My Boat Charter

Sailing is very much a new thing for me. I did a dinghy sailing course a couple of years back and got my RYA 1, but that hardly counts. Two days on a freezing cold reservoir in Derbyshire probably doesn’t equip me for hitting the Southern Ocean!

However, I have decided to pop my toes in the water by creating a new directory of yachts to charter.

However, last Autumn (that is Fall to anyone in the States!), my brother asked me to go with him sailing in the North Sea. We chartered a 34’ Beneteau from Woolverstone, and off I went.

I had some trepidation, let me tell you. Was I going to get sea-sick? Would I be paralysed with fear at the sight of waves? Would I clumsily fall overboard and be swept away, next stop the Arctic? Well, obviously not. Not because of my own amazing seamanship though (something genetic to us salty seadog Brits) but because there was virtually zero wind and we ended up pottering around for a couple of days.

It was great though – I had a whale of a time and agreed that I would love to go again, maybe to Wales next time.

Sailing, so far as I could see, means sitting in the sunshine with a cold beer, while watching the world (or sea) go by. At night we went down to a couple of pubs in what is a lovely part of the world. (Did you know that Walton on the Nase has the third largest pier in the UK? Have yo ever heard of Walton on the Nase? Me neither).

The biggest problem is though, according to my brother, is finding the right boat to charter. There are loads of big agencies, but we wanted to charter directly from the owner. We did just that in Woolverstone and it worked really well.

Spotting a gap in the market, I pounced with all the vim and vigour of a hibernating hedgehog. At last though, I have finished (ish) my website www.myboatcharter.net

It is designed as a directory of boats and yachts to charter worldwide. Hopefully everyone will find it simple to use and really useful. If not, then do let me know!