Princess or Ferretti , what boat would you choose?

[BartW]

Just back from Rome,
Survey went perfect, more about that later when I have more time...

we've spend two day's on Bleu Angel, it was " just like heaven "
together with the captain who was on the boat the last 4 years,
Engaged him to stay on the boat one more month to do some small jobs for me, and teach me to drive and maintain the boat, all technical details..etc.. (I would have liked him to stay longer, but he found a new job starting from may)
Now I am going to pay the ballance for the boat on a notary account, so that the previous owner can do all the paperwork, finish the leasing, stop the Italian registration, ... the broker does a professional job !
when that is all done, the notary will pay the owner, and then Bleu Angel is 100% mine ! and we love her !!!

 

[MYAG]

Just back from Rome,
Survey went perfect, more about that later when I have more time...

we've spend two day's on Bleu Angel, it was " just like heaven "
together with the captain who was on the boat the last 4 years,
Engaged him to stay on the boat one more month to do some small jobs for me, and teach me to drive and maintain the boat, all technical details..etc.. (I would have liked him to stay longer, but he found a new job starting from may)
Now I am going to pay the ballance for the boat on a notary account, so that the previous owner can do all the paperwork, finish the leasing, stop the Italian registration, ... the broker does a professional job !
when that is all done, the notary will pay the owner, and then Bleu Angel is 100% mine ! and we love her !!!

Hey Bart, congratulations, that is a very solid ship you have there, perfect for the Med. I wish you fun times and great memories aboard her.

 

[BartW]

Darn, I'll be in Spain in those days...

Alfonzo, the captain's previous job (before he was on Bleu Angel) he was captain on a 18m C. N. Azzurro,
he thought it was the biggest boat the yard ever made.
the boat was in San Remo at that time, perhaps you know him / her.

 

[BartW]

The picture of antibes was Baie Des Anges. Antibes is much more beautiful.

that's a good reason for exploring and get to know the area a bit better
looking forward to this summer !

 

[MapisM]

Alfonzo, the captain's previous job (before he was on Bleu Angel) he was captain on a 18m C. N. Azzurro, he thought it was the biggest boat the yard ever made.
the boat was in San Remo at that time, perhaps you know him / her.

Nope, I don't think we met. I did see an 18m in Sanremo marina a couple of years ago, but nobody was onboard. And she was for sale at that time, IIRC.
Same layout as mine, single deck + f/b. Not sure if that's what he meant, but 18m is indeed the bigger size with such layout.
Above that, they build either the "normal" 2 decks layout with the pilothouse above the cabins and the f/b above the aft deck, or the full raised pilothouse as in the pic below. That's an 80 footer, which afaik is the bigger stuff they built so far.
What did he say of that boat, he was happier with the Canados, I guess?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Just back from Rome,
Survey went perfect, more about that later when I have more time...

Thats excellent news, Bart. Sounds like you could have bought a good 'un

 

[Kipper]

Just back from Rome,
Survey went perfect, more about that later when I have more time...

we've spend two day's on Bleu Angel, it was " just like heaven "
together with the captain who was on the boat the last 4 years,
Engaged him to stay on the boat one more month to do some small jobs for me, and teach me to drive and maintain the boat, all technical details..etc.. (I would have liked him to stay longer, but he found a new job starting from may)
Now I am going to pay the ballance for the boat on a notary account, so that the previous owner can do all the paperwork, finish the leasing, stop the Italian registration, ... the broker does a professional job !
when that is all done, the notary will pay the owner, and then Bleu Angel is 100% mine ! and we love her !!!

Well done Bart, she was obviously meant to be the one for you.

Fantastic boat.

 

[BartW]

perfect for the Med.

is there any chance that we bumb in to each other this summer ?
don't remember where your cruising area is going to be,

I didn't have a close look at your boat at LIBS,
Its the first SS I really like, but this one is georgeous !
really like the hardtop

 

[BartW]

What did he say of that boat, he was happier with the Canados, I guess?

no specific comments as far as I remember,
but he was alway's speaking about "my" boat while mentioning the C.N.A.
so he must have had a special relation with the boat or the owner...

Anyhow I had the impression that he has warm feelings for wooden boats or for GRP'boats with wooden superstructure,
similar like myself and a few others on here.

 

[BartW]

are those current pictures of Blue Angel or lets say, brochure shots, because if they're current, she looks fantastic

indeed some of the foto's posted on here, are from a photo shoot in 2005, some of the pics are copy / pasted from the website of the chartering company.
I've got the full CD now, with the pictures from that photoshoot,
and I can happily say that she still looks like that today.

The sharp eye observer will notice that she has now a new radar, new Sat TV antenna dome, new tender OB engine, and a few minor details changed.

Bleu Angel has had a major rebuyld in 2004/2005, and some upgrading and repainting in 2010

 

[jfm]

Great news Bart, fantastic boat. Congratulations. I hope to bump into you this summer on your big cruise

 

[MapisM]

Anyhow I had the impression that he has warm feelings for wooden boats or for GRP'boats with wooden superstructure,
similar like myself and a few others on here.

Funny you mention, actually in my experience the decks/superstructure are the parts of wooden boats which can give more maintenance headaches.
If I should ever move to a plastic hull, I'd rather get rid of wood everywhere, to drastically cut the maintenance (interiors excepted, but that's another story).

 

[BartW]

actually in my experience the decks/superstructure are the parts of wooden boats which can give more maintenance headaches.

What I learned here during my boat search,
Even in some expensive luxury GRP yachts, sometimes they leave white plastic uncovered inside in saloon or cabins,
I’ ve seen this in some ultra modern designs, the ordinary white plastic in contrast with the warm or modern collors from the interior, Something I really dislike.

Here in this boat the lower window is OK but the white plastic around the upper window looks very cheap and in contrast to the soft leather cream color seats. all IMHO ofcause

On the other hand, on the Canados,
The outside of the wooden superstructure is painted with a polyester paint, it looks as if it is GRP, extremely clean and shiny, and without any blisters. Painting is done 5 years ago, Don’t know the details how they did it.
On the inside of the superstructure there is no GRP, only wood, as per definition, and it looks neat and perfect to me, no plastic panels, really what I like.
Oh yes and there is something about the smell for sure the Canados smells nice with the solid panga panga wood on the saloon floor, could also be the lanolin in the cleaning products..not sure

But yes, during the survey I’ve also learned, when not correctly done, wood can create trouble.
The surveyor discovered that the inside paneling (plywood) of the gunwale was badly done, no gaps for ventilation for getting out moisture or drying

Some parts have to be replaced, The surveyor quoted the work at 12k, what the seller accepted to deduct from the agreed price. (that was the only correction of the price)
The surveyor did a very thorough investigation of the hull, the superstructure, and all systems,

Hull is in perfect shape , 4 layers anti fouling to be taken off after one more layer.(next season)
All seacock’s have been replaced 5 years ago, so look almost like new on the inside
Engines in good shape, all injectors replaced in 2008-2009 (invoice as prove)
Engines start promptly after one night on the dry, and no extra charging on the battery’s
Bilges , tubes and cabling all very clean
He discovered a list of items to be corrected,
- Difference in RPM reading upstairs and downstairs
- Throttle levers SB –P not exactly sync
- Some control lights not functioning
- Some interior lights not functioning
- A small leak on one passerelle piston
- One burner from the cooking fire
- And a few more …
but all a result from normal tear and wear, on a 20yo boat, so therefore the surveyor proposed and I agreed that there was no price correction for these.
More about the survey later…………………

Buying a boat is tiring, in desperate need for a week holiday now
I’m in Dubai airport at the moment, tomorrow hopefully on MY Dreamcatcher 2 in Maldives

 

[AndieMac]

I’m in Dubai airport at the moment, tomorrow hopefully on MY Dreamcatcher 2 in Maldives

Have you got that melting feeling Bart? A bit of a temperate shock after your European winter , hope your diving holiday is great.

Thanks for the survey update, look forward to hearing more details.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

What I learned here during my boat search,
Even in some expensive luxury GRP yachts, sometimes they leave white plastic uncovered inside in saloon or cabins,
I’ ve seen this in some ultra modern designs, the ordinary white plastic in contrast with the warm or modern collors from the interior, Something I really dislike.

Yeah I hate this too which is why, for example, I like the previous generation Ferrettis like mine where everything is covered in wood or fabric. I like the look of your Blue Angel too because the builders have taken care to use lots of wood panelling to cover bare grp areas.
This kind of labour intensive detailing inside is obviously very expensive which is probably why boat builders these days cut costs and leave large areas of bare grp. Then they justify it by calling their design 'boutique hotel minimalist chic' or rubbish like that

 

[AndieMac]

I have seen velours/vinyl product used on some boats that are backed with a couple of mm of foam, after say 10 years or so, the foam/glue breaks down and the velour/vinyl product either hang from the ceiling or droop on the cabin walls, particuarly on damp days.
The product seems to mostly 'tighten' back up on dry days, but it's a shocking look on rainy/humid days.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I have seen velours/vinyl product used on some boats that are backed with a couple of mm of foam, after say 10 years or so, the foam/glue breaks down and the velour/vinyl product either hang from the ceiling or droop on the cabin walls, particuarly on damp days.
The product seems to mostly 'tighten' back up on dry days, but it's a shocking look on rainy/humid days.

Yeah thats true. Also on some boats, the vinyly covering tends to go brittle and tear easily which doesn't look good either but recovering vinyl panels is a relatively cheap job, at least compared to replacing timber panels

 

[BartW]

Boat is ready for a epic journey, Worldmap and courtesy flags are in place

Here we’ve reached 27knots at 2300rpm, exactly according specs,

Was really exited, bashing at that speed in a 70Ton, 70ft boat = adrenaline at the max
Unfortunately due to the excitement I did not put much attention to the tests they did with the engines, and their report to the surveyor was completely in Italian so I missed quite a lot of that,
Anyhow, there were no concerning remarks with the engines.
But While they have 2000Hrs on the counter, the test engineer suggested they will need a rebuild at around 3000Hrs. (not sure if I still own them by then ;-) )
Full reports of maintenance the last 4 years were available from the owner.

All bilges and seacock’s have been checked thoroughly, Couldn’t believe the tubing is 20yo

The tender is too small for my usage, but the Yamaha 30HP engine is only 3 years old and hardly ever used. (if somebody fancy’s a decent tender, will probably put her for sale in autumn.)

Crane has been tested and is OK till 300kg according the captain, should find model and type nr, no manual anymore.
Perhaps I can increase her capacity by making a loop around a roller/hook with the winch cable (tender suspended on twin cable in stead of single)= doubling max load, as the winch is the weak part according the captain.

No other interesting pics from the survey available, except with boaring people on them ;-)
Generally speaking, I am very happy with the condition of the boat, the surveyor discovered a few glitches, and I discovered a few more the next day, but was able to repair some quickly (broken wire on the alarm system control panel, broken bilge floating switch, …)
As explained in the post before, we didn’t go in to much argument about eventual discount on the price, The wood repair work the surveyor estimated 10K, the painting 4k of which I could only claim 50%, so we had a fast agreement on a 12k discount.

After all I have a bargain price on a beautiful 70ft boat, and the owner was pleased to sell her reasonably fast, in this economic climate, and 5 other C70S’s for sale. So everybody is happy.
In fact the seller was sad and depressed at one moment (I could see it, and the captain confirmed later) having sold her after 5 years, at less then 50% of what he payed for her.

When all were gone,
the Captain (Alf), Elly and myself went to the fish market, as around 6pm, fresh fish comes in.

We bought some of the best catch from this morning,
and Alf prepared our first dinner on Bleu Angel.
These are sushi

as a second dish he prepared some sea fruits with oil and garlic

And the main dish was my favorite dorade royale

With Italian wine and all that, very soon completely ready for a wonderful first night on Bleu Angel, (very happy to cancel the hotel we used the night before)
We haven’t missed that restaurant suggested by MapisM for one second
Friday morning was sunny in Ostia, so Breakfast was outside

And then one more memorable moment;
Alfonzo was friends with the man who was in charge for the interior work on this boat at Canados at that time. Alf invited him to the boat for a chat, as I still have the plan to build some steps on the stern to replace that ladder,
Also for his advice on the repair work on some side panels from the gunwale.
One hour later our man was on the boat, the mods and repair work are absolutely no problem, he is going to help us to find a yard that can quote and do this work under his supervision. (next winter)
(probably at half the quoted price, … we shall see ;-) )
He was exited and emotionally touched looking at his work after so many years. He pointed us ones again at some fine details. Proud he was of his work !!!

He told us that at his time one C70s was made for Ennio Moricone, and that his name was mentioned in some of the boating magazines in an article where Moricone was reporting about his beautiful yacht.

Time for lunch, Alfonzo prepared some pasta

And scampi’s (yesterday’s catch) as a main dish

And then as a desert, some slices of a marlin,

what else do you need ? Live can be wonderful !

 

[jfm]

Bart, HUGE congratulations to you and Elly on all this. You have yourself a very fine ship there (and at a fantastic price). It all seems to have gone faster than we all first thought.

The fact the seller had a tear in his eye tells you this is a nice boat, and not one he wanted to get rid of fast

I wish you thousands of happy miles on her, and I hope to meet up somewhere this summer. If we do, I'd like to lend you my 4.1m/50hp tender for a test drive becuase I'm really pleased with it and it feels like a much better machine than a 3.2m. You'd like it i think.

Oh, and nice of you to post a pic with a Squadron 58 in it

Happy days. Someone shoul make a count of all the new forum boats this season; we must be at nearly 500metres

 

[MapisM]

their report to the surveyor was completely in Italian so I missed quite a lot of that

Glad to help if you wish.
Congrats again, really stunning small ship!