Our First Boat








 We have owned property on the beautiful western Mediterranean coast for over 20 years, with a growing family we have been fortunate enough to have been able to visit for short weekend get aways and also for longer periods which could be weeks at a time, we had visited the local marinas many times over the years to sample the bars and restaurants and always took time to look and admire the many different types of boats; sail boats with tinkling masts, fishing boats, speed boats and what appeared to be floating houses,all glistening in the bright sunshine against a bright blue sea and sky.

There always seemed to be numerous boats for sale and the yacht brokers window attracted our attention on more than one occasion, but the boats that seemed to grab our attention always seemed to have two or three noughts too many at the end.

 On one occasion we were with friends Keith and Val, we were having a meal looking out to sea and at some point we got to talking about boats and buying a boat, that particular conversation  must have planted the seed well and truly in the mind or the hot sun was burning my brain as once again during the same holiday we ended up in the marina looking at boats for sale, on this occasion we actually ended up in the yacht brokers office to seriously talk about buying our first boat!

 How the decision came about to buy I`m not entirely sure, but I do recall sitting down with the broker Shahzad, who has since become a friend, and just saying we would like to buy a boat, we did not know how to purchase one, we knew nothing about operating one, nothing about moorings, nothing about insurance, nothing about rules and regulations, where you get fuel from? and where do people go on them?
I`m not sure if Shahzad thought we were serious or just chancers looking for a free ride, nonetheless, we  continued to ask questions and eventually we were advised that a first boat to suit our needs would be a small sports boat, he showed us a few examples and explained the differences between them, most of it gobbledygook at this stage, this one planes faster, this one has a stern drive, this one has a duo prop, port side, starboard side, aft, aft? is this short speak for after? after what? after you fill up will fuel you need a bank loan (we did`nt find that out until our first visit to the pump) he might as well have been explaining how a Harrier Jump Jet works! I think at this stage we were mentally there, all I was thinking was, scuba diving, water sports, fishing, and, where do you get the ice from for the gin and tonic?
 Eventually we were steered towards a Chris Craft 218 for sale, this was described as a Rolls Royce of sports boats, Ok, so that did it. As it happened Robert the owner was around so we quickly got acquainted and the next thing we were out for a test run. We loved the boat, it felt solid and safe on the water, it was easy to handle and simple to operate, forward throttle and reverse throttle with a steering wheel, how simple! and the Chris Craft could go fast, very fast or slower depending on the sea condition or your nerve. Getting back into the berth was straight forward, you just glide  the boat roughly into it`s home then pull yourself in using the neighbours boats. Robert had looked after the boat and had had it well maintained by the local engineer Oscar.We discussed the price which included Robert himself to teach us the in`s and out`s of owning a boat on the med and all the help we would need, Robert to this day has been true to his word, always helpful and full of sound advice with a story or two thrown in for good measure, and now Robert and Janet are good friends.
 We returned back to our Spanish home to discuss the real possibility of boat ownership. After some deliberation and thoughtfulness we decided we should call Robert to make an offer, a bit of a negotiation took place and before long we reached a deal, and as they say the rest is history, the nautical world beckoned and we answered the call.
That same day we had to return to the UK so we did not have the time to go and sort out the details with Shazad the yacht broker, so as we  made our way to the airport we were already planning our next visit to the med to complete the purchase.

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our first boat "Noahs Ark"