It is hard to trust brokers in Turkey. I only met a good guy once, in Istanbul, who managed together with his son a small yacht repairing yard, and the money came from that aspect of his business. He also had a small office rented in a Marina, the place where I actually met him. Because of the yard, he wasn’t busy to cheating others, like my partner was at the time. I’m also sure he is not the last honest yacht broker in Turkey. Before meeting me, my partner used to steal information and pics … [Read more...]
Amel of La Rochelle
Chantiers AMEL as this is called in French (in French is a plural), is a sailing yacht manufacturer company which started business in 1968, in La Rochelle, France. They have two yacht models to showcase, and the yard, or team, or no matter other description is as bombastic as a French can conceive it. So, a lot of words before hand. Now, because I'm making this review step by step, I describe the first feeling of the website and the product. I'm not personally influenced by the feedback, but I … [Read more...]
The Broker Who Went broke
Looking through some important yachting sites, related to brokerage, brokers, companies and almost everything related to yachts in general, I discovered with great sadness that the company of which co-founder I was, disappeared altogether from the market. It was expected, only I wouldn't ever thought it was going to happen so soon. A few months ago, still, the remaining guys were paying top dollar advertising around, thing I haven't advised at the time I was still in charge. It was hard to … [Read more...]
Back Again (insider tips)
I have to expose now some "secrets" about assessing brokers and boat owners, when approaching them to buy your first boat. Doesn't matter at this stage if you buy a motor boat or a sailing one. Let's presume you don't have the minimum budget for a brand boat, like the samples exposed in my previous posts. They can be "custom" made, definitely no name brands, like the one that I'm going to show you here. This is the boat, as real as it could be. Seeing the name is no help in a better … [Read more...]
Pricing in a Marina
I just found this table for the pricing method of some Turkish Marina, which may be a custom there, but one has to check first. For a calculation in advance, it is good to anticipate. To calculate your price, multiply your boat LOA with your beam to get square meters, then find the column corresponding to this size. As you see there are sizes between 24 - 59.99 m², 60 – 119.99 m², 120 – 179.99 m² and 180 m² and more, fact that makes four area columns. The time period is calculated in days, and … [Read more...]