BUYING OUR FIRST CLASSIC

Instead of whiling away their retirement playing bowls, Rob and Shona Adams decided to invest their time and money in a classic Silver gentleman's yacht. Would the gamble pay off?

- Rob Adams

April may have been the cruellest month according to TS Eliot but for me, it's March the month when boredom gets the better of me, my mind wanders and mad projects take shape in my mind.

Last year, the mad project was to buy a classic motoryacht. Such ideas never come out of thin air and this one probably dates back to 1977, when I crewed a Bristol Channel pilot cutter from Iceland to Lymington. The skipper was Bill Tillman, a legendary explorer. The desire for the sea and adventure never disappeared and every season, I'd sail on friends' boats and even took part in RORC races and the Fastnet. Roll on 40 years, and I was in retirement, had a bit of cash to spare, an undimmed love of the sea and my usual March madness.

MARCH MADNESS

That's how, in March 2023, I found myself searching the internet for something to scratch that itch, though this time I thought I would go for a motor boat. I reckoned if I got a sailing boat, I would end up doing all the sail changes and helming, whereas on a motor boat, my wife could get involved too. My criteria were twin engines, comfortable to live aboard for a few months at a time and seaworthy - as in not a river cruiser. My long-suffering wife, Shona, was supportive of the mad project, if not exactly over the moon, and the dogs seemed unconcerned. Little did they know.

I found what looked like a promising project in Norfolk.

Enola was a 48ft Thornycroft with beautiful lines, but... she had been out of the water for more than 15 years and although the asking price was a tempting £15,000, the estimate for the hull and deck work was £30,000. So I was looking at a £45k investment. I changed my search criteria to £45,000 to see what else that could buy me, and found Silver Bird. She was lying in Fort William and was well within my revised budget.