A loss, twice over

■ In December 2015, our beautiful 7.6m (25ft) Jaguar yacht Pisces was lifted from the water at Chichester Premier Marina for her winter lay-up. The engine had been winterised and all the seacocks checked as usual by a local marine engineer who we had always used and trusted. Re-antifouled, with her topsides cleaned and her hull polished, she was relaunched on 31 March this year. However, a hose lay detached from an open seacock. Slowly filling with water, she sank on 1 April… some April Fool?

After the initial shock, we were faced with the expense of retrieving the wreck and returning the vessel ashore. Seatech, a Southampton salvage and recovery company, did a magnificently professional job, as did the duty manager and staff of Premier Marina who helped and advised us throughout. Seatech also provided a statement for the record as to why she sank. Sadly our insurance company wouldn’t reflect the value of our yacht’s excellent condition. We were given little choice but to accept a full and final write-off settlement, leaving a financial deficit against the original purchase price and the cost of the extensive refurbishment and improvements over our six-year ownership.

So, that’s it! We’re out of boating as we can’t afford to replace Pisces with a vessel in like-for-like condition. It appears we have little or no redress against any possible negligence.

We now understand that following a winterisation and seacock operation check, a responsible engineer should be present at relaunch and should undertake a thorough inspection once the boat is back in the water. Something so simple would have saved us thousands of pounds and our ongoing misery. ■ This is our Border collie Poppy, just five months old, getting used to our Prior Coaster 33 in the Bay of La Herradura, Granada Province, Spain. The Prior Coaster 33 is an excellent yacht for dogs with its high bulwark.