After years of cruising the Mediterranean in heavy-duty passagemakers Martin Craddock decided to give inland boating a try, with a custom built steel craft fitted out to his dream spec
For as far back as I can remember I’ve loved boats. Whenever I was on holiday, I’d make a beeline for the nearest marina and wander around dreaming about which boat I’d choose, if only I could. The idea of approaching a beach or a port from the sea while everyone else was busy looking for the nearest car park seemed infinitely preferable to me.
In 2002 I finally got the chance to make it happen. With my business going well, but still knowing very little about actually owning a boat, I took myself off to the Southampton boat show expecting my £250,000 to buy a huge superyacht, only to find that boats are...er…rather expensive.
When I finally managed to get over my disappointment and began looking for something more realistic, I eventually settled on an 18-month-old Azimut 46 called Drifter. It was for sale in Antibes in the South of France so when the purchase went through I decided to keep it in the Mediterranean for a while.
MEDITERRANEAN DREAMS
Drifter was a good boat. She was fast and fairly easy to handle and I was brimming with confidence, having done my week-long RYA Day Skipper course in flat calm conditions. However, I quickly learned that it’s not quite so easy in a blow and within a month (and a couple of bangs), my confidence was shattered. It took a while to regain it but I was determined to learn from the experience and we had some amazing trips up and down the French coast including a memorable trip, for all the wrong reasons, across to Corsica.
Now according to some reviews of planing boats, 31 knots is so much better than 28 knots but, for me, bouncing around at speed while trying to carry cups of tea up to the flybridge is not a skill I ever managed to acquire. And shouting terms of endearment at your better half over the noise of two big engines is definitely not romantic either. So, after being tossed around by the mistral wind on our crossing to Corsica, I came to realise that speed, noise and bouncing around weren’t really my thing, whereas a nice sedate 8 knots on a seaworthy displacement boat would be much more my cup of tea. Unspilled, of course. Drifter had to go.
So in 2003 I sold Drifter and bought a Trader 575, which I affectionately called Doris. The deal was that if I took the 575 and agreed to buy a new Trader 64 – which was in development at the time – Icould have all my money back in part-exchange when the 64 was delivered. My new Trader 64 was finally delivered, wait for it, in 2009 (yes, I know)!
