Prettiest boat in your anchorage

[Refueler]

In Riga - they build these and fitted with electric propulsion. They provide day trips on the canals and River of Riga .... I believe they have one with possibly 'hybrid' propulsion that gives longer trips along the Lielupe River ...




It may interest some - but the buildings behind are Zeppelin Airship hangars left by Germans from WW1 ... which now house Riga Central Market - what was Europes largest market.

 

[Refueler]

Those canal boats in Riga ... I enquired about one for Ventspils ... when they quoted price ... I nearly had heart attack !!

 

[Alicatt]

When we left our boat today the road goes up over the pleasure boat locks and then climbs a bit more to go over the commercial boat locks, three parallel sets of locks for the 1m difference between the lake on one side and Holland's Deep on the other, there sitting in the middle lock was one of those Rhine floating hotels all 135m of her and there was room in the lock for more barges too.
The hotel had been moored in Willemstad yesterday when we were there, but boy was that haven very busy,
We were at the yacht supplies shop there getting a couple of new bilge pumps, and a few plugs for the sockets on deck.
This was the view coming out the shop:

 

[Hurricane]

When we left our boat today the road goes up over the pleasure boat locks and then climbs a bit more to go over the commercial boat locks, three parallel sets of locks for the 1m difference between the lake on one side and Holland's Deep on the other, there sitting in the middle lock was one of those Rhine floating hotels all 135m of her and there was room in the lock for more barges too.
The hotel had been moored in Willemstad yesterday when we were there, but boy was that haven very busy,
We were at the yacht supplies shop there getting a couple of new bilge pumps, and a few plugs for the sockets on deck.
This was the view coming out the shop:
View attachment 181694

Ahhh - Willemstad - thats a blast from the past.
Nearly 20 years ago, it was a favourite haunt for people from this forum.
IIRC there was an excellent restaurant there - the speciality was lots of courses - Yum

This was us in April 2006 - we had a Sealine T51 at the time - cruised there from the Hamble.
Great cruise - lovely place

 

[Alicatt]

Ahhh - Willemstad - thats a blast from the past.
Nearly 20 years ago, it was a favourite haunt for people from this forum.
IIRC there was an excellent restaurant there - the speciality was lots of courses - Yum

This was us in April 2006 - we had a Sealine T51 at the time - cruised there from the Hamble.
Great cruise - lovely place

View attachment 181697

Very busy place with boats from all over there, we are moored not far from there while we are awaiting the paperwork on our new to us boat, so getting on replacing worn out parts and bringing things up to spec. There were a few big Linsen boats there and a Fairline Phantom 46 tucked in the corner.
We (I mostly) went up the tower of the church, fantastic view from there, Mrs. Catt got a bit stuck on the last set of stairs and froze, it was the open stairs with nothing but space beyond them that got to her, I got her back down to one of the rooms and went back up to enjoy the view.

We ate at the little restaurant that you can see at the start of the tree lined avenue, food was sublime and the Crème Brule was the second best I have tasted, best was at Bord d'leu in Wick, fantastic French chef and proprietor.

 

[Bouba]

Tomorrow we are driving up to the biggest natural lake in France and the hotel is in the marina....so I will post if there are any nice boats (although last time I was there, there wasn’t)

 

[Bajansailor]

View attachment 181672
Perfection is just a simple equation!

@Portofino is it usual to just have a token bimini awning like this on an Itama?
It seems to be a bit of an afterthought, and it looks like the helm does not get any shade at all from the bimini (?)

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

@Portofino is it usual to just have a token bimini awning like this on an Itama?
It seems to be a bit of an afterthought, and it looks like the helm does not get any shade at all from the bimini (?)

The bimini is on rails, and you can move it forward. If it was mine though I would extend it a bit (50 cm) so the helm and nearly all dinette is covered, although with an Itama you can actually drive with the front bit closed, as the angle during navigation is straight and you have nothing disturbing the windshield.
Another thing I would do is the netted screen from the end of the bimini to the stern, so then you have more shade (to use strictly on anchor or in the marina).

 

[Portofino]

The rail .
We had it back so the Bimini covered the rear seat , in fact all the cockpit seating .
Couple more clever design features ….the post upright s bent at its root so it s parallel with the glass frame bit . The whole thing covers the seating it’s sq over the top of the cockpit .
On many sports cruises say my previous Sunseeker ( a 2003 modal ) the radar arch curved inwards .So the canvas didn’t cover the cockpit area it was about a foot short all round .
Front bit zips on ^ as PYB says you can drive like this as the thing hardly bow rises stays flat in navigation making tabs redundant

As you can see above it’s raining and the seating is dry ^ .Also note under the windscreen the acrylic rest for the frame ( and cover ) if want it folded as it fits under the screen and rests on that .See pic below not my boat this one’s the Saudi royal families chase boat back in the day .Built to order like most back in the Amarti days ( 80s ? ) It has triple humongous petrols , obviously fuel consumption wasn’t a problem , still isn’t to king + princes .






Above look how the upright has a bend at the door to parallel it up with the glass divide ……Who would have thought of that ….only an Italian .

 

[Bouba]

Just arrived…lots of traffic …beautiful place

 

[mcanderson]

Not this one

 

[Alicatt]

It’s not the boats I’m thinking about but what is that crane going to lift? It’s about 2km from where we are and is towering above the trees…

 

[Greg2]

Deleted - duplicate post.

 

[Greg2]

A Spirit Yacht down the pontoon from us this evening - just lovely!

 

[Poignard]

Just arrived…lots of traffic …beautiful place

Where is that?

 

[Bouba]

Where is that?

Aix-les-Bains....on France’s biggest natural fresh water lake...Lac Du Bourget....44 sq km and 147 m deep. Plus it’s connected to the River Rhône by the most beautiful canal....a magical place

 

[Bouba]

Lac du Bouget

 

[Bouba]

….and the nearby village of Chanaz..

 

[Poignard]

Aix-les-Bains....on France’s biggest natural fresh water lake...Lac Du Bourget....44 sq km and 147 m deep. Plus it’s connected to the River Rhône by the most beautiful canal....a magical place

We have booked a house at Annecy for a week in September. That's not far from Aix les Bains, so we must spend a day there.

I might even "take the waters". See if it will help my lumbago

 

[Bouba]

We have booked a house at Annecy for a week in September. That's not far from Aix les Bains, so we must spend a day there.

I might even "take the waters". See if it will help my lumbago

Annecy is of course a superb place....more sophisticated and busier than Bouget....also Lac d’Annecy is smaller. For actual boating I recommend Lac du Bouget because of the size, ruggedness and beauty but also for the variety...leave the lake go down the canal (the clearest water you will ever see in a canal)...pass the village of Chanaz then go through the lock and go out on the river. It’s quite special...and I have in the past towed my own boat up there and have done it all.
But Lac d’Annecy is one of the greatest places in the world