Finding and buying the boat

The boat at purchase, snuggling in a small cut in a farmers field

I'd been living in Cambridge for a few years, working as a self-employed IT bod but getting well fed up with it. I'd helped a friend to build a cabin on his narrowboat Wren, and had pretentious that I could manage a full fit-out myself. When my dear Grandfather died and some inheritance money came my way everything seemed to point to one thing: Jack the job, buy a boat, do it up and move in.

There are plenty of places to look when you're buying. Online, try Ebay and Apollo Duck. Ask around boat owners and at locks, and of course walk up the river looking for sale signs and chatting to people.

Pretty soon I found something that looked suitable, not far away in Ely. It was a 50-footer which is the ideal size for a single live-aboard as it easy to manoeuvre and moor, but still has plenty of space inside.

Proud new owner - me!

It was in poor condition, stripped bare inside and paint flaking outside. The engine was out of commission following a previous 'buyer' overheating it so badly they had an oil fire.

But despite all this she seemed solid underneath, came with good paperwork and, well, I fell for her pretty fast. I negotiated the price down to £13,000 (which in retrospect was still too high) and the Iron Maiden became my problem.

The seller, "Honest John," had made a start on the fit-out. As you can see from the pictures below, he had completed half the sub-floor, most of the insulation work inside and done the paintwork on the cabin sides in dark green Hammerite Smooth, which is a fair enough choice. He had also rebuilt most of the rear deck, the old one having rotted away.

My witchy friend gives it the thumbs-up

He also left quite a lot of tools and materials on the boat, including nine large boxes of what he described as laminate flooring. These kicked around being used as saw-horses, and only much later did I finally open one - it out to be 18mm solid oak tongue and groove floorboards - result!

First things first, I needed to get the boat secure, which meant making a new back door. I also had to get started on the engine, as the boat was lying in a small cut in a farmers field, 10 miles from my house and half a mile from the nearest vehicle access. Materials had to be carried in, which included crossing a railway. The sooner I could get her moving the better.

The fun had begun...

 
Looking towards the bow...
...and the stern
 

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