July of 2021, during our months sail to Germany, Denmark and Sweden, we decided we wanted to move permanently to the water. We had already sailing a wonderful Catalina 36 and were living in a church in IJmuiden (close to Amsterdam). We found the Willem Johannes and fell in love with her instantly. A 60 foot Dutch built sailcutter from 2007. After several warm welcomes by het first owner, we came to a purchase agreement. In the meantime the Quantum Leap and our house/chuch sold quickly and so ….we started reducing …stuff! This tooks quite a few weekends, for my god; the stuff we had collected in our lives?!
During six months we reduced 32 m3 to 11m3 items to take with us to the Willem Johannes, so we sold, gave away, stashed with our sons and Patty’s sister and only some inhereted items went to a small storage space we rented. And so…on the 21st of december we turned over our house to the new owners and drove what remained of our possessions to the WJ and, with the (former) owner sailed her to from Harlingen to the harbour of Nauerna via Stavoren and the notary office in Enkhuizen for the official ownership-change. And so…here begins our adventure. Living on the water with the option to sail away at any moment we want. With only the items we need | cherished most and …each other a n easier life commences.
