For me sitting on a boat fishing as the sun rises is a liberating experience. However, this experience of liberation is somewhat of a paradox: to be liberated is to be free and being stuck on a boat surrounded by water is somewhat confining. There is also the cost of it all; the only real thing being liberated is one’s bank account. Owning your own boat is quite a commitment. There are the ongoing costs like mooring fees, maintenance and insurance. All this is before you have even used the thing! Take it from me, it takes a lot of practice to ignore the time and costs involved and simply enjoy fishing from your own boat.
I have owned a few small sixteen footers and had many adventures, and even caught a few fish along the way. One problem many boaters have is the accumulation of junk: at one time I had six boats in my garden. One 24-footer gifted to me by my father sat there so long that my then girlfriend hung hanging baskets of flowers from her samson posts. My present partner is a very keen gardener, so problem solved.
The last fishing boat I owned was a 16.5ft Del Quay Dory that I named Raptor. I bought her as a wreck for £400 and over the next year, with the expert help of my dad, we turned her into a quite descent centre console sports fishing boat. In her previous life she had been a rescue boat for Mersea Sailing Club on the north side of the River Blackwater.
STAGE I
As with all boat projects, transforming this little boat cost more time and money than anticipated. She was a heavy boat for her size: previous 16 footers I have owned could be lifted by the bow, but two of us
