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Nick Burnham: 2023 is going to be boating or bust
Boat owners commonly say that the bigger the boat, the less it gets used. People cite the additional complication and hassle of using a larger boat but I don’t think that’s the reason. I believe it’s because the larger the boat, the more it costs to buy and run, and therefore the busier the owner inevitably is, making the kind of money needed. It’s a broad brush stroke of course, with plenty of exceptions, but I’ve certainly found that as boating has become more affordable relative to income, the opportunities to get aboard seem to diminish inversely. Last year we put just 25 engine hours on the clock and we only filled up twice! Things need to change.
I do have one very positive thing in my favour. Marianne loves, really loves, boating. Not in the passive “well, I’m happy to come along if the sea is calm and it’s sunny” kind of way, but in a very proactive, taken her RYA Powerboat Level 2 qualification, “why aren’t we boating this weekend, it’s not raining that hard!” kind of way. Which is interesting given that she’d never even been boating before she met me. Between us we have decided to make a serious commitment to getting out on Smuggler’s Blues 2 far more often.
The new marina berth is a big part of Operation Afloat. It not only extends our boating season from seven months to 11 months, it also means that we can go boating when the sea is too rough as we now have up to ten miles of arguably the most beautiful river in the country to explore and enjoy. Even simply being on the boat is now a joy as it
