I have always been interested in the canals since seeing a working Leeds and Liverpool steamer during the Second World War. As a family we had hired our first boat in 1969. At the sight of our 'hired' boat moored at Penkridge the whole family fell head over heels in in love with the waterways. That first hire was to set the format for many more canal holidays. We would all plan for three or four months prior to the holiday, go on the canal for a week and debrief for another three months. This prolonged planning and replanning is one of the things we miss now that we can go boating virtually anytime.
For a variety of reasons any hopes of acquiring our own boat until
1985 were put on the back burner.
In 1985 this dream became a reality. We must say at the time we thought that having a boat built would be relatively easy. Wrong ! We thought quite a lot of experience of the waterways and boats would make the whole procedure go swimmingly (sorry). We did not want a narrowboat per se, we wanted our narrowboat. Everthing about the boat had to have our stamp on it. It was to be a bespoke boat. The learning curve was to prove vertical................
We felt that we hadn't the time to fit the boat out ourselves. The emphasis was to be on cruising.
We intended to keep the boat for a considerable time. This justified making a bigger capital investment. Initially we decided on a sum of money but went woefully over budget.
We did look round for a second hand boat but ones we liked were almost the same price as buying new.We intended to employ a boat builder who was as local as possible and as far as possible to buy British. BBuying British was not really an option. We then measured about 30 boats to reach an aesthetic compromise.
Armed with a picture of a boat that we both liked we approached South
West Durham Steelcraft. Unknown to us he had actually built the very boat
we liked. We got on well with the builder which is esential. He asked us
what we wanted not what he would like to provide. We paid our deposit,
he ordered the steel and construction commenced. Living nearby would make
inspection throughout the building process relatively easy..
Being ex yachties and owning a relatively small Newbridge Navigator
we wanted to avoid certain restrictions that we had had in our sailing
career. Namely a dearth of fresh water, electricity and warmth. We also
demanded a permanent double bed and an avoidance of the bucket and chuck
it routine ! The next step was to purchase a large piece of graph paper
from W.H.Smiths so we could draw a scale model of the boat's interior.
The builder was to copy this drawing down to the last inch.Selfishly the
boat was designed for two. Guests could rough it relatively speaking.Overall
hullsize was dictated by a desire to travel throughout the system. Our
intended 45 foot was increased to 51 foot to fit all our ideas in.We knew
that it is expensive to change your mind after making specifications. Consequently
planning took 12 months nad the building took about six months and at various
times employed a total of eight men. Our relationship with the builder
remained cordial which was remarkable especially since we had such an idosyncratic
plans. We managed to take at least a photograph a week while construction
was in progress which has made a nice record for the future. Eventually
the boat was finished and transported to Calcutt for launching.
