It was 3 AM local time but I was wide awake because my brain was telling me that it was 9 AM. I was on an aircraft on the apron at Abu Dhabi airport. I was a “regular”. This was my third commute from Melbourne to Zürich in 8 weeks and I was looking forward to going home. The aircraft had not pushed back because of a forecast sandstorm. Three hours later, the sandstorm subsided but the crew were out of duty time and we were asked to disembark. Over thirty hours after I left my hotel in Melbourne, I arrived home, exhausted. I would be doing the exact same journey in 2 weeks. My lifestyle had to change and I had the full support of Annette to act now.
We both agreed that it would be great to travel but have the comforts of our own home. Hotels were to be a thing of the past. We had been on numerous sailing holidays and although we had a great time, the type of yacht that we could afford would certainly not be awarded 5 stars for creature comforts, particularly off-season. Switzerland is also a long way from the sea. We had also been on a family barging holiday in France and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted and I whiled away the time on subsequent flights deciding the type of boat, researching boat builders and looking at the second-hand market.
We had experience of one type of Dutch Barge on our ICC course, visited the builder and then visited Piper. Decision – Piper. We then looked at 2 second-hand Piper boats and were invited to the Salon Fluvial at Saint Jean de Losne to look at the product range and chat with Piper owners. No salesman in sight, just owners talking honestly. Decision – New Piper 60M.
Ordering a boat from Piper is not a case of making a call, deciding a few options and cruising into the sunset. The more effort that is expended, the more rewarding is both the experience and the outcome. There are a bewildering number of technical and aesthetic options. Our ideas were discussed with Joe, the chief designer, and decisions were captured on a large spreadsheet by Andrea Piper. The specification evolved and matured as the build progressed. After 4 visits to the factory, Phantom rolled out for the car park stay. This is the opportunity to snag the boat before launch. After launch in Reading, we transported the boat to France and joined the cadre of owners; very proudly showing off our new boat and talking honestly to potential customers.
Phantom was launched in December 2018 and the team effort between ourselves and Piper has resulted in a home-from-home that we use for weekend getaways and for longer cruises. A lunch stop on our 3-month sojourn to the south coast of France is pictured below.
Phantom at Meze on the Etang de Thau
When we visit Phantom, we relax in a place that is familiar, very comfortable and one that we really want to be in. When you buy a Piper however, you also have the opportunity to indulge in the social aspects associated with owning one of the best brands in the business.
We got an inkling of how tight-knit Simon, Andrea and the Piper team are with the community of owners at our first Piper event. We never imagined, however, how many close friends we would make. Simon and Andrea host 2 or 3 get-togethers annually in France and the opportunity to socialise with a diverse community brought together by a common interest cannot be under-estimated.
Phantom has enabled us to enjoy holidays with friends and family, long summer cruises and join a multifarious friendship group. This was the lifestyle change that we set out to achieve and it has exceeded any reasonable expectation that we had. But that is not the end of the story…….
Enter River Odyssey. Simon and I had chatted about a new design over many beers and he launched the first of the new 65Ms last year. This coincided with our need to have a place to stay and be closer to our family in the UK. A house or a 65M? No contest.
Back to the array of options, CAD drawings and photo Friday, back to the factory visits and almost daily interactions with Joe and Tom. The result? A bespoke 65M with a different interior layout and many technical firsts for Piper. The incorporation of some of the new technology was a challenge. However, it was a challenge that was embraced and taken head-on. The design team wanted to push themselves and I was delighted to throw ideas at them. This is a “can do” company.
River Odyssey was launched in November. During the launch, a third-party component failed and given how far the launch team were into their working day, it would have been entirely reasonable for us to book a room for the night and re-launch a day later. Undaunted, Josh and Vinnie worked for over 12 hours to ensure that everything was ship-shape before the handover. Their dedication and hard work meant that we were able to settle into our new boat on schedule.
River Odyssey at Windsor
Our new Piper 65M is a fabulous place to be and we have absolutely no regrets about buying a second Piper. We spent 3 days cruising from the launch ramp to our permanent berth. The boat handles very precisely and we coped with sections on the Thames that had strong currents without a hitch. The development of the new ideas that make River Odyssey work so well was a team effort; the implementation was solely down to Piper.
As for Phantom, we have regular get-togethers with our Piper friends over the winter and will kick-off the 2025 season with the rest of the Piper community in late April at Saint Usage. We are also looking forward to cruising the Thames on River Odyssey and meeting for the first time the many UK Piper owners later in the year. Exactly the lifestyle that we wanted, and looking back, a lifestyle change that we needed.
Kevin & Annette
