It all started back
in November 2000 with a trip to Ely, Cambs. Whilst I was
at Ely, just chilling out and relaxing by the river, I
began to think about my dream of owning a big ocean going
boat. I wanted so much for this dream to become reality.
So after many hours of serious thinking I got my head
down to some serious number crunching and question asking.
There then followed a bit of an adventure ......
.. I spent many evenings looking through boat magazines
at all the boats which were up for sail, sorry I mean
"for sale"! I rang up marinas and private
owners from all over the place - asking about the boats
they were selling. I searched the internet too, I also
accessed Motorboats and Yachting chat forum to ask questions on
living on a boat on the coast and got some really helpful
advice.
.. I then went (repeatedly) down to Southampton for a few
weekends looking for anything that would fit my
requirements & budget. I finally found a Trader 44
from
Tarquin Yachts that seemed to fit the bill great.
Over the course of the following few weeks I got the
Purchase Agreement for the boat ready, put my house on
the market and started making plans to live on a boat.
The reason I put my house on the market was because that
was where the money to buy the boat was coming from -
quite a big step, hence the hours of decision making
earlier.
The decisive moment came during the last day
of Day Skipper course (4 days) with Top Deck Marine Motor Cruising Sea
School, (I don't
recommend them because of poor quality food during course). I thought I'd ring a boat surveyor and
ask a few questions about the boat I was looking at and
he mentioned a few possible problems I might have with a
boat of that type of that age (20 years). It turned out there could be
some expensive repairs on the horizon. After that conversation
I spent the next few days reconsidering my options. After
much indecision I chose to stay ashore and the Trader 44
was left for someone else to enjoy. I then took my house
off the market and settled back into my "normal"
house, without regret (so far), in fact I'm now glad I
didn't go to live in a boat - it would have been a most
likely irreversible decision, which is a frightening
thought.
One financial consideration which I also couldn't
escape: Although a boat's value doesn't depreciate very much, when it
comes to investing money long term you cant beat a brick built house.
A perfect comparison of this is 20 years ago house prices were around
£XX,000 now they are £XXX,000, whereas the boat I own now cost about
£16,000 20 years ago, which is what it's worth today.
I really enjoyed this "adventure", which
involved looking at boats I could only normally dream of.
I've come away with: a Day Skipper certificate (effectively
a driving licence for sea going boats); less money in the
bank and feeling much more independent, not to mention
knowing the route to Southampton by train very well. My
desire to go out on a big luxury motor yacht is still
there, I'd love to go on one for a holiday, just not for
the rest of my life.
Living on a boat does work well for a lot of people, just
not me, not just yet . . . maybe one day :)
Simon
|
