“I am a Belgian cargo pilot and I first came to Abu Dhabi on a contract for Etihad Crystal Cargo three years ago. I stayed in a hotel here for three weeks every month and I really liked the city.Then one day, me and my companion were looking for a restaurant in the Marina club and found an advert – ‘House-boat dhow for sale’. This was a completely different approach to accommodation. We would have 100% ownership and if things go wrong we could sell it! I bought the house-boat in one hour and what followed next were three years of an incrediblely good life at the marina near Marina mall (in close proximity to all the shops and entertainment). Our friends visited from Europe and we often went out at sea, sleeping on some of the smaller islands at night, ah… life was going great!
“A couple of years later I had the opportunity to bring my children to Abu Dhabi and I applied for company accommodation as that boat was too small for all four of us. We immediately shifted to the appartment and settled in, neglecting the boat. The bildge pumps that should expell the water coming in (it was an old wooden dhow boat) were disconnected and slowly it filled up with water and sank at the marina berth! The 999 sea rescue team of Abu Dhabi did a wonderful job putting the boat afloat again and we brought her to Mina Zayed for repair. Sea Light marine company repaired it so beautifully that it was better than before and… I fell in love with the manager, Abou Ahmed, who was responsible for the repair work. However, the companion from my early days in Abu Dhabi still needed the boat as a house, so he bought the boat from me.
“I had a new love, a new life but I became ‘boatsick’. I missed my life at the marina too much. Abou Ahmed consoled me and said that he had built more than 200 boats and he could build a perfect house-boat in which both my daughters could live. I agreed and the new house-boat was ready in four months! My daughters spent two years in it while attending their french school – Lycee Massignon. The new boat has three bedrooms each equiped with an air conditioning unit, toilet, basin and shower; one big kitchen, one Jacuzzi, two terraces and even a slide!
“Now that my daughters have gone back to Belgium, I want to sell the boat to build a new smaller one with only one bedroom but with the financial crisis we have not been able to sell it. Besides it is still a too good a boat to simply give away at a lower price and we simply enjoy our time on it everyday. On the weekends we sail to the near by islands with friends, we swim all year round, go fishing on it and catch a lot of hamours that we cook in different ways. It is so much better than living in an appartment. You have fresh air from the sea even in the hottest months; there are turtles, barracudas, crabs, hamours, rays, and a crazy number of other fishes in the Marina. I spent hours watching them from the boat. Everybody in Abu Dhabi goes to Marina Mall so friends often drop by to say hello. It feels like a holiday everyday!
“Soon Abou Ahmed and I will be getting married on the boat. I guess I finally found my fairytale ending.”
