The Delivery From Sweden
“Did the money arrive in your bank account yet?” I texted the seller of our soon-to-be Hanse 531 sailboat. “No, not yet,” he answered.
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61 posts
A Hanse 531
We bought our next boat, and it is a Hanse 531!
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Vinyl Wrapping Update
I’ve received a few questions about our whole vinyl wrapping experience, so here’s a short post about that!
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Hanse 388 Rigging
A while ago I got a question about what lines go where on the deck, and a “maybe you could write a blog post about the rigging?” Yes, I can!
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Hanse 388 Real-Life Performance
With a few hundred million more speed and wind data points in the database, here’s some fresh sailing performance data, and some humble guesses as to what it all means.
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GPS Precision
Our Hanse 388 has three different GPS devices. A couple of days ago, when I was sorting through the position data, I came across some interesting glitches.
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Sailing to Hel
After our wonderful stay on the island of Bornholm, we were now set to sail towards a country and a place none of us had ever visited before.
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Fire Hazard
In my previous post I emptied my batteries and discovered that I had a boat problem that I couldn’t safely or legally solve myself.
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7.3 Volts
I woke up and (like I often do) opened my app to check that Charlotte (the boat) was where she was supposed to be. Hmm. No data? Weird.
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Calibrating Heading
Last week, during my fun solo sail from Finland to Åland and back, I had some issues with engaging the autopilot. Regular commentator and Hanse 385 owner Stuart chimed in (thank you!), and suggested I should check the calibration. So I did!
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Wind Polars
Sailboat polar diagrams usually tell us what the boatspeed will be, based on wind speed and angle. I thought it would be nice to flip it the other way: if we want to achieve at least, let’s say, three knots of boatspeed, what kind of wind will we need to achieve that?
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That Heeling Feeling
One slightly frustrating part of sailing– at least with monohulls!– is when the boat is deeply tilted over to one side or the other. It looks cool in pictures (“oh wow, look at them going, wind in the hair, smiles on their faces!”), but real life aboard a heeling boat isn’t always very heavenly.
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Upgrade to Season 2.0
With our heads held high and our second season nigh*), here are some things we are thinking about getting to our dear sailboat before next summer. *) Needed something to rhyme with “high” and this is one word I fell in love with when reading Moby Dick a long, long time ago. (Next to a... Continue reading Upgrade to Season 2.0
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Hanse Warranty Issues
A commonly held view in the sailing community, I believe, is that brand new boats are riddled with kinks and problems. Therefore, better to buy them second-hand, a couple of years down the road, when the original owner has fixed everything that wasn’t properly done in the first place. I wanted to believe that our... Continue reading Hanse Warranty Issues
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Hanse 388 Speed and Polars
So, how fast does our Hanse 388 go? This summer, we gathered over twenty million data points to compare our sailing speeds with what HanseYachts’ marketing material had promised. Here are the results.
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FAQ About Hanse 388 Options
I’ve received quite a few emails (from all over the world!) from people who are interested in buying a Hanse 388. Some are in the “we’re thinking about it” stage, others are already committed, but have questions about their final selection of options. It’s really cool to get these emails! In this post I’ll share... Continue reading FAQ About Hanse 388 Options
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Buying vs Chartering a Sailboat
For over a year now, I’ve kept a detailed cost log for our yacht project. There are two questions I’ve tried to find answers to. Firstly, what does sailing a new Hanse 388 really cost? Secondly, if I compare this to chartering costs, would it have been less costly to rent a boat than to... Continue reading Buying vs Chartering a Sailboat
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OMG, It’s Full of …
... barnacles! I just received some whatsapp pictures from the nice person at our winter storage place. They had lifted our dear Hanse yacht out of the water, and then looked at its bottom in disbelief. “No so great,” he texted me.
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Hanse 388 Interior: The Aft Cabins
In this post, I will take a look at the two aft cabins in our Hanse 388.
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Hanse 388 Interior: The Master Cabin
In the third post of the “Every Nook and Cranny” series we’ll jump straight into the master cabin of our Hanse 388. Or “our bedroom”, as we like to call it.
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Hanse 388: Deck Storage
Earlier on, I started a series of posts with the intention of describing our Hanse 388 in a bit more detail than what you get from the official marketing documentation. The first post was called Hanse 388 — Every Nook and Cranny, and here’s number two, continuing the deck storage theme.
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Hanse Yachts in Southampton
Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go for a short trip to England to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday. We stopped by “Britain’s Biggest & Best Boat Festival”, the Southampton Boat Show, as well. To find our next dream boat, maybe, some years down the road. But also, with some freshly acquired experience of our... Continue reading Hanse Yachts in Southampton
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With Children Aboard a Hanse 388
Matt sent over a good question about what it’s really, honestly like to sail on our Hanse 388 with children aboard (“realistically, how organized can it be?”). I started to write down a few thoughts, but there were so many that I decided to write a blog post instead.
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The Hunt for Warm Water
After a few days and nights in Stockholm, it was time to move on. One problem, though: our pre-planning had ended with reaching the capital of Sweden, so now we had no idea where to go.
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Ten Hours of Downwind
It was Sunday and time to turn back home. We were thirty-five miles from our home harbor and after having done ten-fifteen miles a day the previous days, this was to be our longest sail yet. All in gentle to non-existing downwind.
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Don't Reef the FCL Jib
Last week we found out that 20+ knots of upwind with one reef in the main and a fully rolled out jib equaled too much sail for our newbie family sailing. Previous experience suggested that reducing sail area by partly furling away the jib wasn’t a good option. But what would have been? I asked... Continue reading Don't Reef the FCL Jib
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Sleepover in a Sailboat
Midsummer is the holiday in June when people flock away from their workplaces and city apartments towards their summer cottages and boats. The weather looked nice so we thought this would be the perfect time to go out sailing, all of us, and see what it would feel like, to spend a few days, as... Continue reading Sleepover in a Sailboat
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It's a Wrap!
So, just a few weeks after getting our new boat to Finland, it was up on the ground again. We wanted it to “go all the way to eleven”, and there was just one final push over the cliff (onto land) to make that happen. (If that previous sentence felt partly like nonsense, forgive me,... Continue reading It's a Wrap!
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With Charlotte, Children and a Dog
It looked like the perfect day to try it for the very first time: to go out on a short boat trip with the whole family (including our newly arrived rescue dog from Romania), and see whether it would turn out ok or a disaster. I was pretty exhausted after our delivery from Germany, but... Continue reading With Charlotte, Children and a Dog
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From Visby to Turku
Our first weather reports for our last leg, Visby to Turku, showed 30+ knots of headwind, and that looked so very uncomfortable that we were seriously contemplating plans B and C, and even leaving the boat in Visby for a while. Reality, however, turned out differently.
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Freezing from Rønne to Visby
From Greifswald to Rønne it was about 75 nautical miles, so we were able to that in just one long day (from morning to sunset) of sailing. Our route from Rønne to Visby, on the other hand, was set to be over 200 nm, so that meant sailing overnight as well.
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Greifswald to Rønne
The evening before the start of our trip, the four of us— Pirjo, Mia, Ben and I— were having dinner at the local restaurant, right next to the marina. It was a lovely place, filled with great food and happily chatting people (and even Michael Schmidt was there, the founder and previous owner of HanseYachts!).... Continue reading Greifswald to Rønne
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Handed Over
A while ago Torbjörn (the dealer’s representative) left and now I’m sitting here alone in our boat. I’m drinking some champagne and eating strawberries while writing this. A moment ago I poured a bit of the champagne outside on the bow and said (quite quietly so that only the two of us could hear): “Your... Continue reading Handed Over
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Prima Vista
I was standing on the walkway, next to one of the new Hanse yachts in the Greifswald marina, when I saw a man walking in my direction.
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A Lot to Pack!
I’m getting a bit nervous. My flight for Germany is in three days and the todo list keeps getting longer, not shorter! Also, the pile of stuff I have to bring with me, that is growing as well.
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So What's the Weather Like?
In a bit over a week, we should be well on our way, sailing s/y Charlotte on her first leg from Greifswald to Rønne. This means that right now is a perfect time to start stressing about the weather.
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A Few Final Touches
A while back I listed all the stuff we will need in the boat to be able to sail her home. Now, we have placed most of the orders and are patiently waiting for the deliveries. (The things are shipped to two different countries with some picked up from a third!) Additionally, there are a... Continue reading A Few Final Touches
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The Life Raft Story
This week we finally ordered a life raft for our Hanse 388! The decision process took over a month (!) in calendar time (and who knows how many hours in googling time), but now it’s finally done. The obvious choices turned out to be less than obvious, though, so hopefully our little story will be... Continue reading The Life Raft Story
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Dates Confirmed, Sort Of
Our dealer sent us dates confirmed by the commissioning yard! On the 29th of April s/y Charlotte will be launched into water and on the 9th of May she will be handed over to us (me) in Greifswald.
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The Name!
After a lot of back and forth with our dealer, we’re still not sure when exactly our handover in Greifswald will be. We had planned to go there beforehand with Charlotte and have a naming ceremony. Unfortunately, that probably won’t happen either.
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Some Day In May
Maiden Voyage is the name of a jazz tune by (the legendary) Herbie Hancock. I used to play it a lot in my previous life as an aspiring jazz pianist, but little did I know that one day I would actually embark on a maiden voyage for real, on our own boat. It’s wild. We have... Continue reading Some Day In May
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Only a Few Hundred Things Left Until Our Hanse 388 Is Ready
The weather in Greifswald is looking good! I just checked the forecast and temperatures don’t seem to drop below freezing anymore. This means that a bunch of yachts, their owners (along with extended families and friends), yacht dealers and yard workers are all digging in and preparing for that mad dash in spring, when within... Continue reading Only a Few Hundred Things Left Until Our Hanse 388 Is Ready
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Finding a Marina for our Hanse Yacht
Things are looking good! Charlotte is back from her first sailing experience not only alive, but maybe even a bit hungry for more. And in a few months a (probably nice and smiling) guy from our Swedish dealer will hand over the keys to our lovely boat, and then we’ll sail it from Germany to... Continue reading Finding a Marina for our Hanse Yacht
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What Is the Cost of a New Hanse 388?
The bulk of this post is about the actual costs of owning a Hanse 388, but to not be too clickbaity, I’ll start off by reporting the final results: what we actually paid for our new Hanse, and what the cost of owning has been so far (16.11.2020).
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It has been an interesting couple of weeks dealing with our financing provider, our insurer as well as the tax authorities of Finland, but as far as I understand, the final payment of the boat has now been made, and at last we may be brave enough to actually call it: our boat!
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Lots of Red Tape
Whoa! Our dealer just sent us a dropbox folder with the surveyor’s report as well as 100+ pictures of our new boat!
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Insuring Our Hanse Yacht
Any day now our new Hanse 388 will be delivered to us! (No, not actually really delivered to us physically, but to someone somewhere in Germany, who is acting on our behalf, as we have been told.) The boat won’t be put into water before spring, but once it’s delivered, it’s our responsibility to have... Continue reading Insuring Our Hanse Yacht
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Our New Hanse 388 Will Be Ready In …
It will be ready in two weeks! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
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It takes an amazingly short time for Hanse Yachts to construct our new sailboat— they’re supposed to start putting it together in mid-November and get it ready just a bit over a month later! The impatiently waiting buyer, though, is waiting impatiently.
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Cannes Yachting Festival: The Hanse Yachts
I think we decided to visit the Cannes Yachting Festival at the same time as we put in the order for our new boat. We both like sunny places with warm water, obviously, but we did have one additional excuse: to check out our material and colour selections “in real life”, and maybe make some... Continue reading Cannes Yachting Festival: The Hanse Yachts
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Hello, Cannes Yachting Festival!
Well, actually we didn’t go to the Cannes Yachting Festival today, but we did arrive here this afternoon, had some time to stroll around, eat terrific food, try out our new (used) camera, and even go for an evening swim!
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An Inside History of Hanse Yachts
When we received the order confirmation for our new sailing boat from Hanse Yachts, I really wanted to write something about the quite fascinating history of the company and yard. After having done some research, though, I changed my mind. So many other people have done it much better than I ever could, so I... Continue reading An Inside History of Hanse Yachts
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Merry Christmas, H388!
Our dealer, BohusCharter AB, forwarded the first document we’ve seen from the actual Hanse Yachts yard! It’s saying they will start production of our new Hanse 388 in the first half of November, and have it ready for delivery in the second half of December. Wow. Second only to my VIC-20 (which I got when... Continue reading Merry Christmas, H388!
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Configure Your Own Hanse Yacht
It’s super easy to buy a new sailing boat! Open the HanseYachts Configurator, select your boat, the materials, the options, press Buy and within a few business days your dream yacht will be delivered to you; the fridge stocked with strawberries and your favourite brand of Champagne, and a very delightful customer service representative giving you... Continue reading Configure Your Own Hanse Yacht
Continue readingHello, Helsinki!
This weekend Charlotte and I visited Helsinki and the Helsinki Boats Afloat Show. There was a Hanse 388 (fireworks! cheers!) but also a couple of other boats that gave us the good vibrations.
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About Yacht Financing and Some Sleepless Nights
“I am so very sorry, but there has been a small misunderstanding on our part”, the very amiable bank employee said on the phone, “so is there any chance you could consider paying the extra amount (of about 9 000 eur) yourself (today)?”, she continued with the kindest of voices.
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What We Left Out
As it happens, we actually didn’t include all the optional items in our new boat. Some were without a doubt unnecessary, but others frustratingly hard to decide on. Here is the list of what was left out (including some brief comments as to why), as well as some other things we changed (see previous post)... Continue reading What We Left Out
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No Turning Back Now
A few hours ago I scanned and returned to the dealer the signed contract for buying a new Hanse 388!
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Visiting Stockholm and a real Hanse 388
This weekend we saw it for the first time! A real Hanse 388! But first some words about how we actually got here, and the quite amazing hotel we’re staying at.
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Options, options, options
New sailing boats can seem quite affordable when looking at their base prices, but then there are the options.
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Dreaming of Sailing with a New Hanse
We have been online window shopping for sailing boats, both used and new, for most of the summer, and more and more frequently we end up on the HanseYachts site looking admiringly at the new 388 and 418 models. They are quite beautiful, both.
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