Next Week I Am Heading to Groningen - And This Might Be My Last Chance to Film One of These Boats
No Limit Ships, two vessels already in the water (one for sale) and one of them leaves for the Baltic on Thursday morning. Here is what I am going to find.
Next week I am flying to the Netherlands and driving north for 2 hours to Groningen.
I have arranged access to film two boats at No Limit Ships (one of which is currently for sale); a yard whose vessels you already know, because the last time I covered one of their builds, the video pulled 670,000 views. That kind of response does not happen by accident. It happens because the boats are genuinely extraordinary, and because the people who watch my YouTube channel recognise something very capable when they see it.
This trip has a deadline attached to it that I did not have with the last Netherlands run. One of the two vessels (the No Limit Odyssey) leaves for the Baltic on Thursday morning. She is not coming back to Groningen. If I am not there before she departs, the window closes for good. So I will be arriving Wednesday evening, on-site early Thursday, and spending the morning making sure I get every minute of footage before the Odyssey slips her lines.
The yard is at Stockholmstraat 3, ten minutes from where I am staying. I have spoken to Dinand, from No Limit Ships, directly. We are good to go.
Why No Limit Ships
If you watched the 1550 video, you already have a sense of what these boats are about. If you did not, the short version is this: No Limit Ships builds steel expedition vessels that are designed to go places most boats cannot follow. Not in the brochure sense. In the real sense! Extended passages, serious weather, genuine range, built to a standard that commercial operators would recognise and appreciate.
The yard was founded in 1999 by Piet Wierenga and is now run by his sons Peter and Bart. That second-generation handover matters. These are not venture-capital boatbuilders chasing a market trend. They are a boat building family from the north of the Netherlands who have been building serious offshore vessels for 25 years, with the same no-nonsense mentality you would expect from that part of the world.
The 670,000 views on that 1550 video told me something I already suspected. There is an enormous audience for this type of boat. People who have dreamed about a very capable steel passagemaking vessel in this size range for years, who have watched the fleet from a distance and quietly calculated whether it might ever be within reach. No Limit Ships sits at the intersection of serious capability and realistic ownership in a way that very few builders manage.
That is why I am going back….
The Logistics
My last filming trip to the Netherlands was in November. I have left the thermals at home this time as it should be considerably more pleasant in early May!
I am flying into the Netherlands on Wednesday evening, picking up a hire car and driving the two hours north to Groningen. Wednesday night is an overnight stay close to the yard. Thursday morning I am on site from 08:00 which is early enough to have the full morning with both boats before the Odyssey needs to prepare for departure.
By the way, it is thanks to my premium subscribers here on my Substack, that I can self-fund these trips. Of course, brokers and builders sometimes offer to pay for my trips. But, I think my readers and audience appreciate the totally independent perspective that I bring to my audience.
Dinand will be there at 09:00. After that his schedule pulls him away briefly, but the No Limit Ships team covers the morning and he returns later. I will have the run of both vessels.
Each boat gets its own YouTube walkaround video. And the owner of the Odyssey has agreed to be interviewed for my Substack, which is something I am genuinely looking forward to. There is nothing quite like hearing directly from someone who has just taken delivery of a vessel they have had built to their own specification. What did they ask for? What did they compromise on? What surprised them?
The full breakdown of both vessels, specs, what I am expecting to find, and my honest pre-visit assessment, is below for paid subscribers. Post your questions for the owner of Odyssey in the comments and I will do my best to put them to him during my visit.
Also, don’t forget to come and follow me on Instagram (or even TikTok, if that’s your thing), for updates which I will be posting during the short trip!
The Two Boats To Be Filmed!
Below the paywall, paid subscribers get the full pre-visit breakdown on both vessels including specs, what I am most looking forward to finding, and my honest assessment of each boat before I have set foot aboard either of them, including a detailed look at the No Limit 1550 that is currently for sale through the yard. You will also get access to The Wardroom, where paid subscribers can discuss these vessels with me and fellow enthusiasts privately. Join us below.
