Our Boat

At the beginning of January, we decided to sail around the world for a longer period of time, so then it became time to look for the most important thing for our trip, a boat. Soon, we had seen all the boats for sale online and we knew that we would not find what we were looking for. We were looking for a seaworthy boat with three cabins and not too much wrong with it and that for our modest budget.

We quickly concluded that we could not find what we wanted online. So we spent a couple of weekends driving to different harbours in the Netherlands to see if we could maybe find our dream boat this way. It was January when we visited the harbours, so, as you can see in the photo, we also stood in the wet snow a few times.

Technical data

After three months of searching, we knew that we either had to be very patient or do something about our wish list or budget. We did not have patience, because we wanted to sail our boat a bit to get to know it and because it would take a lot of work to get a boat ready for our trip. Increasing our budget was not an option, because we wanted to pay for the boat with our own money, so we had to change the wish list.

Once we had adjusted the list, we started looking at boats again, but they were all too small or didn’t feel seaworthy enough. We were even close to buying a 49-foot steel boat (a real monster).  

On “botentekoop” we saw a Doug Peterson 51 for sale for a while, but it was way above our budget, so we called the seller and told him we liked his story and he invited us to come to Zeeland to see the boat, despite our price difference. Once at the boat, all three of us fell in love. The boat was big, seaworthy and felt very solid, but it had always been used for racing so a lot had to be done before she was suitable for a world trip.

After a bit of haggling over the price, we finally came to a deal. There we were in Zeeland with our new boat. The seller made sure that it was in the water with the mast attached. After a weekend of cleaning and rigging the boat was ready to go to Friesland. After a nice first sailing trip, there was a lot of family waiting for us in Hindeloopen when we arrived there. The first thing we did to the boat was to change the name of the boat. We named the boat Satisfaction because we think that fits well with our trip and plans.

The boat is a Doug Peterson 51. The boat is named after its designer. It is a one-off vessel made of kevlar composite. The boat was built by Green Marine in England, a renowned shipyard where many ocean-going boats have been built. The boat was built at the beginning of Green Marine and therefore the boat was baked at the helicopter factory nearby because this company had an oven in which the ship could fit.

Because the ship is made of Kevlar composite, it is very lightweight and at the same time very strong. The boat is 15.2 metres long and 3.9 metres wide and its draught is 2.35 metres.

So far all information about our boat. Curious about the further progress of the boat? Follow us via social media or keep an eye on our blog. Got more interested in the team of the satisfaction. Use the button below to find out more about us!