If life brings you down (and for long), you have the power to change it. And this is where I am now, at the beginning of a new phase of my life.
Deciding where to start is never easy unless you choose to realize an old dream. My old dream was to “buy a sailboat,” and so I did it. Here she is: her name is REX, and she is a Dutch sailboat.
Sailboat Specifications
Builder and Designer : E. G. van De Stadt (https://sa
Model: Bries
Year: 1972
Hull Type: Fin w/spade rudder
Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop
LOA: 26.25 ft / 8.00 m
LWL: 23.29 ft / 7.10 m
Beam: 7.87 ft / 2.40 m
Draft (max): 4.20 ft / 1.28 m
Construction: Polyester
First Built: 1968
Total Sailboat Built Worldwide: 120
The boat at the moment requires quite some work to allow life on board and make sailing possible again. REX was left without maintenance in water for a couple of years, resulting in mold, spiderwebs, and mosquitos everywhere, inside and outside. The boat was in the Willemstad area (Netherlands); lucky enough, there are no significant damages outside, maybe because the Dutch waters the boat was in are not salty. But she is all green outside now (mold), so I cannot be 100% sure about it. Another big question mark to solve is the Diesel engine onboard: pretty unstable; sometimes turns on, some others not. But apart from these points of attention, REX looks pretty good, and she has all I wanted (the list of pluses is extensive :)
I would like this sailboat to become not only the place where I can finally go and sail as much as I can; but also a relaxing place for me, the kids, and my friends. The place to go when in need of a break. The quiet corner surrounded by nature, I can go to write my stories and spend adventurous weekends.
The immediate plan is to clean her up asap, work on the engine and revamp the interior with a bit of Italian touch (yeah, I know. I can’t help). I don’t have more than a few hours on the weekends - so it will take me a while, but determination and happiness are there, not to talk about the fun of planning and executing all these activities.
Here I’ll post regular updates and pictures. Sharing is caring at the end, right?
