In October 2022 we started searching for our next boat not knowing that just a year later, we would find what we were looking for.

We had been spending a wonderful weekend in the Ardennen, Belgium. For people that live in the province Noord-Holland, that is quite a long way from home. Just a few days before, I had sent a message to someone selling his Jeanneau. With the boat being in the province Zeeland, we decided that we would take a detour after our weekend to come look at the boat.

When you are searching for a boat and thus visiting loads of potential boats, the visits can vary from a very quick 'this is not going to be it', to 'I want to buy it now'. It also varies in the time it might take and the connection you have to the seller. Sometimes it is a private seller with lots of information on their both, and sometimes you encounter yacht brokers wanting to sell instead of inform. We haven't nearly seen them all, but we have seen a lot. Meaning that Freek and I went to this visit without expectations, but just to keep the vibe going.

The 2 hour visit was awesome and we had a lot to think about during the 2 hour drive home. She fits a lot of our requirements: Freek was able to stand tall without bumping his head, we had ample place to sleep, she has a lot of storage space, looks fantastic for her age and she has a swimming plateau. But there was also a bit of doubt. It is a lot of money and a very big purchase, so doubts were normal. We took two days to properly think it over, put in an offer and had bought ourselves a boat!

The actual 'buying a boat' process went a bit differently, but I will discuss that in detail in another post. Just before the end of the year we were able to tick off another box: Buy a bigger boat. It brought happiness, anxiety, and it took all our money. But we did it!

She is a Jeanneau Voyage 12.50 (41 ft.) with a width of 4 meter and a dept of 1.65 meter. She is from 1988, with her original woodworking still intact. Her current name is My Way Two, but we are in the process of asking her permission to have her name changed to Ori. I'm not kidding, this is an entire process to not upset the gods of the sea. And we can use all the help and luck we can get.