Just bought a Ballad!

[Natoryous]

Hello forums!

I'm Andy from Gothenburg, Sweden. Me and the missus just bought Ballad no 1214!

We've been eyeing for a new ship to sail for a while, we've been cruising in an IF-boat for the past 15 years and have gradually outgrown it - not least by cloning ourselves twice. xD Our girls are now 4 and 6, and it was just impossible to cram ourselves into the IF any longer, so although we loved the boat type and had ours very much as we wanted it, it was time to move on.

We came across "Balladine" in Kungshamn, Sweden about a month ago via an online ad, and I had a good feeling from the start. Went up there with my father (it's a 2 hour drive from Gothenburg) and looked over the boat, had a test sail and was very pleased.

The boat is in generally good condition, we had it checked out by an authorised inspector and there's some of the expected signs of age and wear of course, but the previous owner did a fantastic job re-coating the entire hull and reinforcing the keel in the early 00's and has put a lot of effort into maintenance and upkeep. The engine was completely replaced in 2010 with a Vetus 16hp which is in great shape - this and the pristine hull was definitely what sold me on the boat initially, everything else is just an added bonus, really.

I have a couple of projects lined up for the future, among other things a swim platform, possibly a chain locker at the bow and a new, slightly longer bowsprit with a ladder, for the kids mostly. I'm thinking of painting some of the wood and bulkheads white like Mads from Sail Life (great YouTube series by the way!) has on his Ballad, but it's not a priority as the wood is in pretty good condition. The galley needs a do-over (new cooker and oven) and I plan to replace some of the electronics which are a bit overkill for my taste (I don't need a 10" chart plotter, really), and maybe add a wind instrument.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello and hopefully have a conversation with other Balladiers around the world. I look forward to some neat tips and tricks and posting about my life onboard in the future!

First though, to come up with a good name for the boat... Wow, what a challenge! I've been turning it over in my head for weeks without finding a good name.

Cheers!

-- Andy

[MarkRyan1981]

Welcome Andy! And you'll ever look back - I've had my Ballad for nine years now and, with two kids (and a third on the way ) I can confirm she is a safe sea boat and will be great fun for your kids.

I've tried to write us as much as I can here: http://www.albinballad.co.uk - do check your mast truss (yours being a late one will likely be fine) and let us know how you get on with all your modifications and adventures!

[Natoryous]

Hey!

Great to get a reply from you, I actually read a lot of your site while I was looking around for a new boat. We looked at four or five Ballads before we found ours and the type was definitely our first choice. We're very happy about our choice of boat and very much look forward to taking her out next summer!

I've found your howto's and guides very useful and I did actually read up on the mast truss issue on the Balla, and looked closely at the one in Balladine before we bought her. It looks in very good condition, there doesn't seem to have been a lot of standing water inside the boat at any point, and the inspector we hired saw no issues with it either. I will be keeping an eye on it though.

The biggest complaint of the inspection was actually the gas bottle, which is just sitting beneath the stove inside the utility locker with no regard for safety. I intend to construct a properly drained box in the starboard cockpit locker and install new gas piping; I read your guide on that as well and it gave me a lot of ideas and answered a few questions I had, so thank you!

We went up there today (the boat will be on the hard in Kungshamn until spring when we'll sail her down to Gothenburg) to cover her up and get ready for winter, and I managed to snap a few pictures and take some notes for my winter project (which I will post about in the future ). I see you're a NASA fan as well! I've been looking at buying a set of their gauges and displays, specifically their wind instrument, battery monitor and probably the dual. I'd be grateful to hear if you have first-hand experience with any of them what you think, pros and cons etc. There's an old Lowrance fishfinder mounted in the boat and I'm hoping to be able to use the already installed sensor to hook up to the NASA depth display, but no idea if they're compatible.

Anyway, need to dash, but I hope to be posting about my upcoming winter project soon.

Cheers!

[prjacobs]

Welcome Andy ... You are going to love your Ballad. When I found mine, having never sailed one before, it was a leap of faith to put a lot of work into her before setting sail, but it was well worth it.
Looking forward to some more pictures!

[Natoryous]

prjacobs; I just looked through your entire restoration album. Wow! I'm thoroughly impressed by your skill, and the result is beautiful! Always lovely to see old neglected boats get a second chance at life, and your Ballad definitely looks alive now.

I've posted some images of our boat on Imgur, feel free to check out my album here:

http://imgur.com/a/5h3UG

I've got a stream on Twitch where I mostly play games, but lately have been getting into creative stuff and I intend to stream the construction and development of my onboard computer and instrumentation. I'm looking forward to posting video updates about that as well in time. I'll post a thread about that on the forums when I'm ready to get going.

Cheers!