JUST DO IT!

We have always been a boating family. My parents owned several boats throughout my childhood, my wife Sam grew up in Lymington where she was part of the yacht racing scene, and our 12-year-old son Finn is a fanatical sailor/paddleboarder/kayaker – we are all happiest on the water.

For the past 10 years we have managed to enjoy our boating on a very modest budget running our wonderful 1980s Riva Bravo 38 Clan in the Solent. I am pretty good with my hands so managed to do all the maintenance to keep costs down. We purchased Clan in Ibiza and brought her back to the UK by road having motored her across to Denia in mainland Spain. She suited our needs perfectly, having previously owned a 7.5m Scorpion RIB, allowing many idyllic weekends at anchor in Newtown Creek and exploring the Solent and further afield.

Last March I received something of a shock when I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, which came totally out of the blue as I had no symptoms whatsoever. We had been considering buying a second home somewhere, thanks to an inheritance, however we quickly decided to scrap this idea and buy a