Millions of people across the UK are now spending some of the £190 billion saved during the Covid lockdowns on a wide range of new adventures and projects – including boat ownership. Up to 13 million people plan to change jobs in the next year or two, while 10% of 50-66 year olds want to retire early – up from 4% before Covid. At the same time, we’ve all experienced the freedom of virtual working – which of course is easy afloat. So what of the future?
My wife Sheila and I have become hybrid sailors, as a pair of empty nesters with a global business, a large family and lots of commitments back home. After sailing across the Atlantic on our Beneteau Oceanis 473, Moxie, we spent three months at anchor in the Caribbean. While afloat I gave many virtual keynotes all over the world on trends, while Sheila chaired court sessions virtually as a magistrate in Poole and Bournemouth. We had faster mobile bandwidth in many anchorages than we usually get from BT in Weymouth, at a cost of 75 gigabytes for £40.
We bought as an 11-year-old boat, for the price of a large motorhome. We have continued our journey via the Galapagos, Tahiti and Fiji, to Australia and next Indonesia. We are delighted to
