JUST DO IT
The remarkable story of David Gabriel’s brave decision to buy a boat to help him cope with cancer treatment
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 bigger boat instead, which as our young son says is our ‘flat in Cornwall, cottage in Wales and beach hut in Poole’. We had always dreamt about a bigger boat and suddenly the concept of living for the moment had made it a priority – bringing that dream to fruition was now the most important thing in our lives, paying off the mortgage could wait!
WELCOME DISTRACTION
The journey started by trawling the internet looking at boats bigger than 38ft. A Princess 45 was the first stop, then a 48, then a jump to a Fairline Squadron 52, which seemed to offer even better value. The 52 had already been sold but it had switched us on to Squadrons. For years I had admired the Squadron 58 and read much about other members’ boats on the MBY online forum, so this was to be the next, and final, jump in our search!
We started our new quest on a dull, cold, rainy day after the first hospital visit, to cheer ourselves up as much as anything. There was a Squadron 58 lying in Southampton so we went to look out of curiosity – we were smitten and from then on looking for the right boat for us became the most marvellous distraction from the reality of what we were facing. The natural home for this boat is, of course, in the Med, however with ongoing treatment and the likelihood of more to come, we decided to keep her in the UK so that we could maximise our time aboard. Having already brought the Riva back from Europe we were undaunted by the thought of doing it again, albeit on a bigger scale, so we broadened our search to the whole of Europe.
After a lot of conversations with various brokers we found a brilliant boat in Split, Croatia. She was a one-owner 2003 boat and had clearly been looked after properly. She was well specified, having been exhibited at the London and Southampton Boat Shows when new, and all the teak decks had been replaced a year ago.
Going through chemotherapy made travel impossible so my brother kindly made a flying visit out and back in a day to look over her for us. He did an amazing job, spending five hours going over every inch with the broker and making several videos for us to watch. She looked good, a few jobs here and there (the biggest being the interior linings, which were coming away) but nothing we couldn’t deal with, so we did the deal and before we knew it we were the owners of our first Squadron 58.
Eager to get her back as quickly as possible, we decided shipping her to the UK was our best option. The broker, Marin Marusic of Almissani, was brilliant and helped us every step of the way, liaising with local services and then moving the boat out to the ship when required.
Finally, on Friday 26th October we were sent photos of her being hoisted aboard the deck of the cargo ship, and the adventure began.
The excitement grew as our dream was about to become a reality and the timing couldn’t have been better as it coincided with a low point in the chemotherapy treatment.
The next few days were a combination of excitement and apprehension, as we followed the progress of the ship hour by hour on Marine Traffic wending its way back to Britain. We were a little worried when we saw big storms forecast for the Med but we trusted the shipping company and waited patiently for news.
SHATTERED DREAMS
The first clue that something was amiss was when the previous owner called us to say that they had been contacted by the coastguard, as their EPIRB, which was still aboard the Squadron 58, had been activated.
At this stage we didn’t consider the worst, and simply assumed the EPIRB was faulty. Less than an hour later we received another call.
This time there was no room for confusion.
The cargo ship had been hit by a series of large waves, one of which had ripped our boat from its lashings and washed it over the side, where it sank almost immediately.
We were all in shock. This represented so much more than just a boat to us, it was the fulfilment of a dream, which now lay shattered at the bottom of the ocean alongside our boat.
There followed a very demoralising period, instead of celebrating the arrival of our beautiful boat as a welcome distraction from the horrible cancer treatment, we were dealing with insurance and shipping companies desperately trying to get back what was owed to us.
At one stage we began to question if we would ever see the money again. During these dark days we were overwhelmed with support from the MBY forum community with offers of help finding other boats to purchase and even the use of other members’ boats. However, there is always hope even in the very darkest times and after many months and seemingly never ending demands for yet another report, our insurers finally paid out.
At one point we did question if something this dramatic was a sign that we were just not meant to have another boat. We quickly dismissed it and continued our search, financially battered but emotionally undaunted!
We took up our search again and eventually, after many enquiries and possible leads, found another boat lying in Mallorca that had just come on the market and sounded perfect.
This one was another 2003 boat but had done fewer engine hours and was a slightly better specification than the previous one, with many of the improvements we had been planning to carry out already done. For most of her life she had had a professional Captain so had been superbly maintained – you could literally eat your supper off the engine room floor.
Ever the negotiators, we put in a low offer straight away. They probably didn’t take us seriously as we hadn’t even been to see her and it had only been on the market two days so our initial offer was rejected. Still being unable to travel due to the cancer treatment, we were at a loss as to what to do. A chance phone call from my wife’s god-daughter, saying she was returning to Palma, set another chain of events in motion. She and her boyfriend (a ship’s engineer) had worked on superyachts for several years and offered to go and look at her for us. They video called us from the boat and went through every inch of it with us, it was like being there ourselves. The boat was just what we were looking for and ‘felt’ right so the negotiations began again and finally a deal was struck. A thorough survey picked up a few small items but mainly highlighted the fact that
We were all in shock. This represented so much more than just a boat to us, it was the fulfilment of a dream
We finally slipped lines and took her out for the first time. The smiles on our faces stayed there for days!
she was in great condition. Again, having an excellent broker made the process easier, Nigel Wales of Arrival Yachts helped us with various aspects locally and also with an issue around the title, which could have caused long delays.
There then followed a frustrating couple of months as we waited for a ship to bring her back again but because of the confusion over Brexit, no other owners would commit to moving their boats until they knew what the VAT implications would be, so no transport ships were sailing.
Friends visited her in Palma but still we were unable to travel and see her for ourselves. Finally, to get something moving, we took the decision to bring her back by road, one that we had originally dismissed due to her size. However, we found an amazing transport company in Coast2coast, who reassured us it wouldn’t be a problem. The boat had to be moved from Palma to Barcelona where it was hauled out and partially dismantled to reduce height. This required removing the upper helm station and seats, screens, radar mast, props and rudders. Once completed she was loaded onto the truck and driven to Bilbao and onto a ferry to Poole.
EMOTIONAL HOMECOMING
So on a grey April day we found ourselves standing on a Hampshire motorway bridge over the M27 waiting for the first sight of our new boat! As she passed beneath us it was hard to believe that this long and emotional journey was finally coming to a happy ending. When she arrived, it was apparent that she had been very well looked after; she was all in one piece and looked amazing.
We jumped aboard and behaved like children on Christmas morning, exploring this huge space we now owned. It felt momentous. We spent the following three weeks working on her at RK Marine in Swanwick, rebuilding her with the help of family and friends, fitting new cutlass bearings and a sternthruster, applying new antifouling and renaming her Clan 2. We had wanted to keep her in Buckler’s Hard in Beaulieu close to our home in Lymington, but were told that there were few berths our size and it was highly unlikely one would come up this year, so we put our name on the waiting list for next year and made preparations for moving her to Portland Marina – the most reasonably priced marina within 50 miles of our home.
A week later we had a call out of the blue from Buckler’s Hard offering us a berth this year, completing our belief that despite everything our dream really was meant to be. So three weeks after her arrival, we finally slipped lines and took our new 58 ft boat out for the first time. As we headed out of the Hamble River and into the Solent, we opened her up and were amazed at how smooth and quiet she was. Heading up the Beaulieu River was beautiful and at the end of it lay our new home berth, which proved simple to manoeuvre in to. The smiles on our faces stayed glued there for days!
Even now we cannot believe how lucky we are to have such an amazing boat. She looks stunning, the accommodation is superb and her performance is breathtaking. Being close by we not only spend weekends aboard but often take supper down to her in the week so we can sit on the flybridge overlooking the historic Buckler’s Hard and drink in the views. We are now busy planning summer adventures which, weather permitting, will include the Scilly Isles.
With my current course of treatment now over and our beautiful boat lying just 10 miles from home, our life has a new dimension that this time last year we wouldn’t have dreamed possible. Nobody wants to get cancer, however it has opened up the desire to get the most from life and not wait until retirement to fulfil our dreams. So please appreciate what you have already, but also look at what you really want and just go for it – don’t wait!