Things are moving ahead with the purchase of the boat. The result of the survey showed only a few minor defects which are being repaired by the seller prior to the sale and, assuming that everything goes through OK that should happen next Tuesday (2nd April). So from that date I hope to be the delighted owner of a 60 foot narrow-boat itching to get out cruising the Canal system.

The delay with that will be that from the beginning of April until the end of May I will be flying off to sunnier antipodean climes so there will be something of a gap in postings on this blog pending my return.

The boat will need some servicing before we can get out onto the cut in it (oil change, filter changes etc.) so we are looking at the middle of June being our introduction to travelling the canal system which will be kept up to date on this blog.

Well we have now had the out of water survey done and all seems to be well. The boat will need blacking at the end of this season and a couple of new anodes but nothing that seems of any major concern to the surveyor. There are one or two niggling things found inside the boat that will need to be rectified, the chimney has a slight leak and the collar on the stove is cracked.

We have also had a trial run in the boat for about a mile up the canal and back, she handles very well although the length could make travelling in strong winds 'interesting'!

The remaining issue is whether we can get everything done for completion of the sale before we are due to fly out to 'Oz' at the beginning of April, it looks like things might be a bit tight.

Quite a lot has been happening since my last post, principally surrounding my retirement and preparation for life as a liveaboard.

The boat is due for surveying (the full pre-purchase survey!) on Monday 18th(in the dock) and Wednesday 20th (on the water) and I'm hoping that all will be well with it. Once those are completed, and assuming nothing too drastic is found, we will be hoping to pay for the boat before the end of the month and then hopefully move it to it's temporary marina mooring whilst we get ourselves sorted out for cruising. It is all a bit stressful but then what could possibly go wrong???  

This Blog has been created to chart my progress from a house-liver to a Canal Boat Water Gypsy which I hope will be a smooth path but, as is the way of such things, will probably be fraught with problems!! (I'm just a natural born pessimist).

Where we are at the moment is that we have put down a deposit on a narrow boat and are now arranging for a survey to be done. Even that isn't as straightforward as I'd hoped since you can either have a demo survey, an in water survey or a full pre-purchase survey, prices increasing as we go! Will probably be going for a full pre-purchase survey.

The other purpose of the exercise is to keep a record of where on the waterways we have been, and when we were there. This will be to assist our status as Continous Cruisers with the Canals and Rivers Trust since our hope is to travel the length and breadth of the UK inland waterways (keep your aspirations low is what I always say).

As a bit of a newbie to this blogging lark I will hopefully develop a style as we go but I accept that it looks a bit wooden at the moment!