THE SHOP IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR THE SUMMER. PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MORE INFO.
I love Ebay - this whole casually buying a boat thing would not have been possible 10 years ago, fact.
Back in 2021 when I was just about to sign the leasehold to the Old Point House pub, a boat popped up on Ebay for sale, which stuck out like a sore thumb and I loved it!
It reminded me of the boats in Indonesia, where we would spend endless summer days searching for tropical waves to surf. My plan was simple, to use the boat to do fresh Guinness runs from Angle to Dublin and back. The bullet shaped boat powered by 2x 250HP engines, would make the voyage in a heartbeat and I would have the finest Guinness this side of the Celtic Sea.
Unfortunately the numbers didn’t stack up, it would realistically have cost too much money, I would have had to sell a pint of Guinness for £100 to break even. But I still really really wanted this boat! so instead she has become part of the pub and is anchored in our garden overlooking the water. Our little Barti Boat provides a music stage, dining area and is a great magnet for children and their adventures .
The Barti Boat started life as a drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean! Gangs from Colombia use these boats to traffic drugs into the USA. These boats are designed for heavy loads and speed, usually powered by 3x 250HP engines which cost around £20K each.
Our little Barti boat was found upside down, abandoned and drifting around the Caribbean sea with severely corroded engines on the back. An oil tanker, the “Flamenco” , picked her up on her way to the Texaco oil refinery in Milford Haven just down the road from the pub and there it was sold to one of the workers.
Davey Barrett and Adrian Owens from Milford Marina towed her in to meet her new owner,Chris Davies, who was smitten with this boat from far off seas. Chris christened the boat ‘Lady Tess T Clays’, a reference from the Little Britain Series and used the boat for many years on the Cleddau river.
It was Chris I purchased the boat from and it was Davey Barrett again, 17 years later who towed her over to Angle Bay to be temporarily sited in The Old Point House beer garden. She’s had a lovely makeover and is now branded up with the Barti Rum logo and artwork.
No matter what work was done and is done, I have made sure she remains sea worthy……because who knows? If it all goes wrong - then you may see me launching her into the bay and heading out into the sunset on my way to Dublin or the Caribbean !?
The Captain ..............
