We came back up to Jervis Bay today and decided to sample the little bay off Long Nose Point at Chris Daly's recommendation. Nice one.. Stunningly crystal clear water, white beach, perfect. Thanks Chris!
And surprise, surprise, what came around the corner but another Lagoon 380! Nice to meet you!
We liked what we saw when we first laid eyes on the Lagoon 380 at the Sydney Boat Show in 2000. It was to be 2 years before we took possession of Te Moana, but I won't bore you with the full story of that here.
While we've been very happy with Vicsail, Lagoon and Te Moana, we can't say the same about Christophe Vanek, the guy who sold us the boat.
Christophe's fate was sealed by a certain event at the start of the 2002 Sydney to Hobart. When last heard of, he was starting a Beneteau agency somewhere in a desert.
Until now, that is... It looks like he was on board this tri when it broke up the other day.
"We were going full speed and suddenly the boat broke," said Christof Vanek, a member of the crew. "It's very unfortunate."
I just read Nick Harvey's blog post about the Paris Boat show. The new Lagoon 400 looks good, perhaps I should stay at work for another 10 years so we can upgrade...
Here is an album which gives us an inside view of how and where the Lagoon 380's are built. Congratulations to John and Coralia Hamilton on the birth of hull #411 [Thanks to Caju from Vicsail for the photos]
The Lagoon mailing list is starting to work and it was great to meet a few fellow Lagoon owners at the 2006 Sydney Boat show yesterday. Apologies for my gorilla like stance, but this was the only shot with all of us in it. Left to right, we have Rod Cooper (380 - Blue Lagoon), Caju Barbosa (Vicsail), Marius and Joy Coomans (380 - Te Moana) and Ron and Gill Mason (410 - Miss Glamour Puss). While in the background is Peter Hendrie's new Lagoon 380 S2.
Joy and I really enjoyed having a long lunch with Ron and Gill and meeting Rod. It was Rod's boat at the 2000 Boatshow which "sold" us on a Lagoon 380.
Over the four years that I've kept this weblog about Te Moana, our Lagoon 380, one of the most satisfying aspects has been the contact with other owners and sailors of Lagoon Catamarans. And occasionally, I have been asked for contacts with others.
So we're setting up a mailing list to allow a convenient exchange of ideas,tips and tricks between Lagooners and perhaps even facilitate meeting up in person or by boat. It will be a "by invitation only" list to stop spammers, but if you have a legitimate interest in Lagoons, simply let us know and I'll subscribe you to the list.
For those in Australia, Joy and I are hoping to meet some of you in person during the Sydney Boat Show (August 3-8 2006).
So if you'd like to join the list or are interested in meeting up during the Sydney Boat Show, drop me a line, leave a comment below or even give me a call!
Marius Coomans
marius at coomans dot net
+61 411 248 617
Michael just left a comment on the previous post about the Lagoon 380S2 with a link to a tremendous series of photographs of the fitting out, launch and maiden voyage of Linocat, his brand spanking new S2. Check out the Linocat website. I was particularly impressed with Big Willi, it makes the Lagoon 380 look like a small boat.
