We've Been Here Before
We bought our first narrowboat fourteen years ago. ITV programme Water World followed our journey from deciding on a boat, watching it being built, moving aboard... then moving off!
When Shaun and I decided to set up a YouTube channel and blog to document our adventure back on to the canal, we were instantly reminded of the first time we bought a narrowboat.
It was 2004. Shaun had just lost his mum to Motor Neurone Disease, and we were both in a bad place. Work was stressful, Shaun's mum's illness had taken it's toll, and we were both desperately in need of something better. But what?
I'd been running along the Aire & Calder Navigation, the Castleford Cut, and it was where I first imagined what life might be like living on a narrowboat. It seemed so peaceful (even so close to the main road), maybe even carefree (I know, let's not go nuts!), but at that specific time in our lives, it was an escape.
I remember mentioning it to Shaun once, not expecting him to be that interested. From what I can remember he was curious, so we walked down Castleford Cut the next day. That evening we were looking at narrowboats on the Internet and found The New Boat Co in Hanbury.
Things moved pretty quickly, and before we knew it, our house was up for sale and we'd placed a deposit on an Aqualine Manhattan, 57 ft Narrowbeam. As for the rest of the story... well, watch the three episodes of Waterworld and see for yourself.
You can watch episode one, with a bit of commentary from Shaun and I by Clicking Here
See you next time!
