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The first part describes companies that has been involved with the rebuild of the yacht. It also contains a general description of Sea-Otter. From the news letters (updates) you will find that plans have changed from time to time, we get new inputs all along and it makes us rethink a bit and then maybe there will be a change of plans. We think, that reading one newsletter with the plans and then go to the next with the revised plans can be both learning and amusing. The letters will not be updated of course, then the history continuation would be lost.
We started out with a young team in Nieuwpoort Belgium called Ship Support. It was an enormous mistake to trust these people as we did. They were not the professional team we had been told, nor were they honest. We were ripped off "big time" and in the end we had to redo about 75% of their work. For example welding jobs were so badly done that the seams cracked open when we mounted various pieces, like the bow roller for the anchor, were also the head stay is mounted. This piece cracked in three pieces. Thank God we were still on land, when this happened. Top Plates on the fuel tanks were not properly fitted and tank two cracked open so we had fuel leaking down into the bilge, destroying the bilgepumps and hoses and finally the nature, should it be pumped out straight into the sea by mistake. It was also more than destroyed things by Ship Support, they were deliberately slowing down the work and we were always the last one to get any service from them. This was because they were fed up with us being on top of them, double checking every work-hour and every piece that was fitted. We did not want to get ripped off again, not more than necessary anyway. We had been invoiced for so many things that had not been used on the boat, like close to 400 litres of Acetone and countless tubes of Sikaflex. The latter I know quite well how much one need to use, especially after all the rework I had to do myself during the summer 2005. But a lot of things one cannot estimate ahead if one is not an expert. So it is easy to get charged on an invoice for more than have been used. We had been giving these guys too much freedom and they misused our trust. If we had not been on site by the end of 2004, they would have changed the interior from agreed plans and done such a bad work, that we would not have the strength, stamina or economics to continue our project. Ship Support had become a nightmare and by the end of 2005 I suffered a massive heart attack, more of that in the Newsletter from 10/02 2006.
The lesson from this is; Always have a detailed contract with any company or individual that you will employ for any kind of work and do not pay any invoice unless you are fully satisfied with the work done. Follow, as strictly as you can, a budget. This budget can, of course, be revised from time to time but at least you will not have any bad surprises. We had a budget and it was followed every time we asked Ship Support, which was a big lie from their side. We were most of the time working overseas and could not follow the work personally. We had to fully trust this company, but they deceived us.
We do not say Ship Support anymore but Shit Support and it seems like if you want to get ripped off in Belgium, this is one of the places to go.
There were a few companies that saved our situation for 2005. They were; Ship Shop (the Beneteau dealer in Nieuwpoort), which is an old company with a very good reputation and we fully agree on that last point. We got extremely good service from them and they are professional and friendly to deal with. We made long lasting friends with some of the service men and women at Ship Shop.
Another company was, Vanthyune, which is an old metal work company, also with very good reputation, maybe not the cheapest, but I prefer to pay slightly more to get a work I trust and which proves trustworthy in the end. This company is in its the third generation now, which surely indicates good standard, otherwise they would not survive. They did all our metal work and welding jobs onboard. The most difficult were all the stainless steel welding.
The carpenter company Van Hee in Nieuwpoort did an excellent interior job with all the woodworks, floor, cupboards and doors. In fact it was so well done that experts on boat interior work often commented on that. The work was done with such precision, that we always get happy when we look at the work they have done. To any boat or house builder who wants something special or ordinary woodwork done in Belgium, we highly recommend Van Hee. Our special Friend who did all this fine work on our boat was Noel. It was his first time working on a boat interior, but anyone who has seen his work thinks that Noel has done a lifetime on boat interiors. We cannot praise Van Hee and Noel enough for the excellent work done on our boat. The owner's first name is, funnily enough, also Noel, he and his wife really know how to run a serious business and how to get happy and content customers
Last but not least, Tom Baert with his company BaTo, in Nieuwpoort Belgium. Tom and his helping hand Ben did some excellent work onboard. Tom really is the engine expert, but he can help with most jobs on a boat. The work can be from rigging to drive-line, fuel tanks and meters, electric's and radios. With the long experience Tom has, he can give good advise to most problems. Tom and Ben recommended us to other companies for work they couldn't do themselves or did not have time to do. We were happy with all their recommendations. Tom and Ben also became personal friends, friends we always can trust.
Now over to the History and News. The interior will be all new, a total new layout (see the pictures page). The exterior will not change much except, maybe, a new mast, an inner forestay and a spray-hood with extra full enclosure for the whole cockpit. As the yacht is originally a sloop, we will keep it that way. However there is a stay, call it cutter stay if you want. This inner stay will be used for beating with a smaller Genoa fitted, also roller furled as the head stay.
The links below take you to the updates. Some of the letters contain a lot of photos on which you can click to get a larger picture.
Link to Cowes - Malta Passage pictures
Link to Malta pictures
Newsletter 23/09/2001 (refitting on land)
Newsletter 19/03/2002 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 24/05/2002 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 25/09/2003 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 03/07/2004 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 07/11/2004 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 12/12/2004 (refitting still on land)
Newsletter 10/02/2006 (recap of 2005 and start of passage to the Mediterranean)
Newsletter 30/07/2006 (passage to Malta and life onboard)
Newsletter 06/11/2006 (wintering in Malta)
Newsletter 01/01/2007 (Christmas in Malta)
Newsletter 01/06/2007 ((Malta, Tunisia, Greece and Turkey)
Newsletter 07/12/2007 (from Turkey back to Malta and further on to Tunisia to fit the ceiling)
Newsletter 15/03/2008 (boat works in Monastir)
Newsletter 20/04/2008 (Monastir)
Newsletter 31/05/2008 (Interior work finished, passage to Mallorca and Costa del Sol [Spain])
Newsletter 01/10/2009 Estepona to Abbekås Mar to May 2009
Newsletter 02/10/2009 Abbekås to Strömstad, May and June 2009.
Newsletter 06/01/2010 Strömstad to Bergen and over the North Sea July 2009
Newsletter 08/01/2010 Bergen, Inverness, Caledonian Canal, Ireland, Spain Jul/Aug/Sep 2009
Newsletter 12/01/2010 Muros - Azores September 2009
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