Following our Legend 41 test day on the Solent in September 2003, Suzie and I made our way to see David Lindner – Sales Manager at the Opal Marine site in Ipswich Haven Marina. David was to be our main contact and liaison throughout the whole process of construction and commissioning of our new yacht.
Deposit paid and contracts completed we set about ordering the options and extra’s which were to be fitted during the build process. These would include items like In-mast Furling mainsail, Volvo 55hp saildrive engine, fridge, microwave, wiring and electrical fittings, entertainment system, furnishings, ducting for heating & air conditioning plus the electronics which had to be installed in the building stage.
Hulls 1 to 8 had already been completed and on the water, hulls 9 to 12 were in build and almost complete, then production would begin on our yacht within a couple of weeks of our confirmation of options. We were told that we were to have hull number 14 and should expect delivery and commissioning to take place from March 2004 with a handover date set for the end of May. We had to be patient, for as they say, all good things come to those who wait.
In the months to come, there were many more things to consider and expenditure to make. Christmas came and obviously any gift of a nautical theme was received with joy. Into the New Year and now a trip to the London Boat Show in January to select and order all of the goodies which would be fitted during the commissioning stage. These would include the DSC Radio, navigational & GPS equipment, radar, a Webasto heating system and also electronic & computer accessories. Whilst we were at the show, we visited the Opal Marine stand and were introduced to Jonny who would be a person we would get to know very well over the next few months. Jonny was the commissioning Manager at the yard and his team would be responsible for completing NickyNoo ready for launch.
Good news arrives when NickyNoo is delivered ahead of schedule at the end of February 2004. It appears that the owners of Hull 13 were late in completing their fitting instructions and the builders brought forward the construction of NickyNoo once the hull was out of the moulds. You can imagine our excitement when we visited her for the 1st time.
So now begins the commissioning process and over the next 6 to 8 weeks, we made several visits to see Jonny for both progress reports and confirming the placement of all the various pieces of equipment to be installed.
Weeks became days and although we were not there to see NickyNoo enter the water for the first time the moment we had been waiting for finally arrived! HANDOVER Day April 23rd 2004. In fact it was a double handover day because before we could step aboard, we had to handover another large cheque for the balance of the purchase price. This was the start of every boat owners “pleasure” – open the hatch and throw in your wallet first! No regrets then? Certainly not!
“Wind is to us what money is to life on shore.”
― Sterling Hayden