dustywings
Well-Known Member
Well it seems a long time since that fateful day on October 29th when our newly purchased Squadron 58 was washed off the deck of the Del Volante and sank immediately. The months following were pretty miserable I am afraid as it took the insurance company four months to pay out following investigation after investigation, which I am told is actually quite fast! This is the norm apparently but I can’t help thinking that as I am clearly an innocent party having not been on the ship, loaded the boat myself or been responsible for the storm(!) why they couldn’t just settle quickly but there you go! I would like to say a huge thanks to many on this forum for offers of; joining them on their own boats, the offer of other potential boats to purchase (one in particular being very tempting) and advice and support around the shipping industry, you know who you all are and I am very grateful, beers on me anytime!
I am pleased to be able to say though, that we didn’t stop searching and in fact have now purchased another SQ58!! This one is again a 2003 model which I am happy to say is actually slightly better than the one we lost in many areas which makes the whole episode slightly more more palatable. She was lying in Palma and I say ‘was’ as she is now safely back in the UK… I waited until she was here before posting this!
Some detail then… spec includes extras such as; uprated passerelle, aircon and uprated genset, third helm station, teak decks (which have been replaced in recent years), blue deck lights package, max anchor chain etc. Two years ago she had a mini refit with all new interior linings, new exterior upholstery, new hydraulic hoses, full overhaul of aircon, replacement flybridge dashboard, windows resealed etc. The boat has had a captain for most of its life so has been cleaned and polished every week meaning that it looks much younger than its true age. Engine hours are 800 with a great maintenance/service record. It comes with a 2011 Williams 325 on the back and a good level of other general bits left aboard. The survey came back with very little wrong, the main thing was the cutlass bearings which have just been replaced and a suitable reduction in price was negotiated for that and a few other small points.
Then of course came the shipping! I was planning to bring her back by ship despite my previous experience however after two months, despite promises, there was no sailing available due to lack of demand. Other owners were nervous about the VAT issue following Brexit so were all delaying any plans. I eventually gave up the idea and brought it back by road which meant moving it to Port Forum, Barcelona before loading it onto a Coast2Coast truck who were brilliant! There was a certain amount of dismantling required to reduce height; props, rudders, radar mast, screens, helm station and helm seats. This is however made easy by virtue of the fact that all electrical connections that need separating are simply plugs.
So our lovely new boat finally arrived back here at RK Marine and I have spent the last couple of weeks putting it back together which has been fun and a good way of getting to know the boat.
She has this week finally hit the water here and today we move her to her permanent berth at Bucklers Hard.
Thanks again to everyone who offered their support and sympathies last October but this new boat will hopefully make all the upset worthwhile!
Finally I would point out that I now become only the second member (I think) of a very very exclusive club, the other member being JFM in that I too have now purchased TWO Squadron 58s!!!
I am pleased to be able to say though, that we didn’t stop searching and in fact have now purchased another SQ58!! This one is again a 2003 model which I am happy to say is actually slightly better than the one we lost in many areas which makes the whole episode slightly more more palatable. She was lying in Palma and I say ‘was’ as she is now safely back in the UK… I waited until she was here before posting this!
Some detail then… spec includes extras such as; uprated passerelle, aircon and uprated genset, third helm station, teak decks (which have been replaced in recent years), blue deck lights package, max anchor chain etc. Two years ago she had a mini refit with all new interior linings, new exterior upholstery, new hydraulic hoses, full overhaul of aircon, replacement flybridge dashboard, windows resealed etc. The boat has had a captain for most of its life so has been cleaned and polished every week meaning that it looks much younger than its true age. Engine hours are 800 with a great maintenance/service record. It comes with a 2011 Williams 325 on the back and a good level of other general bits left aboard. The survey came back with very little wrong, the main thing was the cutlass bearings which have just been replaced and a suitable reduction in price was negotiated for that and a few other small points.
Then of course came the shipping! I was planning to bring her back by ship despite my previous experience however after two months, despite promises, there was no sailing available due to lack of demand. Other owners were nervous about the VAT issue following Brexit so were all delaying any plans. I eventually gave up the idea and brought it back by road which meant moving it to Port Forum, Barcelona before loading it onto a Coast2Coast truck who were brilliant! There was a certain amount of dismantling required to reduce height; props, rudders, radar mast, screens, helm station and helm seats. This is however made easy by virtue of the fact that all electrical connections that need separating are simply plugs.
So our lovely new boat finally arrived back here at RK Marine and I have spent the last couple of weeks putting it back together which has been fun and a good way of getting to know the boat.
She has this week finally hit the water here and today we move her to her permanent berth at Bucklers Hard.
Thanks again to everyone who offered their support and sympathies last October but this new boat will hopefully make all the upset worthwhile!
Finally I would point out that I now become only the second member (I think) of a very very exclusive club, the other member being JFM in that I too have now purchased TWO Squadron 58s!!!
