Experience report 20 -YACHTLINE-: Darßer Boddenlandschaft

The desire for a boat on our own grew bigger and bigger

After I had been sailing annually with a men’s crew for many years, mostly in Croatia, but also on the Baltic Sea, the desire for my own boat grew, especially since my wife and I were lucky enough to be south of the Darß peninsula, directly on the Bodden, to acquire their own little hideaway. A sailing boat was out of the question, however, as my wife has no sailing experience and from our point of view the lagoon landscape is not a perfect sailing area due to the mostly very shallow waters and narrow fairways. So after visiting various boat shows, we bought a small 6 m boat with 60 hp on the mirror and chugged through the Bodden area in the summer. However, we soon found out that the boat, due to its design and the not-too-powerful engine, was made for the quiet canals in Holland rather than for the sometimes choppy Bodden waters. There are already uncomfortable waves there, and since the driver’s cab was quite far back, the boat trips were occasionally more like dives.

In short, there was good reason to look for better. Sure, the Scandinavians build practical motorboats suitable for rough water, but in 2019 the market was empty and there was nothing in the 6m class, because our berth was no longer available. Fortunately for us and certainly also for the Öchsner company Because we found this shipyard on the Internet purely by chance, especially since it was not so easy to expect that beautiful boats for the Baltic Sea would be built near Würzburg. So we drove to Kürnach without further ado and already with the first inspection it was clear that we were nailing it. And this is where the experience report begins:

The presentation of the yacht – because this is no longer a boat! – was perfect!

The company made a very solid and very trustworthy impression from the start.  The advice from Mr. Küffner and the presentation of the yacht – because this is no longer a boat! – was perfect, free of advertising texts, friendly, competent, convincing!
The 20 -Yachtline- presents itself in an extraordinary way. The highest quality of workmanship, as I have never seen it with other boats of this class, full equipment on almost 6 m. For someone who is not exactly a passionate angler and needs it rather spartan and practical, the YACHT offers a complete and cozy interior: one Combined, well-lit and ventilated living area in which, thanks to the extensive storage space, you can also spend the night, a mini “kitchen” with a fridge for cold beer and prosecco and even – what a wonder – a separate toilet cubicle, not only women rejoice about it. By the way, you can also stand well in the salon, which is very pleasant! The companionway is completed with a lockable and transparent sliding door, good against mosquitoes, which are plentiful on the bay.

The skipper sits behind the steering wheel, in addition to an easy-to-use throttle, a pleasantly large plotter and a clear switch panel, loosely on his swivel seat, which is also suitable for somewhat larger people like me, a horizontal shift would still not be bad. Behind it, on the comfortable rear bench seat, guests are usually seated, 6 people are allowed, but 4 are ok. Here, too, there is an extraordinary amount of storage space in the cockpit, so that nothing has to lie around during the trip, but which is also accessible without major renovations.

After the competent handover, it went straight to the Baltic Sea

A decent 100 HP motor hangs on the transom, but I would recommend it, at least for seawater. There are 2 easily accessible batteries for the power supply of the yacht, and for the thirst of the engine there is a 140 l stainless steel tank which, based on experience, also allows longer trips without an additional canister, but which in turn would fit nicely in the locker. For boaters who absolutely want to wash up on board, there is a pressurized water system with a tank, which I have not yet tried myself.
The delivery of our – now named AnnaBella – yacht will take place in the best of Corona times, on May 19, 2020. We did without the live demonstration on the Main, which is of course offered, because we still had the long way to the Baltic Sea ahead of us, the originally planned first watering in Croatia was canceled for known reasons. The handover was carried out by Mr. Öchsner, friendly, competent, comprehensive. Unreserved anticipation. The drive north was problem-free with the double-axle trailer specially adapted for the Yachtline boats, apart from the fact that I got stuck in the first admittedly very narrow gas station and forced a truck to emergency brake during the first overtaking maneuver. But actually the singer’s politeness is silent about that, trailer needs to be learned.

At the Barther Bodden the first ditching was done by crane, I did not slip in the salt water to protect the trailer brakes.
In the 2020 boating season we got to know the Darß lagoon landscape, including trips between Zingst and Hiddensee across the “open sea”. We would have liked to have done more nautical miles, but we live in the Ore Mountains and the trip to the Baltic Sea is not possible every weekend. And then there was also the occasional “Schitwetter”. But when we were on the water with AnnaBella, we always had full driving pleasure. The 20 -Yachtline- runs stable even in rough water and glides quickly (don’t reveal, there are speed limits with mobile speed cameras everywhere) – essentially you sit dry even in swell and you can trim the boat easily through the sea. So pure driving pleasure, and the anchor beer has always tasted good until now.

The anticipation for the new season is great!

The boating season ended in October 2020, and in 2021 it started late due to Corona and the entry ban in mecklenburg-western pomerania. But the signs are not really pointing to a storm anymore and we are looking forward to the season, maybe with trips around Hiddensee or even around Rügen.
Oh yes, one more experience: Naturally, the beautiful GRP hull does not stay clean in salt water, especially not the underwater hull. The Öchsner company does not initially recommend equipping the underwater hull with osmosis protection and antifouling. That’s why I cleaned the hull under the trailer with the recommended “Algenol”, which is not subject to amusement tax, but works well if it weren’t for the barnacles, which can only be removed mechanically. So I’ll dig deep into my pockets again and have the underwater protection done by a professional.

Occasionally you have to drive under bridges, at least those skippers who are on inland waterways. In our case this is the Meiningen Bridge between the mainland and the Zingst. To do this, the top has to be folded down every time, a bit fiddly, but in no way spoils the joy of the coming trips … especially since you don’t constantly drive under bridges.

Many thanks to the Öchsner team, who always stood by us in a friendly and competent manner when it was necessary. And to all captains and those who want to become one: We did it 100% right!

Jochen and Beate

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