Money and Purchases

The exchange rate is killing us. The U.S. dollar is shrinking just about as fast as our bank account. This certainly isn’t like the last time we bought a boat in Europe. Then, in 2002, the euro was worth less than the dollar and buying our first canal cruiser, Chapter III was easy, although we really didn't know what we were doing.  It's a different story this year.  Buying Orca is almost painful.

As it turns out, buying a boat in Europe means that we are transferring dollar assets into euros, which is probably not a bad idea right now. Which leads us a conundrum--do we hope the euro stays stronger than the dollar to protect our investment or do we show our loyalty by rooting for our country's currency?  A stronger dollar will make our summer trips easier.

Either way, we have our summer home now.  There is so much to see, so many new waterways to explore and, perhaps, some old favorites to revisit.

How different are the two canal cruisers?   No doubt that Orca is a better all-round boat; roomier, more seaworthy, with the ability to cross the English channel--on a very calm day.  It has both inside and outside steering and wider decks.   We like it!

We also like the people of Holland.   Dwight was helped by a very kind couple in the small town of Beetsterqwaag.  Henk and Hetty Vlasma, who own a shop specializing in clocks, watches and barometers and apparently thought that the strange, elderly American wandering around their town needed all the help they could give him.  They let Dwight use their wireless connection to the internet so that he could tell me about his progress.  When the yacht broker we were trying to work with kept ignoring Dwight's calls and emails,  Henk took time off and drove Dwight to look at quite a few boats.  The Vlasmas went way above the call of hospitality.  Henk even bought charts for us to use on our new boat and mailed them to our home.  We don't know yet what we can do to repay them but, golly, we gotta' think of something.

A LITTLE QUIZ

Do you know the average lifespan of a  U.S. bill?  See if you can match these up:

                       Denomination                       Lifespan
                       A.  $ 1                                     1.  89 months
                       B.  $ 5                                     2.  18 months
                       C.  $10                                    3.  21 months                          
                       D.  $20                                    4.  55 months
                       E.  $50                                    5.  16 months
                       F.  $100                                  6.   24 months

(Hint: F = 1)

Data taken from the web site of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing

                                                             

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