There was something special about this itty-bitty cottage. To move in was like coming home – Home buyer Liz Thorpe

They met over a pint in a Scottish pub in Colorado and had their first date on Burns Night before embarking on a life sailing superyachts for millionaires.

But boat captain Gareth Thorpe, 48, and his chef wife Liz, 45, an American, chose to swap life on the azure waters off glitzy Cannes, St Tropez and Monaco to lay down roots in the country they had come to love best – Scotland.

The couple, who stayed in Turkey, decided to settle in historic Portsoy, the Aberdeenshire home of the Traditional Boat Festival, after holidaying there and later falling in love with a little stone cottage, buying it online in August 2019 without ever being inside it.

Six months later, before they’d had a chance to move in, the world locked down. With Turkey on the UK’s travel red list and hampered by quarantine and work commitments, they were stuck – until now.

Last week, the Thorpes collected the keys to their new home and stepped over the threshold for the first time, more than two years after they bought it from owner and Amazing Results estate agent, Judith Mackie.

Now finally in the first home of their own, they are planning to launch the Port House restaurant overlooking the old harbour that dates back to the 16th Century when Mary, Queen of Scots signed the charter that established Portsoy as a burgh.

Liz, 45, said: “I fell in love with the cottage immediately. We bought it, sight unseen, online. There was something special about this itty-bitty cottage. To finally move in was like coming home.”

Gareth, who learned to sail as a child, gained his Yachtmaster qualification after studying maritime technology at college in Southampton.

He later became a holiday flotilla skipper in Turkey and Greece in the sailing season and in winter worked as a snowboarding instructor at the Nevis Range Mountain Experience, and abroad.

Liz, who was also a frequent visitor to the Highlands, was a co-owner of the Celticthemed Cala Inn at Colorado’s Keystone resort where Gareth worked as snowboard instructor. Liz said: “We met in 2005. We were the only pub in the country that was serving steak and kidney pies and Gareth came for the pies. We met over me pouring him the best pint of Guinness in the county.”

Their first date was on Burns Night – an anniversary they still celebrate – and when Gareth returned to Turkey, Liz visited him. Pretty soon she was working alongside him on board, initially with a Turkish media mogul and his 56ft Grand Soleil yacht, sailing local waters.

Liz said: “But I got tired of local sailing and we moved on to superyachts.”

They included a 115ft sloop designed by architect to the jet-set, Andre Hoek, and a prize-winning 140ft gulet cruising to Italy, Malta, France and Croatia.

Adept at nautical knots, the couple took a brief break on land in 2011 to tie the marriage kind at Hoscote House Estate near Hawick.

“We chose Scotland because we had got together on the back of our mutual love for the country,” said Gareth.

Liz said: “Two years ago we were on holiday in Scotland and Portsoy was our first stop. It stuck with us.

“We got on so well with the locals they called us ‘honorary Scots’ and said we should come back. We wanted to put down roots and be part of a community, so we did. We’re finally

home.”