We have all read the Yachting Monthly “confessional “ pages, well this is mine:

When my first husband and myself bought our first yacht, a 19 ft , 4 berth, Seawitch as a “finish at home” kit, it was delivered on a pallet to our front lawn at Kirton.

Some months later she was ready to launch, we manoeuvred the boat and pallet onto a trailer and launched into the Deben at the Ferry.  Tide was running fast and after the hassle of launching and getting her up to her mooring for the night, I asked my husband what had happened to the pallet; he said with that strong tide it would have been out at sea by then!

The next morning we excitedly climbed aboard for our first sail…..a word of warning here, when venturing up river at high tide, always buy a chart or check it out at low tide first!!   We had left the moorings behind, when my husband, (an inexperienced sailor) said the boat was not handling very well, so I took over the helm ( with all my experience of crewing for my father on the Norfolk Broads!! ). Admittedly she didn’t handle that well, but by half way to Ramsholt I cut the corner and of course ran aground. As we were having visitors for dinner, sitting there for 12 hours was not an option, so we frantically rocked her backwards, forwards and side to side to try to get her off the mud…..suddenly we watched in horror as the water started to bubble and boil up around the boat and with a whoosh, up came the pallet that had been stuck on the bilge keels!!

She sailed a lot better after that!!