*
So there I was on the quayside (no doubt being laughed at by those absent dolphins that had scarpered when they saw me coming) looking over at what I could only guess was the new small boats Marina. On first impressions it looked like a watery version of Morrisons car park with literally hundreds of berths and so I decided to take a closer look. As someone who can never remember where I parked my car (in Morrisons) I wondered how on earth anyone found their boat among so many but figured there must be some system that worked.
*
*
As an old sailor, having spent ten years in the Navy, I have no desire to own a boat of my own but looking around at so many ‘pride-and-joys’ I could see why many people did. I wondered if they ever went out boating around the Rock or if it was one of those hobbies where they just sat in it on a Sunday talking (about boating) to someone berthed next to them who was also sitting in theirs (listening to them talking about boating).
*
*
*
I have a Rover Cabriolet Convertible and often go to classic car rallies, partly to show off my own beast but also to admire other Rovers (and Triumph Spitfire 1500s as I owned one of those in the past too once). Whenever I’m at those gatherings I often observe owners talking the talk of cruising around while going out of their way to keep the mileage down on their beloved car; by contrast during the last year I drove 15000 miles all across Wales most of it with roof down. My guess is that if I lived in Gibraltar and I did have a desire to own one of those small boats you would probably see me (and my dog Mowgli) out there on the ocean wave on a daily basis.
*
*
*
Walking back towards the entrance of the Marina I spied a beautiful ocean going boat called Charisma berthed alongside with a few people on deck enjoying drinks in the warm Gibraltarian sunshine. I loved that. At anytime, really, they could cast off and do Malta, Spain, Morocco or who knows where but no; here they were chilling out, having cool drinks together having chosen the gorgeous backdrop of Gibraltar to complete their picture. What’s not to like? I liked it, in fact I loved it. But I had come to the conclusion many years ago that I could love something without coveting it. As I left the Marina and looked up at the Rock I thought ‘I love you’.
*