Quality time on the water

A sailor who is building his own boat lives a cruel dilemma. On his free time he must decide whether he wants to have fun on the water, or whether he wants to have fun working hard on his boat. And usually, if he does not focus clearly on the building, and makes his peace with this decision, the construction project is clearly threatened. Which is why I have been sailing very seldomly, not to speak of time spent othervise on the water. 

But some invitations are just unresistable. Like the calls from Eduardo, to sail on Cairu II.

And so it came, that on the last day of my vacation, I received a kind invitation by Andy Dierberger, to transfer his currently engineless Chestnut Tree from its current mooring to another location. I didn't think twice, and aceppted the call.

Chestnut Tree was designed and built by the Italian shipyard Sangermani, in 1965. After being abandoned, by 1998, Chestnut Tree was in a seemingly hopeless situation. But a lucky star let Andy Dierberger recognize its value. He had the energy and drive to save the boat and bring it back to a pristine condition. Just spending some time on the boat was just irresistable proposition. And to cheer the day, the sun also came out after weeks of humid and rainy conditions.

To top it off, the transfer would be done by tow. And the towboat would be Andy's other boat, the mighty Froya II. Froya is another classic gem, with an interesting history. Built in 1965 as Froya II the yacht soon sailed under the famous name "Saga", and had a sucessfull racing career. It last sailed as "My Hobby", but had lost its shine. Andy and two partners aquired the yacht and gave it a very thorough refitat the renomed Kalmar shipyard. They also gave the yacht its original name back, which suites her handsomely.

Getting some time on these lovely boats, which can stand proud by international standards, was already great. But having ample time to chat to the man who became passionatly involved in their history, and brought them back to life was greater still! Andy has acquired a deep knowledge about everything involving these boats, and is a driving force behind the upsurge of the recent classic boat movement in Brazil.