A Self-Indulgent Summer

When a tidy used Broom 41 caught Keith Wheeler’s eye, he simply couldn’t resist her charms, whisking her away on a three-month maiden adventure from Plymouth to the Inner Hebrides

- Keith Wheeler

Sometimes in life, a temptation is so great that you simply have to give in to it. After many years as a sailor, in February 2018 I suffered what the French call a coup de foudre which roughly translates as ‘love at first sight’ – not with a leggy blonde but a beautifully proportioned Broom 41. A quick bit of man maths, permission from a very forgiving wife (who hates going to sea) and this object of desire was all mine. How’s that for self-indulgence when the year had barely begun?

The next bit of indulgence was to plan a three-month maiden voyage from Plymouth to the Inner Hebrides. Engines were serviced, the boat lifted and a list of jobs given to Nathan Bone Yacht Repairs to get her shipshape for our mid-May departure date. In the meantime, I enlisted the services of long-time boating pal Colin to join me on our adventure. Over the years we have enjoyed many memorable cruises together in Europe, the Med, and the Bahamas, and work together instinctively on a boat – a priceless attribute when things get hairy.

Both of us being retired meant there would be no time pressures, so if there was even the slightest doubt about the weather we wouldn’t need to press on. This trip was all about enjoyment, not endurance. Whilst the boat can happily travel at 25 knots, it’s not compulsory, and being a Broom it’s just as comfortable at displacement speeds, making very little wash and burning a fraction of the fuel.

As we filled up the tank ready for the first leg of our adventure, the guys on the fuelling berth asked where we were headed. They seemed suitably impressed with our destination but then asked if the boat’s owner was coming with us – patently my sartorial standards fell far short of those expected of a Broom owner!

CORNISH CREAM