46 Boating New Zealand
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
JOHN WOOLFfeature
French
CanalsCHASING BOATS
y mate Neil accidently bought a boat in France.
We were mucking around with his yacht Sea
Monkey at Seaview Marina, when he casually
remarked that he had put in a ‘cheeky offer’ for a
2001 ‘Aquanaut Beauty 1050’ Dutch river cruiser,
which was rated for coastal and inland waterways,
and would be ideal for the French canals.
Looking at the advert online I had to admit it was a pretty vessel:
35’ long, steel, nice condition and layout, with a useful Yanmar 130hp
engine. Nice name too – Moderato is a musical term meaning ‘without
haste’, entirely appropriate for a boat on the French canals.
He also mentioned he had ‘no chance of buying it’.
Of course, he did end up owning it after some negotiation back and
forth – with a few more Euros thrown in.
Interestingly, the entire negotiation process was done by internet
and phone calls. One of the keys to success in buying a boat in France,
is an English-speaking broker. In Neil’s case the broker was a Brit living
in southern France. He spoke fluent French and was able to negotiate
with the owner and arrange a number of English-speaking yacht
surveyors for Neil to choose from.
At the same time, I was looking for a yacht in France, and quickly
learnt that responding to private adverts was a waste of time (theyM
Half the enjoyment in buying
a new boat is the journey to
ownership – and in some cases
buyers go to extreme lengths to
boost the fun quotient.