Kerstin and I have been sailing together in the Eastern Mediterranean for 24 years. Our first boat was a little Nicholson 33 – a type of boat which won the Fastnet in 1975 and again in 2005. “Diogene” was a wonderful little sailing boat, tiller-steered and nimble. However, after 12 years, in 2006, we decided we should look for something a little more substantial so that we could travel greater distances in more comfort.

By chance, in 2006, Kerstin found a ten year old Hunter Legend 430 languishing in Corfu and, since we were driving down to Greece with our dog, Olive, for the first time, suggested that we call in and look at the boat.

She was a big roomy and solid American boat, and we fell in love with, and bought, her straight away – renaming her as “Tosca” (I am a semi professional opera singer). Over the next 10 years, we sailed to nearly all the Greek islands, to Cyprus and all the Turkish south and western coast.

In 2014, we had bought a house on the Dodecanese island of Leros where we now kept the boat. However, we began to feel that she was outclassed by the more modern boats, who easily out-sailed us.

We had seen Hanse yachts and decided we should look at one of these. At the 2016 London Boat Show we saw a 445 which we liked, but felt it was a little large for us. We were selling our house in England in the summer, so would have some money to spare and we negotiated with the Hanse salesman to reserve a smaller 415 at Boat Show discount price, on condition that we had to see that boat before finally committing to it. We put down a deposit to secure this.

The English house was sold in June and we arranged to visit the Southampton Boat Show to complete the purchase. We had 5 hours to spare in Athens on the way from Leros and made a quick trip to Alimos marina to see a used 415 which was for sale. We were sadly disappointed. The boat had limited storage space and a very low bimini (I’m 6’ 2” and had to bend to stand under it).

The agent suggested we ought to be looking for something like a second hand Jeanneau. We have a few friends who are very pleased with this make of boat but had rather ignored it, not wanting a “typical bareboat charter boat”.

I contacted the Hanse salesman and told him that we would not, after all, be buying his boat. He was charming and understanding and agreed to return our deposit. As he had arranged for Boat Show tickets, we decided to go there anyway and make our peace with him.

After leaving the Hanse stand, Kerstin noticed Jeanneau’s and suggested we should look at what they had to offer. We went on board one of the boats and, after looking round, were met by Jon Clarke from NYB. He asked the normal questions: “Have you got a boat? What make is it?”

I told him we were planning to sell “Tosca” and he immediately said, to our surprise, “I’ll buy it!”

He called his colleague, Jamie Tibbott, telling us that they had a new Sun Odyssey 449 which had been ordered but not taken up because the buyer had decided to go for a larger model. If we wanted it, we could have it if we decided straight away.

There was no 449 on display so we Jamie took us to a nearby yard to looked over one which was being prepared there. We liked what we saw and agreed to buy his boat, part-exchanging the Hunter.

As soon as we got back to Leros, we set off in early October to sail “Tosca” to Lefkas – right on the opposite side of Greece. It seemed very odd to leave her in the yard in Preveza, where, after an in-water check by the same surveyor who had surveyed her before we had bought her, she had been lifted. We returned by bus and ferry to our home, feeling a little odd as this was the first time for many years that we had been boatless.

Over the winter we planned and dreamt. We were in the middle of converting an old barn we own to make a small UK “bolt hole” so were not ready to sail until late in May. Even then, we found it hard to believe that there really was a boat – until Jamie sent us some pictures of her on the way to Frejus.

We drove down and arrived to find our new boat – which, after lots of discussion, we had decided to name “Tosca II” – sitting at the quay, decked out overall with Jamie on board. After an introductory sail with Jamie, we motored out from Frejus a week later, travelling down to Corsica, stopping in Calve and Bonifaccio (and some bays on the west coast on the way). From there we crossed over to Italy, making landfall at Isola Giglio (where the “Costa Concordia” foundered), then down the coast, visiting the islands of Ponza and Procida, and stopping in the new marina at Salerno from where we hired a car to visit Pompeii and Paestum. We then went on to Stromboli, where we stopped for two nights before leaving at 4:00 to watch the volcano spewing out lava, and going on through the Messina Straits to Taormina. After another two day stop we made a long passage to Lefkas in Greece and then headed down the coast, stopping at Katapolo to visit Olympia, and Navarino bay, then on to Methone on the western tip of the Peloponnese, and passing Cape Malea before heading north to Porto Khelli and on to Poros. From there we crossed over to Kithnos, then Paros, then down to Amorgos and over to Leros. We were lucky with the weather, only experiencing strong winds in the Cyclades (as expected). Tosca II took all that in her stride – never feeling overstretched in the heavy seas and 25 knot winds.

We arrived safely in our base in Leros on July 25^th and the boat is on our mooring in the sheltered bay of Partheni. Apart from the few predictable minor problems, we are delighted with the boat. She feels as firm and strong as the heavier “old Tosca”, and as sprightly as old Diogene