We are elated, exhausted and simply happy to be “home” in
our beautiful Forty Roses III.
Judge Boonekamp from the Court of Arnhem made a ruling
entirely in our favour…so much so that all we had to do was make our final
contract payment and we are free. Papers were handed off Thursday morning and
the builder had to release the boat or face a fine of €5000 per day unless he
did. Two wonderful friends came with us,
Jon and Hans to help with casting off and traversing the first river, lock and
canal, as well as acting as witnesses to the handover. We found the boat dirty
inside and out and without many items that were supposed to be on it. But, we
don’t care, we have been waiting since October for this day and we have it.
Cleaning, scrubbing, unpacking things that have been in boxes since last year
has been just like Christmas. We have a very special Nautische Advocaten to
thank in Joris Klompé. Despite an avalanche of paper from the builder and his
lawyer, Joris kept the whole thing simple and has been successful on our behalf.
We are very grateful for his help through all this torture. And should any of
you decide to take a wild hare and build a boat in Netherlands we will
recommend speaking with Joris, our Surveyor Guido Beekmann and ourselves before
the undertaking! We can write a book.
But true to form, just as we were ready to cast off, the builder’s
lawyer’s representative, calling himself a bailiff stepped aboard and served us
with yet another Seizure as it is called here. They had not yet filed it with
the Court so we are unsure if it is “real” at this point but leave it in the
capable hands of Joris. He simply said, ‘go and enjoy your boat’ and that is
what we plan to do. As my Father used to say, “we shall cross that bridge when
we come to it”, or in our case, go underneath it.
We have much to accomplish in the next week as my sister and
her husband will join us on Saturday. We just wanted to share with you the fact
that we are on board, delighted, and solving many problems with the help of
some wonderful Dutch Boatmen who have been assisting us in going through every
inch of the boat to find all the issues and create solutions. Ballast being the
first order of the day.
We received the good news about the Court decision as we
were on the ferry from Dover to Dunkerque, as we enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend
with Blythe, Jim and Annabel along with Jim’s Father. We laughed, played Liar’s
Dice and ate all the good things that come with such a weekend. We flew kites,
played games, decorated a bunny and simply enjoyed a family time. To top that
off with news of the boat release was the ‘cream on the pudding’. Annabel and Pomps/John
oversaw all dessert making and they were very good at this job. Cream was a
feature both frozen and poured.
We are sharing some photos of that happy weekend and only a
couple of the boat. She needs a very good scrub, windows washed and a shine on
her deck before we can show her to you. Fast and furiously we are making her
ready and photos will follow shortly.
Thank you for all your kind words and support…without family
and friends old and new, it would have been very difficult getting through all
this.
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Getting Ready to Depart
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Dirty but bound for St Andres Sluis and the Waal
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Our Favourite Bunny
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Nothing better than climbing for this girl!
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A great ad for British Ice Cream
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Sunshine in our Hearts and in the Fields! Happy Family Day
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Flying Kite Handover
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Girl with New Kite
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Making it Swoop
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Waiting for Lunch
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An Annabel/Pomps Dessert
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