Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure
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In keeping with my ethos of keeping the pedal to the metal when at all possible, we have decided that we may as well go all-in. We are loving Pilgrim, but have identified a few shortcomings.
Our boat will become a large part of our life, it, therefore, needs to be capable of accommodating at least 2 other couples. Pilgrim can't. I love cooking and whilst we have a full galley on Pilgrim, it is in the saloon and everything and everybody gets in the way.
So @Madame Buttonfly and I sat down and worked out what we really wanted from a boat.
- 3 cabins
- Minimum 2 heads
- Separate galley
- Stacks of outside space
Paula spotted an ad for Sasga in our local brokers. We looked at a 42 and liked what we saw, but it was not large enough, we priced up a 54 and surprisingly we could afford it (sans flybridge).
We cancelled the deposit on another boat, placed a deposit on a Sasga 54 and went a looked around the factory this week. And what a joy that was.
The factory is based in Menorca, so an easy flight, and we love the fact that it is made by true craftsmen in the EU (the internal cabinetry alone takes 4,000 man-hours on a 54.
The next hull to get laid will be ours, and it will be ready in a little over a year. When we will sail it back from Menorca, via Gibraltar - the trip includes crossing the Bay of Biscay, so will be a true adventure.
A completed 54:
Various stages of constructionn:
So we have a year with Pilgrim to get competent…..
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Heeeeeellllllll yeah, Giles! Congrats to you and Paula both. That looks like a lovely, lovely rig. I'm glad that the Pilgrim brought into sharp focus what you really want and that you didn't dally around. Stoked to see the final ship.
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Wow
Congratulations
What a great boat ! -
Pretty special that you got a tour of the place–--that had to be amazing.
And, you've got a whole year now to come up with a name. -
Cool, that looks great. You'll have so much more space. What will happen to Pilgrim?
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Pretty special that you got a tour of the place–--that had to be amazing.
And, you've got a whole year now to come up with a name.More pics of the yard…..
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Don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said,but using @Madame Buttonfly analogy… I would think you’re up to 4 dicks by now. Congratulations!
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That's going to be incredible @Giles and @Madame Buttonfly! I'm stoked for y'all!
The specs and pictures look amazing: https://www.sasgayachts.com/en/modelos/menorquin-54-ht
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What a beaut this 54 is …
To see a boat evolving …. what a pleasure!
This calls for a full documentary @Madame Buttonfly and @Giles
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Amazing all the way round–glad you found an even better fit!
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Are there any " pimping " options ?
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We're very excited for you both. She looks great.
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We have a queue of buyers for Pilgrim….......Hoping to finalise a deal with the guys in first place next week.....Truth is, we stole her, so if we sell her at what she cost us, the new owners are also going to get a steal.....
Congrats on the Sasga, it looks amazing.
Does this mean that Pilgrim will be gone sooner, rather than later? When will you practice your skippering?
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The Sasga will take about a year to be built. We do our Day Skipper Practical on Pilgrim in July (the first dates that we and Ben - the instructor we really like - can make it), then we used Pilgrim to the max until it is time to take her out of the water. Over the winter we will do Coastal/Offshore Skipper Theory and then do Coastal Practical on The Sasga when she is back from the Med. I have told everyone who wants to buy Pilgrim that we will be in a position to sell her in March/April 2023, but I have also told Keith and (another) Paula, who are first in the queue that I am sure we can come to a sensible arrangement for them to use her when we aren't, if they commit to buying her.
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This calls for a full documentary
We plan to go over quite a lot, Menorca is lovely and inexpensive, and it is only 2 hours from here.
We want to see as many stages of the build as possible, understand the construction, how things and put together and where they are, document wiring runs, knowing where all the hidden stuff is, etc etc etc, will make us better boat owners
