THE 46 YEAR OLD BOAT VIRGIN

I have always lived by the sea in Essex and find it a very calming place to be, yet despite this close proximity to the water, I never went boating as a child. Later on in life, when my wife and I started seeing each other, we booked a boat trip whilst on holiday together and loved it so much that holiday boat trips became our thing. More often than not they were the highlight of our holidays. Once kids came along, these trips were temporarily suspended but as soon as they were old enough, we started booking them again and found that the kids loved them too. What started as a holiday treat began to grow into something of an obsession. My career in banking involved a fair amount of travelling and I’d religiously pick up a copy of Motor Boat & Yachting on my way through the departure lounge that I’d thumb through for the rest of the trip, learning about boats and dreaming about the ones I’d like to own.

It wasn’t until 2012 that the idea of actually buying my own boat started to turn into a definite plan of action, egged on by an enthusiastic colleague. I think he was envisaging the Côte d’Azur rather than the muddy River Thames, but having told him I’d get