Hello Mr. Dalton,
Posted by
Spawn
Jun 4 '09, 09:19
|
As the previous Owner (2003-2008), I have been asked to give you a run down of the yacht Barbarossa.
As a retired ex-professional seaman/diver, I was looking for a boat that would take my wife and I anywhere in the Med safely, while being easy to handle and without too many gizmos which could break down. Barbarossa ticked all the boxes in order of what I considered important, i.e.
1. Deep long keel
2. A flat upper deck
3. Ketch rigged (small sails)
4. Powerful engine - Perkins 80hp (spares everywhere)
5. A proper ship-like appearance below
6. Carries 1,000litre of fresh water (2 tanks)
7. Carries 200litres of diesel (2 tanks)
8. British registered
Her history is pretty vague but I understand from the previous Owner that she was built in Norfolk, U.K. in 1978 by a man (who became a well-known boat builder) to a Bruce Roberts design. She is very heavily built, 16tons, using sheet fibre-glass and has no sign of osmosis. She was bought by a German couple who fitted her out with the basics, named her, and sailed her around the world, which I believe took 7 years (and 3 children). On returning to Europe they, not surprisingly, split up. He then took the boat down to Greece where he lived on board for many years, eventually lifting her out, where she remained for 7 years.
About 2001 she was bought by a young Yacht Skipper, who was doing her up during the winter months. His future wife said "no" to the liveaboard life and he put her up for sale after fitting a swimming platform. My wife and I then bought her and sailed her for about 6,500 miles, including most of Turkey, Greece, Sicily and Malta. The boat never took any water over the sides, even in the roughest weather. She is extremely sea kindly and easy to sail.
I sold her as I couldn't afford a new set of sails that were needed, plus a complete new paint job, as the previous Owner had not keyed in the last paint job properly, causing her to scab below the water line.
To sum up. I love the boat and would buy her again if I could and had an extra ten to fifteen thousand pounds to fit her new sails (all), bigger auto-pilot, and new paint job.
Hope all this is helpful to you in the purchase of Barbarossa.
Yours aye,
Alan Broadhurst.
|
Responses:
|
