Taking Essendee over

28May 2013

Well what a week it's been, last Tuesday we took over our boat " Essendee" , but unfortunately for myself I went down with the flu, I think I must of picked it up whilst at the Crick boat show. So off we went last Tuesday  nose running like  a tap to take ownership of Essendeee, when we arrived a Castle marina Nottingham the boat had already been off loaded from the Lorry  and was sitting in the water and hadent  sunk which was a bonus, not that we expected it to, she looked great all new and shiny, Findlay was presented and the rest of the lads and girls that formed part of the team, who were all busy making the boat presentable for us.

We then named the boat with Denise pouring a small bottle of champagne over the bow,

we and all of the crew who helped make her toasted the boat with a glass of bubbly.

The boat is just how we imaged her to look like, we are so lucky, there are a few little bits that needed to be finished so we left them to it whilst    we started to move our personal possession on board. That evening we had a quick wash and then had something to eat in the pub that's next door to the marina and because my cold was now streaming we made our bed and was  in it by 21.30hrs , about 01.00 hrs the next morning I awoke with the need to throw up which I proceeded to do, so the toilet was truly christened as well.

Next day we had to return home as we had a meeting regards to selling the house so reluctantly we retuned home with the plan to return the next day.

31 May 2013

Well best laid plans never run smoothly Denise now has caught my cold/ flu thing so we decide not to go to to the boat on the Thursday, on Friday Denise and I are both feeling a bit better so we take the trip up to the boat, the drive up was pleasant and we arrived at the boat yard about 10.00 hrs, we are now ready to have the demonstration and our first outing, 

Dean one of the lads

took us all through the essentials of the boat  and then turned the key and we were off on our maiden voyage, only an hour up the Nottingham and Beeston Canal, but Essendee was perfect she seems well balanced and easy to manoeuvre,

so much so that Denise even took the tiller and was quite happy to steer past other boats. I must say though that she looked like one of the pointer dogs that has there eyes set only on the prey, her concentration was immense:-)

We then returned to the marina, where we continued to to do little bits of putting away stuff, that evening we ate out in the beefeater inn again, and awoke on Saturday purchased our CR&T licence then returned home, with the idea to return on Tuesday with more items to make Essendee our second home.

04 June 2013

Again plans don't go to schedule, after buying more bits n pieces for Essendee and packing the car for an early start in the morning I started to have pains in my stomach and swiftly had to use the loo, which I then carried on this pattern all through the night and early hours of next morning. So that put an end to our trip , I will see how I feel and hopefully go tomorrow .

Crick Show

Hi everyone, off to see our boat tomorrow, it's nearly ready for launching, we are going up and taking a few things , a couple of captain chairs, bedding, crockery and a few other bits a bobs, we will dump these on the boat and then off to Rugby for the night and then off to the Crick-show on Saturday to buy a few bits and bobs.
The boat was supposed to be surveyed today but the surveyor phoned me to tell us that he was unable to complete the survey as the boat builder was still working on the boat,which I was a little bit annoyed about, he is now going to survey it Saturday and the lads in the yard will rectify any problems that he unearths. Hopefuly there will not be anything major and then the boat is to be craned into the water on Tuesday morning and we will then take it for a demonstration cruises and hopefully then it will be ours.
Speak to you soon peeps

The bow 

No boat as yet😂

Well that's it, we shouldn't be long now before we start our adventure,must say that I'm a little bit disappointed as we were suppose to be on it this week and cruising the waterways in this lovely sunshine but unfortunately the boats not ready . I spoke to Findlay the boat builder who was apologetic and told me that next Friday or Saturday it will be ready,fingers crossed.

A good bit of news is that our house has sold... Hooooooooray, we had an offer from a young couple can't remember the lads name but the girl was  Rachel and who is heavenly pregnant, they are a nice couple and this house will be a great place for them to bring up kids,again fingers crossed, as a sale not a sale to the contracts are exchanged. We also put in an offer on a little maisonette in Cardiff which firstly be a base for us to comet back and to see my mum,with the view of renting it out in the future, all great news but all happening at once,buts that's the norm for us, it's like we don't normally go out, then some friend will arrange  a night out then one my family will arrange something , like buses arriving in pairs.

We have started clearing out and packing things for both moves one lot for the boat and the other for the house.Also we are putting stuff for charity and taking rubbish to the tip, it's just amazing what you collect over the years, and Denise states that we have more computer, television and other cables in our cupboards and  drawers than the national grid have around the country. But I think every man or woman around the country will no that once you throw something out then your sure as hell will need it in the next few days.

Well peeps speak to you soon .....

No more British Telecom

Again apologies for not updating this blog as much as I would like, my excuse this time is that as we are getting ready to spend time on the canal, we have decided to get rid of our home broadband and just to rely on the SIM cards for our iPads, unfortunately I forgot to order them before our broadband was cut off.

Not that I'm not glad to get rid of the broadband, I made the fatal mistake of going back to British Telecom which was a nightmare, it's my own fault I had problems ten years ago with them when our then new house was being connected by them, but last years saga was terrible.

Enough of BT otherwise I will start getting on my soap box, I contacted Findlay by email , who in turn replied telling us that the boat is really taking shape now, with the galley in place and flooring and painting completed, we are really getting excited and can't wait to start our adventure. We have stared to start buying things for the boat and for ourselves, thing like waterproofs torches, Walkie talkies and kitchen stuff.

One worry we have is our cats, cooking and firkin, as said before they are not your normal cats, they are extremely nervous, the sound of thunder or even the window cleaner sends them scuttling under the duvet shaking. We have stuck there cat box in the room where they normally sleep during the day so that they will get use to it, still imthink. that they are going to be manic when we bring them to the boat.

Any way speak,to you soon hopefully with a few pics after our visit to,the boat.

Not much to write about whilst we are waiting for Essendee our narrow boat to be built , we have our house up for sale, though we have no had much joy as yet, so if you are interested take a look http://www.darlows.co.uk/PropertySearchResults/PropertyToBuyDetails/tabid/2159/PropId/323747/Default.aspx and make us an offer :-) .
We also have decided to have a clear out and started to empty our attic of rubbish and stuff which we have accumulated over the years, just don't know where it all comes from ? We now have an half empty loft but a half full garage!!! Hopefully it will go on eBay or at a boot sale or into a charity shop or skip

The Shell for our boat ESSENDEE

On Monday 18th March 2013 our boat  Essendee will start to be built,the shell already exists but all internal fitting are to be installed, We chose Findlay Properties in Nottingham, the owner Findlay Shakespeare is  also attached to Nottingham Boat Sales which we visited to look at some Narrow boats, as there was nothing to our liking, James who is also one of the owners pointed us to his brothers direction to look at a new boat, which we did and we both liked the design and how it was finished.
We decided that as there was a 55 footer already in the yard that we would be happy with this as we intend to cruise the whole system in the next 3 yrs  after a few visits we with Findlay came to an agreement on the price and have now laid down the specs for the boat .
The design is going to be a reverse layout with the galley at the stern end moving into the living area then a full width  bathroom and a bow end bedroom with a cross over bed. It will be powered by a Barrus Shire 40HP engine, its also going to have installed a 2500 KV a Victron inverter for the electrics, heating is going to be provided  a Webasto 5 Kw  central; heating system , but as a back up we are having a multi-fuel; stove to keep us cosy on those odd cold nights :)We have decided to go for a pump out toilet, we know that this is a controversial topic but Denise  who in the NHS has Been emptying bed pans for 35 yrs and needs a rest :-) .So a pump out it is, there a lot more design to the internal decor of the boat, and when these are completed I will provide picture's  for your viewing.

Inside of Essendee

Hello every one, my name is Denise, I recently retired after working for the NHS for 35 years as a nurse. Well I do know, I feel as if I'm on annual leave at the moment, It feels funny I won't be returning. however, I'm looking forward to our next adventure with my husband Steve and two cats Cookin ans Furkin. We are about to get a narrow boat. we have thought about this for some time, traulling through many narrow boat magazines and the internet getting some ideas on what type of boat will suit our needs. We have chosen a reverse layout, 55 feet in length. So we are able to to cruise most of the waterways of the UK. Next week we plan to finalise the purchase of our boat. We shall share with you what type it is.
The reasons for choosing to get a narrow boat is to focus on something to do and it will give us an opportunity to learn new experiences and skills. both my husband and I are looking forward to this very much