Where are they now.....

....that's our previous boats. Rachel and I were pondering the whereabouts of our last boat Waterlily the other day. When she was sold we were told the new owners did not have a mooring at the time and were planning on moving her every other weekend around the system. Now I know how hard that can be and the thought of her bobbing about on a towpath somewhere was not great but they had paid us lots of money to have that privilege.

Anyhow it got me thinking about the other boats we had owned.

Sylph

Sylph was our first boat if we can call it ours but as we did own 1/12 of it (4.75 feet) I think it counts. It really was a workhorse. I think the share boats especially the old ownership boats are the hardest working on the system. More so than most of the hire fleet boats that tend to get laid up in late autumn and winter. Not shared boats, they are all for the best part of 48 weeks of the year. I was advised (not sure by who) that Sylph was sold out of the share scheme, I think after the Allen Mathews outing....I recall being told she was in semi retirement in Nantwitch marina. So next time any of you go past it would be nice to get a picture??

This is Sylph on the Tardibigge flight in the rain, I recall why cruiser decks are not so good at times !

Comet

Comet was our first 100% owned boat. A Teddersley plastic topped 45 footer. We did not have her for long, Truth be told it was a way of getting a mooring at the time at Fradley, an area I had wanted to moor at if I ever owned my own boat and we got both by buying Comet. We sold for a good profit as it was at the peak of the boom of house and therefore canal boat prices. She was sold to a lady who wanted a place of her own a safe place and it was a joy to see how happy she was to cruise off on Comet. No idea of boat ownership, I recall we helped them through the three Fradley locks to the Coventry and she was then off to Sutton bridge to get some bedding!

We have since seen Comet moored around the same place just above the busy moorings at Fazeley junction. The picture above was taken there. I could not imagine making a home on her but someone has, just shows how spoilt we are.

Waterlily

We stretched ourselves to acquire Waterlily. She was a Whilton boat,. A lot of negativity surrounds Whilton but we found buying or rather looking a the boats there an excellent research resource and visited well before we brought Waterlily.,

There was a time I though I would own her for the long term. However as we formed more realistic plans for long term cruising her ability to be the boat for ever was limited. I never liked the bow.... she had a lot in 50 feet but that was more to do with how short a well deck she had. She also had a small water tank and small holding tank. She was a holiday boat.The significant issue was the engine bay, I wanted an engine room, where I could walk around the engine, my Fibromyalgia whilst under a degree of control also concerned me as to how well I'd be able to fit in the engine hole for maintenance etc.

Having said all that she was and still is I hope a good boat. We had good times on her and we learnt a lot about boats and what we wanted.

Percy

Our long termer - I hope ! Plenty to say about Percy, it is all in this blog. Another boat that stretched us, but sod it this is no rehearsal and Percy is big enough to accommodate visitors with some degree of privacy. We have not used Percy as much as Waterlily purely due to personal circumstances, I cannot be angry about that. Hopefully we will get the inners adjusted next week, pics to follow, then a paint job, something else I should blog about as the deposit is paid.


Percy is an original, a one off hand build by Tony Redshaw. Some might not like that but we do, we obviously met Tony and Gill and they are a really great couple. Percy has been all over the system with Tony and his family - even across the Wash Sue...;-)  now it is our turn to do the same...... and the Wash trip is in my bucket list along a trip on the Thames past the houses of parliament !!

A favourite shot of Rachel bringing Percy home from Braunston December 2012, I think approaching Sutton stop. 

... and finally. Where are they now, a honorary mention.

NB Snecklifter was one of the first and most interesting blogs I read, most probably the reason along with Granny Button for my blog.

I found a stray bottle in the cupboard the other day, a dark strong beer. Sadly Mikes blog is no longer available - unless someone can find a cached version? Mike and Liz sold Snecklifter and settled just above Matlock. I'd like to know they are still OK if anyone stays in touch.