Freemans at Bridgehouse Marina

Freemans at Bridgehouse Marina, originally uploaded by Bay Photographic.

I recall my father showing me the difference between a Freeman 22 and a later 23 one day while we were on holiday on the Norfolk Broads. He pointed out the step in the side deck of the 22 and the 'square shoulders' of the 23 superstructure, along with the different shapes of the front windows. I was delighted to have, at long last, found a subject that I both liked and understood, unlike the nonsense that constituted the conventional school curriculum in the 1960's.
Sadly, my new knowledge had little currency in the playground at Fairways Junior School, and I soon found it had even less with potential girlfriends, so I quickly learnt to become a closet boat anorak. The bloodline of a Seamaster 813 or a Freeman 24 might have been fascinating to me, but it made for a very one sided conversation, and even as a gormless teenager I knew this was neither aspirational nor cool.
All of this was brought back to me this morning at the marina as I was on board looking for my 'winter' fenders. I heard a family walking past, but instead of the usual 'No, no Tyrone, stop throwing stones at the nice ducks...' I heard a Dad telling his young son all about the boats in the marina.
For a moment I was tempted to rush out and tell them not to try using boat recognition as an ice breaker on the dancefloor, but my need to find the fenders, (and my dislike of being told to keep my opinions to myself) prevailed.
In any case, life is a voyage of discovery even for us Anoraks.