Boating is one of the great loves of my life. Okay, I know lots of people would love it, if it weren't for the cost, which is "like feeding a pig on Mars bars!", as my father used to say. Anyhow, apart from giving me huge satisfaction, my career has also given me financial rewards that have enabled me to afford such a plaything. My Fairline Squadron 58 is an amazing boat, just the right compromise for someone like me who wants plenty of space on board without having to rely on a permanent crew and lose some of your freedom. So I usually captain the "Hakuna Matata" (the name of my boat) myself, with friends to help me with the mooring operations. There are four cabins inside as well as a fifth, originally for the crew, which has often turned out to be handy for last minute "gatecrashers". We usually set off with six people on board, which is the ideal number, but we have had up to eleven, camped out like tramps! Whatever, life at sea is truly wonderful, although you have to respect it because when it gets rough, no boat can survive out there. But the freedom of riding the waves, waking up in the morning in an isolated bay off Croatia and jumping straight into the water without even stopping to think about it, mooring on the jetty of a little restaurant like you find on the Croatian islands and eating fresh fish that has just been caught by a local fisherman, living in your swimsuit and just throwing on a T-shirt in the evening, all that is priceless if you ask me. Another thing, since I lost my legs, I suffer much more from the heat. It's logical because your blood evens your temperature by flowing to your extremities but as I lost the main ones it's harder to control. So what do I do? I just throw myself into the water, cool off and who cares! P.S. For anyone who's into facts and figures, my boat weighs around 24 tonnes and is equipped with two 16000 cc Caterpillar turbo diesel engines at 800 hp each. So it reaches a top speed of 34 knots and cruises at 28.