner, the broker himself had moved it to winter storage a couple of times and they had done all the maintenance work... So boat well known to them. We also used a local (Dutch) surveyor who came to the boat on the day we visited so I could talk things through with him. We talked about the hull at length and he assured me that it was in excellent shape as this was an area that some Forumites had warned me about. The survey actually only showed up a couple of minor issues.
... And so we came to arrive at a great big warehouse, filled with boats and caravans all in storage for winter! Our boat was tucked in at the back and even in this rather unromantic situation it became clear that we had unearthed a gem. 2006 with Cummins engines, excellent condition and the bits we found were added to the to do list before hand over by the broker... Not at my cost!
The catch... I can own her but cannot play with her until April because of the storage situation. That said, they are going to sand, prepare and antifoul the hull, polish and clean the whole boat and fix those bits and pieces ready for collection. I am planning to bring her back on her bottom (apologies Jon for not ringing yet... I will in the New Year) but the broker has said that I cannot leave until he has come out for a short shakedown to ensure that all works as it should... I can't help thinking that this is what happens when you buy new, not secondhand!
Many thanks to all for their help and advice. I will post photos as soon as photobucket has uploaded them. Better ones to follow in April.
