A Boat Owner’s Blog

The original result of our decision to buy a boat was Silver Dream, a Fairline Mirage. We always intended to change her name but we never did so she remained with the name she had since she was new during the whole of our ownership.

As with so many things, buying a boat was all about ticking boxes. Before embarking on our boat hunting we had to decide what those boxes were.

Whichever boat ticked the greatest number of boxes was the best available choice. In our case the boat had to be:

• Able to pass under Ludham Bridge to give access to the River Ant and Barton Broad.
• Suitable for holidaying / habitation for periods of up to 1 week or more continuously (suitable storage, good level of comfort, appropriate galley and heads).
• Equipped for use early and late in the season (weather tight, heating preferable).

In addition we wanted to have the option of taking our boat off the Broads and out to sea. On this basis we also wanted:

• Twin diesel engines.
• A cruising speed of 15kts or more.

Lastly, the most important requirements of all. We must:

• Like it.
• Be able to afford it.

Of these Silver Dream was the only boat which fulfilled every requirement. All that remained was to have a positive appraisal by a professional boat surveyor. Only then did we begin to learn quite how fortunate we might have been to discover this design and this boat design.  However, early in the process of purchasing Silver Dream a boat which I thought was worth serious consideration came on the market - the same design but single engined.  She was called Grenick.  It was newer and appeared to be much better equipped, plus she had a much newer and far more powerful engine.  However, my co-buyers talked me out of properly investigating Grenick (her higher purchase price and single engine being two factors) and we continued to pursue Silver Dream, even to the point of ignoring the advice of the surveyor that we should insist on seeing Silver Dream perform to the level the brokers claimed she could.  And eventually it was that which would come back to haunt us.

By 2008 it was apparent that although we did enjoy the odd coastal run, long distance passage making was not going to be our thing.  The high costs of maintenance on the very old twin engines and drives in Silver Dream could not really be justified and besides, their performance had steadily declined to the point where she could barely pull 12-14kts.  Coupling that with an electrical system in such poor condition the only solution was to pull it all out and start again from scratch and the imminent need to service both outdrives once again we decided to draw a line under it and move on.

At around the same time of year in 2009 we were just starting to cast out eye around the market once more when a friend pointed out that Grenick was up for sale again and, ironically, the asking price was less than what we had sold Silver Dream for.  So now we have the boat which, perhaps, we always should have had and we are now also the sole owners - whatever decisions we make, be they either good or bad, they will just be ours.

Ironically, after a few weeks of owning Grenick the penny finally dropped on what had been responsible for the performance issues with Silver Dream - our insistence on running with the water tanks full which put nearly half a ton of water in the bow and it was simply too much for the old engines to push properly.  Oh well!  As I said - a learning process.