Why we prefer our 36 foot boat to a 50 footer!!??
Arion's West Indian Adventure
Hermione & Douglas Pattison
Sat 16 Apr 2016 16:25
Firstly, the Benateau 50 was an enormous hulk of white plastic from the outside.
Secondly, we had 4 big double cabins, and 4 bathrooms. We could have had a cabin and a head EACH!!…… Arthur and Alice chose to share a cabin, and so we used one as a ‘playroom’, but they never used this as they just wanted to play in the main saloon, or in their bunk.
Where the heads (loos) were concerned, we were in a state of confusion as we did not know which one to use!! (It did however solve the long term problem whereby as soon as Arthur needs the loo, Alice apparently does too……. Having 4 to choose from , I was able to tell them to choose another one!! we hope that that has quashed this annoying flash point in our lives for good!!)
Everything on the boat seemed to not quite work properly, from the oven, cupboard doors, to various lights….. It made us realise how well sorted Arion is.
There was also a mozzy problem onboard caused by the bilges being constantly full, despite us pumping out copious amounts of water, so our skin was polka dotted for the week and rather itchy!!
The main saloon was enormous, but much of the space was pretty useless and just became a dumping ground. One great feature was the enormous fridge which was probably the highlight of the boat.
It says a thousand words, as the children could not WAIT to get back on Arion at the end of the week. She is so cosy down below, and we are forced to be tidy as there is simply no room to be messy. ‘A place for everything and everything in its place’ is a phrase often used onboard. Everything generally works on our boat and she really has become our home which is great. So, Douglas can put away his wallet for the time being as I certainly will not want to be upgrading Arion for anything bigger just yet!!