Cadeau was delivered to his fortunate first owner, the Dutch CEO of Holland America Line, in June 1976. The same day the Swan 44 070, was delivered to his brother. According to the rumors, she was named Vandervoor, or bouccaneer. After some years of extensive racing in Europe, she was shipper to the United States for other races. In 1987 she was sold to Evan Schwab, a Seattle lawyer, who changed the name into Cadeau.
            Evan sailed leisurely around the Puget Sound, Vancouver Island and the Strait of Georgia for 12 years, then decided that skying was very intriguing and decided to sell. Here is his brief story:

The original owner of CADEAU was Nico Van Vorm, from Holland.  The original name was VRIJBUITER.  Nico was the CEO and an owner of Holland American Lines.  He originally sailed the boat in Holland then shipped it to New York when he transferred there.  Sometime later Nico moved to Seattle so the boat was, I believe, trucked across the United States. I purchased the boat from Nico in 1987 and renamed her CADEAU.  Nico purchased a new Swan 53.  Unfortunately Nico died of cancer a few years later.  I never did any offshore cruising but did take CADEAU around Vancouver Island three times.  Last year I purchased a 48' Ocean Alexander power boat; named it CADEAU, knowing that the swan was in Europe so no confusion would be created.

            While strolling on the dock in Seattle the present owner saw her and placed a down payment in record time. Soon after he moved aboard and started cruising alone around the channel Island in Canada and the San Juan Island in Washington state. In the meantime this non-sailor planned a foolish cruise to Alaska, where tides reach 30 feet and tidal streams 18 knots, and searched crew and charter clients. Incredibly enough he found none of the former and enough of the latter, thus forcing himself on long months of loneliness broken by brief weeks of tremendous work. All along the cruise he kept planning an even more foolish plan, that is to sail out of Alaska and visit Patagonia, on the base that, being on the same continent, it was not too far away. Five other victims, two from Italy, two from the States and one from Canada, joined him with the plan to come back to Canada the following year.
            Cadeau left the sheltered waters of the Puget Sound on October 15, 1999 and reached Patagonia on January 20, 2000, after over 9,500 miles of bluewater crossings via San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexico, Galapagos and Easter Island.
            Once in Patagonia the crew thought that sailing all that way and not seeing Cape Horn was stupid. Then soon after they decided that not seeing the Atlantic Ocean was stupid. Then that not visiting Argentina and Brasil was even more stupid. That’s how the boat ended up in Argentina, well battered after a more or less continuous and no-maintenance period of 20,000 miles of sailing, mostly in high latitudes, a massive knock down, 34 gales, 5 storms, 3 hurricanes, 3 winch handles lost and 4 sails exploded.
            After a period of relaxing maintenance and upgrading (she was finally gifted with double berths), Cadeau left for Brazil, where she chartered leisurely for a season. Then north towards the Caribean, and East to the Azores and the Mediterranean.
            Cadeau entered Gibraltar in the last days of May 2004, then sailed in Corsica and Sardinia for the season. She overwintered in Bonifacio then sailed the Pontine and Aeolian Islands in 2005.
            Since 1999, Cadeau sailed more than 200 passengers and crew, 46,000 miles, two oceans, and an endless number of bottles of wine and beer.