Thirteen days out from Plymouth during the 2021 Azores Jester Challenge, in a gale, facing days of fierce headwinds, I looked skywards and informed the Lord that I would get a motorboat. I meant it too, though despite the pain of a damaged finger and a cracked rib, the voyage memories faded.
I expected to turn to power in a year or two, but I hadn’t bargained on my mate Tim. We met in an Indian restaurant and I left with a boat – his. He wasn’t using it, and would I like it for a four-figure budget? Yes, I exploded in a cloud of poppadom crumbs and went home to tell my accountant first mate that, once again, we had two boats. She softened though when I mentioned the price.
The boat
I confess to being a pontoon-wandering boat nerd and never buy a boat without enjoyably exhaustive research, so my choice was no accident. My criteria demanded a single diesel shaft drive semi-displacement motorboat of the smallest size commensurate with my requirements, which included encouraging the first and second mates to join me on shorter trips.
It had to be second-hand as funds from selling my yacht were insufficient, because well-equipped new boats of this size seemed to cost around
