Touch of glamour on the Thames

This beautifully restored vessel is pure class, says Caroline Mcghie

Boat-dwellers are a breed apart from people who live on land. They tend to be more fearless, resourceful, practical, and good at instant friendships. But if you met Wolfgang Steck, owner of the MS Mouette, one of the most glamorous boats on the Thames, you couldn’t guess at the passion and determination he needed to get her there. Next weekend he will have almost 100 guests on board, celebrating the Diamond Jubilee. For Cadogan Pier in Chelsea, west London, is where the Queen will step from the royal barge Gloriana to the Spirit of Chartwell, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be waiting. “The boat is absolutely a huge love affair for me,” says Wolfgang. He found her in 2003, a 34m-long ferry, built just before the outbreak of the Second World War and floated on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. “She ferried schoolchildren in the morning, lovers at the weekends, across the long alpine lake. She Clockwise (from left): The MS Mouette, moored by Albert Bridge; the sunny stern; the bow provides stunning London views; the restored bridge dates from the Thirties, when designers built beautiful ships and people on board wore straw boaters and blue blazers. When I saw her I knew she was made for me.” But she was landlocked, and Wolfgang wanted her in London. “I had to get her to the Rhine and float her down,” he says. So he organised two giant cranes to lift her. He invited his brothers, nephews, nieces, father and mother to come and help. Then they cut her in two, battled with bureaucracy and slid her over the Alps on a low-loader and a truck. “Getting between the alpine houses, through tiny villages, was difficult,” he says. They had police escorts and a team to dismantle roundabouts in the way, with another to rebuild them once they had passed. As a management consultant, Wolfgang is used to problem solving. “Doing something extraordinary brings people together, and MS Mouette is still doing this.” He rebuilt her in Bavaria, preserving period details including the wood floors, and installing maple Bauhaus inspired furniture. He finally settled her on the Thames in 2005. “There is a great community of boats on the pier. When the sun shines there is always someone on deck with a bottle of wine.” Having relocated to Switzerland, he is selling his former home, with her gleaming decks big enough for parties, and bedroom with two dressing rooms, for £1million through Harrods Estates (020 7225 6506). “I am about to start again,” he says. “I have bought a mooring in Venice.”