Since we sold our boat last autumn and neglected to replace her I’ve kicked my addiction to chandleries. I like to imagine that I will never again be enchanted by the purchase of a tin of Danboline or a heads spares kit, nor shaken by the frightening cost of a short length of rope.

It won’t last, of course, so I’m enjoying it. Praise the Lord, I can walk past one of these places and truly I am not tempted.

But what I’m realising is that the special geeky acquisitorial gene we yachtsman innately possess can only be displaced. If you banish it from one area it’s going to pop up somewhere else. For a time it reappeared in two-wheeled form and my overall bike count shot up shockingly (like drink, one is not enough, two is too many and three is not nearly enough..)

Thankfully in July, when I was on a family holiday on a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter in the west of Scotland I was told about the Trinity Marine website. This has been a haven for my fantasies ever since.

I’ve kicked the chandlery habit only to find myself powerlessly drawn to Trinity Marine instead and now I want…well, what don’t I want? I want it all: the 1901 copper and brass signal lamp, the bronze portholes, the ship’s brine barrel, chairs from decommissioned ocean liners, reclaimed mahogany ship’s doors.

Probably about the only thing I don’t covet is a six-bolt Siebe Gorman diving helmet. Try as I might I really can’t see any use for that.

I haven’t actually bought anything yet – I’m only just recovering from the trauma of having to dispose of a huge trove of yachting gear from the garage so as to squeeze in another bike. It seems rash to start in on portholes so soon.

So I’ll stick to virtual shopping as a way of quenching my marine obsession.

Anyone got a recommendation of similar sites they like or are you in the grip of another strange marine hardware habit?