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There is one sailor, in particular, that I want to thank. He became my "older brother" early in my life, Helmut Brünn from Schleswig Holstein in Northern Germany. I met Helmut when he came to our farm to earn money for his university studies, during summer holidays. Helmut took me out sailing in "real" dinghies like the "Pirat" and later on the "Folkboat". He taught me all the basics and he gave me the insight in this wonderful lifestyle. Thank you Helmut, you were my mentor in the old days and developed my sea-spirit.
My wife, Béatrice and I, Chris, have both been sailing for many years. Béa mostly in the Mediterranean and holiday charters in the Caribbean but also in open 35 foot racers on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. I was brought up on the countryside not far from the sea but alongside a nice river. Most of us youngsters were building our own boats in plywood and other things we could find, much to our parents worries. I then learned a bit more on the "Pirat" in Germany moving to "National and 5 O 5's during a few summers in the UK. Later I bought my first "familyboat", a "Marieholm 26", which is a Swedish built 8 meter, long keeled, fractional rigged sailboat. The latter became a bit boring and an "Albin Scampi" was purchased. The Scampi is of Peter Norlin design and a "half ton" 30 foot coastal and ocean racer but also a wonderful family boat with lots of space inside.
I met Béa later in life, but it was sailing that brought us together of course. We started to plan our boating life and both of us had the same dream, to go cruising full time one day. We are retired now, well Béa works on and off, but from August 2008 she will also retire from work so we can start living onboard both of us full time.
During almost 2 years we were looking for the, in our view, ideal yacht to tour the world in. I can tell you there were a lot to choose from, but we ended up with the Beneteau Idylle 15.50 because of excellent second hand price. Much boat for the price. We knew after the survey that we had to change a lot, however that would still be cheaper than buy a similar yacht in perfect condition, especially in Europe. We named our yacht "SEA-OTTER".
Shortly after the purchase we lifted her up on land 1999. On the outside she was in a very good state, except for the teak in the cockpit, which had to be changed. The interior was very worn. It had to be changed and now we could get an interior to our taste. We stripped her completely inside for a brand new interior. The designer of the interior is none the less than the founder and former owner of the Swedish NAJAD yacht building company, Thorwald Karlsson. He has done a stunning interior, well it's his speciality.
On the submenu “Exterior and Interior layout” on Pictures Page you can see the new layout plan,
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