Muriel is now officially British.  She arrived at Hanbury at the beginning of March and should be available for 'hand-over' by the end of the first week in April.  We've actually seen her - we visited the New Boat Co last week to speak to Will the signwriter and Doug the Cratchman and she was there, sitting amongst the other new arrivals along the canal bank.  She's a bit dirty - wouldn't anyone be who'd spent a few days travelling on the back of a lorry from Poland - and still looked like she'd just left the factory, which she had, but underneath the surface grime and protective wrapping she's wonderful.

Although we couldn't spend too long onboard there were a few things that pleased us about the layout.  Aqualine have retained the position of the cooker below a window - we thought it was to be moved to behind the dinette on the grounds of health and safety.  The granite work surfaces have been rounded off, again for H&S reasons, and looked the more pleasing for it.  I tried out our seven-foot bed (we've had a foot added to the bedroom to accomodate my length) and we both cooed over the chrome pack and dark blue and cream paint job.

 

Will, the signwriter, came up with some great ideas about where to place the name and some of the other detail we would like Muriel to display.  He also suggested some styles, 'painting' them with his finger in the surface dirt on her side as he did - we were very impressed.

 

All that remains now is to wait.  Oh, and plan a route to Loughborough where she'll live... and buy some furniture... and sort out her licence... and plan this year's criusing...

 

 

An alternative version of the boat hunt, without the poetic licence!! 

 

By Sue 

 

 

The Plan

 

This is my first contribution to the site. Everything else is Simon’s handiwork; he likes to write and has even had some of his articles published e.g. ‘Soar Point’ was in Canal  Boat magazine, which handily won us a free year’s subscription to the magazine whilst we were searching for a boat!

 

We’ve had 2 canal boating holidays, both with Viking Afloat. In 2004 when we did the Four Counties Ring, and in 2006 the Leicester Ring, both over a fortnight. We had a great time, and the holidays made us sure that we wanted to get our own boat. We initially got the idea though from our friends Gloria & Derek, who we had originally met through dog walking. Their border collie Ben was of a similar age to our eldest black lab Jack, and we just used to chat when we happened to meet up. They had always been into canal boating, and had part owned a boat for years before buying their own. Canal boating wasn’t really anything we’d ever thought about, but then when they decided to sell up and move onboard full time, it got us thinking. Hence the 2 holidays to see what we thought of it, and we though it was great! Gloria and Derek have now lived on board for about for 7 or 8 years, and still love it. Sadly Ben died earlier this year, so now their tranquil boating life has been livened up by Jake the pup border collie!

 

We played with the idea for a while of ‘dropping out’ and going to live on the canals. Then we decided to go for it. We are both working full time at the moment, but as of March 2008, Simon can retire on a minimum pension as he’ll be over 50yrs old and have been working in his job for 25 years.  I’ll only have been working 21 years, so will just resign, and we’ll have to be somewhat frugal in our spending. Still, you only live once, and enough things have happened over the last few years to make us decide that as long as we can afford to go, we will.  After all, you’re a long time dead, and there’s no point in being the richest man in the graveyard (as Simon often says!)

 

So, we started making a plan. With next March as our target date we started looking at canal boats. We searched the internet, went and saw lots of boats, and even ventured to the manic Crick show. If you’ve read Simon’s article on buying a boat, you’ll know that poor old Derek & Gloria have had to field numerous phone calls when we’ve had queries over boating stuff. They came out to Whilton Marina on our first expedition and pointed out all the bits to look at, which gave us a good grounding. Simon was particularly fond of a boat called Decodream, which we went to see several times, and which set a bit of a bench mark. However, I just didn’t like the décor or the general ‘feel’ of it.  We were keeping a very open mind, looking at both second hand and new boats. We quickly found that you get what you pay for. The cheaper new boats were memorably dreadful. I found it hard to believe how bad some of them were. My Dad’s a joiner (or rather was, as he’s now enjoying his retirement), and would definitely have had a Dicky Fit had he seen the quality (or lack of). I had one on his behalf.

 

After a while Derek suggested we take a look at Aqualine boats. We duly went along to the New Boat Company in Reading, where we saw a Manhattan and were pleasantly gob-smacked by the quality, which far out stripped anything else we’d seen that was even vaguely in our price range.  Then we saw a second hand Sandpiper with a rear galley, which although nowhere near the quality of the Aqualine, was nevertheless again far better than anything else we’d seen at a comparable price. We’d always quite fancied the idea of a rear galley too. We mentioned this to Stuart the salesman, and low and behold, he said that they also had a Madison, the rear galley Aqualine on display. Love at first sight!! Wow.  If the rear galley sandpiper was nice, this was superb!

 

Then the dilemma began. We liked the Sandpiper, but we liked the Madison better…..but was it worth the extra money? I took my Dad to Reading for an expert opinion of the woodwork, and he was impressed. It’s hard to impress my Dad. He was actually impressed with both of them! We mulled it over, and then when we wanted another look the Madison was no longer at Reading but at the main base in Hanbury Wharf near Droitwitch. We headed North, and luckily a Sandpiper and the Madison were side by side, so we went from one to the other, and back, and back again…..

 

We had a chat to Sam, discussing the options for both. One advantage of the Aqualine was that we could have an extra foot added to the bedroom (and loose a foot from the saloon) to accommodate Simon (who is rather tall).   Then again, there was slightly more headroom in the Sandpiper. Derek had always said to stay away from MDF, and my Dad also said not to have MDF unless it was marine grade. We almost made a decision. If the MDF on the Sandpiper was marine grade, then we’d go for that. After all, maybe the Aqualine was just too nice for us; we’re heading to the canals to explore not to hold tea parties!

 

The MDF was not marine grade. We agonised. I said Simon could decide, as I liked both and much of the decision hung on how comfortable he would find the boats. So, he headed up North again on his own as I couldn’t get the day off work. It really was a hard decision, I think we were looking at a difference of about £13000.

 

Then I got a text from Simon. He had put down a deposit! Anyone nearby must have thought I was potty as I stood there with a big grin on my face. It wasn’t until he’d made the decision that I realised how much I’d wanted it to be the Aqualine – and that’s exactly what Simon had chosen. He’d even managed to get us an earlier build slot than we’d expected as they let him have the one reserved for the Crick show.

 

So, they’re due to start building this month. Aqualine’s are built in Poland and shipped over complete. We’ve decided on the spec, and the contract is signed and ready to be sent back. We’ve gone for a few optional extras e.g. bed extension (in addition to the extra foot), chrome pack, Pullman dinette, 3000kw inverter, washing machine, and a 2 colour paint job. 

 

It was down to the paint job that we’ve started this blog. We always intended to start one when we set off on our life on the canal, mainly so that our friends and family will be able to keep track of where we are and what we’re up to. However, things kind of happened by accident……

 

Whilst Googling for ‘canal boat paint schemes’ or something similar, I came across the ‘Peter Duck’ website. It was excellent, not only because we liked their colour scheme, but because it practically mirrored what we were about to go through. Peter Duck is a Sandpiper from the New Boat Company, and I read the entries as they appeared. Then suddenly they all stopped. I kept checking, but they seemed to have disappeared. After a while I decided to contact Peter Duck to find out what had happened. It may be because I’m an IT numpty, or it may just be the way it is, but I couldn’t figure out how to send them an e-mail without registering, and in so doing somehow managed to start our website. At that stage I called Simon, who’s more IT savvy than me, and he got started! Peter Duck are now back on the planet, and I await with interest details of their exploits that caused their lengthy absence!

 

So there you have it! They should start building our boat ‘Muriel’ this month (although they are apparently already 3 weeks behind). We’ve sorted a mooring out at the new Pilling’s Lock Marina just North of Leicester.  We’re getting all excited. However there’s only one problem. We need to sell the house before we can leave work and take up a life as Water Gypsies, and unfortunately we appear to have picked the worst time in the last decade to try and sell a house.

 

Still, hopefully we’ll sell at some stage, and by then everything else should be in place.

 

We just can’t wait!

We started looking for a boat of our own in early 2007.  Our aim was to find narrow beam of 56-60ft that we could live on during extended cruising in the summer. The only real criterion were that she should have a washing machine and not be over 60ft, as this would stop us doing the whole system.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

NoTime Wasters

 

We’re looking for a boat.  After a couple of narrow boat holidays and many happy hours spent with some friends who live-aboard, we’ve decided that our time has come.  For too long we’ve chanted the old clichés like they’re some sort of mantra: ‘You only live once’, ‘there are no pockets in a shroud’, ‘how much money do you actually need’, ‘you never know what’s round the corner’.  Now it’s time to think seriously about the one real thing those oh-so-easily said words have in common - they are all true.

 

“They’re all true, you know”, I said to Sue as we sat on the sofa thumbing through a copy of Canal Boat.  Her head fell softly against my shoulder.  “I know”, she replied.  “Could we pack it all in, do you think”? I said, “Work I mean, we’re not that old.   Would you be happy without the challenges, without the social interaction, the responsibility?”  I thought I’d toss that in; it was to me an important point and something, I thought, she would want to mull over.  A millisecond passed. “Watch me”, she said.

 

And that’s how we came to start the long haul towards buying our first narrow boat; a journey, in fact, that’s not yet over.  We began by trawling the Internet and magazines, and by visiting our first Crick show.  “Rule number one”, I declared.  “When looking for a boat…”.  “Bring an umbrella”, Sue offered.  “You get what you pay for”, I said.  “You do”, she agreed.   We set off not long after to visit a few marinas, tempted by glossy photos of ‘1500Kw inverter, plus 3 domestic, I engine’ and ‘pump-out and s/s water tank’.  “What’s an inverter?” Sue asked.  “Oh I don’t think you need to worry your pretty little head about things like that, darling”.  I said.  “I thought so”, she replied.  “Well, you’d better find out, it sounds important”.

 

Rule number two when buying a canal boat:  Take advice from someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to things like inverters.  Someone who owns a nice boat, and has done so for several years.  A boat that’s as nice today as it was when they bought it.  Someone who obviously knows how to look after a boat.  “I’ll ask Derek”, I said.  And I did.  I asked about hull steel and batteries; about washing machines and engines; about wood, wiring, toilets, swims, insulation and paint.  And above all, I asked about whose boats were best and whose boats were not so best.

 

“It’ll have to be a Cruiser, don’t you think”, Sue said, as we headed up the M1 towards the Midlands in continuance of our quest.  “Yes, of course, It’s got everything we’ll need in the summer:  A deck to lounge on if the towpath is too narrow or too busy, and somewhere for the dogs to sit when we’re motoring”.   At one marina, we looked at several new boats.  We ran our hands along panels that felt as if they had been rubbed down with a cheese grater.  We opened cupboard doors, peered inside and then attempted to close them again, often with limited success.  “What colour is the canal water”? I asked Sue on one boat, from the ‘head shoved down in engine room position’.  “Oh, you know, brownish”.  “Well, at least the boat hasn’t sprung a leak”, I said.  “This lot’s rusty coloured”.  “Rule number one?” She said, with a haughty smile.  “Rule number one”, I agreed. 

 

“’Ere, that one looks nice”.  I had seen a second-hand boat moored alongside the pontoon, just up from where we were.  “It’s a Trad”, Sue said.  “I thought we agreed on a Cruiser”.  “Yes, but what about the extra storage space.  And it looks nicer.  Rule three”, I found myself saying.  “Always be prepared to change your mind if a new viewpoint presents itself”.  We got the keys from the sales office and went on board.  To me, the boat had all the things we were looking for:  A reliable brand of engine, which had sufficient power to cope with rivers; a washing machine and travel-pack to run it; a boatman’s cabin to give a bit of privacy if either of us wanted it; a cratch; and a cassette loo, too. Everything.  I turned to Sue, to vent some of my enthusiasm for the boat on her, only to find her bent forward with eyes about an inch from the edge of a cupboard door. “It’s MDF”, she said.  “And the style, I couldn’t live with this.”

 

The style, admittedly, was a bit different and exhibited a personal, and very distinct, taste.  Cost; price; value.  If they are not in harmony, then something has to give.  The price of the boat, close to twenty thousand more than the new boats we’d just looked at, reflected its quality – it was far better than anything we had seen up to then.  (It was also from a good hull builder and fitting-out company).  Part of the boat’s original cost would have been due to the special style the owners wanted.  A cost they were probably trying to recoup.  But to anyone who didn’t share their liking - and we didn’t - its value was far less than the price being asked.  To me, though, it did have potential: a new, more traditional exterior paint job, our own stuff inside and she could be the boat for us – but of course, only at the right price.  Sue wasn’t convinced, “I read it somewhere”, she said.  “MDF shouldn’t be used in boats".

 

We continued looking.  “What about a Polish boat”, Sue said one day, “I’ve seen some on the Internet”.  “Great”, I said.  “We’ll call it Red October”.  And off we went again in pursuit of our dream.  We looked at a number of boats at one particular marina.  “This one’s nice”, Sue called up to me from the rear galley of a reverse layout cruiser. “Very open, bright and spacious feeling”.  “It’s a cruiser”, I said.  “Rule three”, she replied.  It’s MDF, I said.  “I’ve spoken to rule two, and some MDF is OK, apparently”.  “It’s sixty-five grand”, I said.  “Rule one” she said.  “Besides, we’d go higher than that if we had to.”  “It’s not Polish”, I said.  “No, It’s British”, she replied.  “Good point”, I said. “We aught to buy British if we can.  What sort of engine has she got?”  “Isuzu”, Sue said.  “Thank God for that”. 

 

 

The more we looked the more boats we found with bits we liked better than the bits of others.  But none about which we liked everything.  Rule number four, I thought – don’t rush.  “I’m convinced it will be like when we bought our house, you know”, Sue said, as we sat at home in front of the computer one day, looking back on some recent viewings and searching for future ones.  “We’ll feel it’s right for us as soon as we walk in”.  “I hope so”, I’m starting to flag a little”, I said.  “Here’s one”, Sue pointed to a boat on the computer’s screen. “Fifty-seven foot, dinette...”.  “It says no time wasters”, I said.  “We’re not”, Sue replied.  “We’re looking for a boat”.