What’s the saying? Good things take time?! Good things take time?! Even if the news on our website is currently coming thick and fast, many years and months have passed between the first decision and today. But….! After countless considerations, research, leafing through brochures, clicking on websites, YouTube videos and contacts with brokers and yacht owners, we have finally found what we were looking for!
At least we hope so 🙂
At the beginning of March 2024, we boarded the plane to London. After a rather bumpy landing and a lurching course on the runway, we continued west on the motorway in our rental car. Past Bristol and Exeter all the way to Falmouth in beautiful Cornwall. The weather? Well, yes. The weather in England was apparently way ahead of us, because it was the finest April weather. Everything from sunshine to rain and snow.
Various roadworks and traffic jams didn’t make the journey any easier and the last few kilometers in the pitch black, driving on the wrong side of the road in the rain through the narrow streets of Cornwall were quite a challenge. But, thanks to Axel’s driving skills, we arrived safely at the Merchant Manor Hotel in Falmouth. After a warm welcome, we made our way almost straight to the hotel’s restaurant and after a cold beer, the world looked brighter again.
Bright sunshine awaited us the next morning! And a breakfast with a view of the sea! Well fortified with Egg Benedikt and scrambled eggs with fresh salmon, we headed to the Port Pendennis Marina in Falmouth in the late morning, where yacht broker Lee was already waiting for us. And of course the main thing of the day: Aliseo.
Aliseo is a Lagoon 450 S, where S stands for SporTop. Compared to the Lagoon 450 F (flybridge), it only has a raised helm station, but it is well protected and covered. We go on board and land in the well-protected cockpit, which can be closed off all around. That’s a good thing, because the weather has changed back to April and it pours like a bucket within seconds, while a short time later the sun is shining again. A brisk wind is blowing and we are glad to be inside. We inspect everything inside and find Aliseo exactly as we had imagined from the first pictures in the brochure. Well maintained, well equipped and fairly robustly built. Around midday, owner Steve joins us and answers our detailed questions. A few things still don’t quite fit the way Axel and I imagined them, but according to our „adjusted“ price calculations, Aliseo is still a very good boat for a very good price.
Once all the questions have been clarified, we discuss the next steps. The timetable is not easy, because we want to have an official expert opinion on the condition of the boat before we sign a purchase contract. However, the owner Steve will soon be flying to New Zealand for an indefinite period. And of course we would also like the previous owner to give us a briefing on the boat. So the next few weeks will be sporty and we hope that everything will work out the way we want it to.
After saying goodbye to Steve and Lee, we take advantage of the sunny weather for a short trip along the coast. First we head to Pendennis Castle and then further west to the small village of Marazion. From here we get a beautiful view of St. Michael’s Mount, the sister island to the French Mont-Saint-Michel.
After another nice dinner and an overnight stay in our hotel, we head back east the next day. We take a different route this time and drive via Exeter, Dorchester and Southampton to Windsor. There I put us up at the Hotel Macdonald opposite Windsor Castle. We make the most of the beautiful and much milder sunny weather and explore the area. However, in view of the crowds of people, we prefer not to visit Windsor Castle and instead have a nice Guinness in the pub opposite the castle.
The next day we only have a short drive to Stansted Airport and after a quiet flight we are back in Germany safe and sound in the afternoon.
Now it’s time to organize things, make appointments and keep our fingers crossed that everything works out and that we can call Aliseo – and no, we wouldn’t keep the name – our own in a few days or weeks!