Holland Waterway Cruise – The search for our own boat.

De Ruiter Grand Star

The purpose of this blog was to record our journey to buying our own boat. And, part of the reason for going to Holland was to look
at some Dutch Steel Motorcruisers.
We saw loads of boats, and managed to view 2 boats that were for sale. The first one was a 13 metre De Ruiter Grand Star. A well laid out boat, and in pretty good condition for her age. She was built in 1976. This is about the only shortcoming of this boat. We saw her in Elburg, and the owner travelled with her extensively through Europe, so we know she is suitable in most aspects.

Ehrens Cruiser

The next boat we sawwas lying near Groningen in the north of Holland. We took a train there. The boat was a 12 metre Ehrens design.
It was advertised as ‘custom built’ so I imagined it would be something special.
As you can see from the picture, she looked lovely externally.
Unfortunately the interior had a lot of not very well done ‘do it yourself’ type fittings and fixtures.
It would need quite a bit of money spent on it to fix all that.



Stevens 1040


The next 2 boats are also Dutch Steel Cruisers. I saw them in England when I returned there after our Holland trip.
One was a Stevens 1040. Really well fitted out and in good condition. Built about 1991.
Over the last couple of years we have seen a few of these little boats. They are really great boats, and ideal for shorter breaks. I feel we might need something a bit more spacious for the length of time we hope to spend cruising each year. But I havent discounted this boat completely yet.



Molenkruiser

The final boat is a Molenkruiser – 13 metres. Also buuilt in 1991, very well fitted out and in excellent condition.. The owner has spent quite a bit of time living aboard so she is roomy enough.
If there is a drawback to this one, it’s that she is lying on the River Trent in UK and we need to make the cross channel trip to get to the European Waterways. But that would be an adventure all on its own.
Of course, it sometimes all comes down to price. But whatever happens, either the Molenkruiser or the De Ruiter are strong possibilities.
But lets see what else comes on the market at the beginning of next year.