Boats

Boats have been an important part of my life from childhood.

I built radio controlled boats in my early teens. Later, I raced internal combustion engined radio controlled boats at national level.

After that, boats were on the back burner for 20 years or more whilst I focused on uni, career and family.

I bought a RIB boat in the mid 2000s and kept it in Rock, Cornwall.

I quietly upgraded my boat till in 2015 I bought a beautiful 40ft, twin engined Prestige 38s Sports Cruiser which my daughters named Zen Dog after a kids' poem. The family and I had lots of fun and adventures in Zen Dog. I also ran it as a successful airbnb and a charter boat out of beautiful Lymington.

Initially, I employed a friend as charter skipper but when he passed away suddenly I qualified as a commercial skipper so that I could take guests out on charter trips.

In 2021 we sold up in Wiltshire and moved to Lymington. I started to drive RIB boats and big cruisers for other people. I joined Lymington's volunteer HM Coastguard Rescue Team and qualified as a Cliff, Mud and Water Rescue Operator. This continues to occupy a lot of my time – we average 150 "shouts" per year.

In 2024, I was spending so much time on different boats and with Zen Dog reaching an age where it was starting to cost money, I made the tough decision to sell it and now focus on getting paid to drive other people's boats!

In 2023 I qualified as an RYA Power Boat Instructor and I now teach powerboat courses at a handful of locations across the South Coast.

I also run a small Motor Boat Charter Agency called BoatCharter.Expert