Arizona - home of American boating. Sort of.

Blog: When I first moved to Arizona from Shrewsbury, purportedly smart people told me that one of Arizona's claims to fame was that it boasted the highest number of boats per head of capita in the US. I was sceptical given the geography of the State compared to others, but smart people with local knowledge should know, so I took this snippet on board and happily shared it.

This was an exciting concept given that I had spent a lot of time around boats in my youth. I started out with slow ones, taking holidays with my parents on the canals of Shropshire, and in my teens the speed increased when I started water-skiing at Marton Pool towards Welshpool and Bomere, just outside Shrewsbury.

Maybe I could buy a boat? Spend my weekends at the lake with a book and a cold beer or two, soaking up the sun? But then the grim reality of having a house and children and their associated costs sank in and the dream faded quickly.

However, there is a surprising amount of water in Arizona, predominantly in man-made lakes. They were created to store domestic water supplies to help get the residents through the long dry summers and to create hydro-electric power, but they have the added benefit of being available for recreation — water sports, fishing, and sailing

The biggest lakes are in the northwestern part of the State on the Colorado River which creates the State line between Arizona and Nevada, Utah and California (the Colorado also created the Grand Canyon) about 250 miles from Phoenix.

The big lakes are Powell, Mead, and Havasu - between them they cover a combined area of over 800 square miles - about 60 per cent of the size of Shropshire. All three are created by dams and collect water from a massive catchment area, mainly during the summer, with the majority of the water coming from melting snow, in addition to the Colorado River.

It was Lake Powell that started the rot for me. We had been to Salt Lake City and Park City in Utah on holiday and driving back (an extremely tedious 14 hour journey - not recommended) we took a side trip to Bryce Canyon in southern Utah (breathtaking, like a mini-Grand Canyon - highly recommended), and then stayed in Page, Arizona, on the shores of Lake Powell for a couple of days.

I knew it was a mistake but I did it anyway. I rented a boat. And we had a blast. The boat was huge fun and Lake Powell was stunning. We visited Rainbow Bridge which is the world's largest natural rock bridge. It's 290 feet high and spans 275 feet and is most easily accessed by boat. We spent the rest of the day just goofing around and having fun.

All the years of being boat-less suddenly seemed a waste — the boat search commenced.

Typically, all the naysayers crawled out of the woodwork - I lost count of the people that warned me, "You know the two happiest days of a boat owner's life? The day he buys a boat and the day he sells it." And my other favorite, "What is B.O.A.T. an acronym for? Break out another thousand." Ignoring the negativity, a boat was purchased.

Oddly enough as soon as I had a boat all the naysayers offered to join me at the lake every weekend. Imagine that!

We are very fortunate to have enjoyed many family days out at the lake. At times like this, when the temperature is 116 degrees, it gives us a fantastic break from the heat as it is usually 10 - 15 degrees cooler on the water.

I live half an hour from Saguaro Lake, which is just northeast of Scottsdale. It is relatively small at 10 miles long with 22 miles of shoreline and is stunningly beautiful in a typical Arizona cactus and canyons sort of way. It's great for water sports, fishing, or just relaxing in a quiet cove with a book and the all-important cold adult beverage.

I say relatively small as I am comparing it to Lakes Powell, Mead and Havasu, but when comparing it to the lakes I grew up water skiing on, it is huge - both Marton and Bomere are about 25 acres.

Being older and a little wiser now I look back and wonder why I didn't question the obviously flawed statement about Arizona's boat population. What about Florida, which is almost surrounded by water? Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes; is it not likely they have more boats? Or the state full of the rich and famous, California. Surely they would have more boats with that beautiful coastline?

Apparently I should have given it a bit more thought as it is completely untrue. Whatever, I am happy to contribute to the bogus claim and be a happy boat owner.

For the record, Minnesota has the most boats per head and Arizona is ranked 43rd - a long way from being the highest.

And on a slightly different note, on 6th September, 1986 a youthful couple, surrounded by family and friends, were married at Petton Church between Burlton and Ellesmere - I would like to wish my long-suffering wife a happy 25th anniversary.