Hi all,
This is to say that this will be the last post on this blog as I now have a fab new website designed by my brother Tim!
www.waveneytales.com
At the moment it is under construction and only contains what Tim has put on.
I will be updating it shortly (as soon as Tim has taught me how to do it!), with photos of the launching of 'Waveney' which took place last week!.
See you there!
Cheers B.
Monday, 9 March 2009
Monday, 5 January 2009
Things Are Underway At Last!
Well, Xmas and New Year have come and gone without incident. Ken retired at the beginning of December (lucky sod!) but I have kept him gainfully employed with all those little jobs that need doing round the house! Hopefully it will be ready to sell if this bloody recession ever ends!
The building of 'Waveney' has finally begun and in a couple of weeks time we are going to visit the builder to view progress (a host of boring half-finished hull photos to follow!).
We have already been on somewhat of a buying frenzy in the sales. As we have decided to have nearly everything new for the boat it will be a mammoth task to kit her out. The tops of our wardrobes already resemble a bad day at a car boot sale! It is pretty difficult actually when you are downsizing and getting rid of most of your original kit and buying a load of new stuff because just as you make a bit of a clearance you fill that space up again. I am sure at this moment you all feel very sorry for me!!!
Ken is currently trying to draw a plan of 'Waveney' so we can tell Mark and Martin what we want where when we see them. There has been much measuring, scribbling, erasing and grumbling going on!
That's all for now. Don't forget to check in again in a couple of weeks, I'd hate you all to miss those fascinating steelwork photos!
Cheers B. xx
The building of 'Waveney' has finally begun and in a couple of weeks time we are going to visit the builder to view progress (a host of boring half-finished hull photos to follow!).
We have already been on somewhat of a buying frenzy in the sales. As we have decided to have nearly everything new for the boat it will be a mammoth task to kit her out. The tops of our wardrobes already resemble a bad day at a car boot sale! It is pretty difficult actually when you are downsizing and getting rid of most of your original kit and buying a load of new stuff because just as you make a bit of a clearance you fill that space up again. I am sure at this moment you all feel very sorry for me!!!
Ken is currently trying to draw a plan of 'Waveney' so we can tell Mark and Martin what we want where when we see them. There has been much measuring, scribbling, erasing and grumbling going on!
That's all for now. Don't forget to check in again in a couple of weeks, I'd hate you all to miss those fascinating steelwork photos!
Cheers B. xx
Friday, 17 October 2008
Why 'Waveney'?
Why have we decided to call our boat 'Waveney' then? Well, it is difficult to name a boat IMO. We decided right from the start that we didn't want anything involving our two names ('Kenbridge' for instance, oh I don't know, sounds good!) or our surname (The Niffogs!) or a combination of all three as we consider this to be naff in the extreme. We didn't want to try to be amusing or clever either. All we wanted was a fairly sensible name. It's not like having a dog or a cat from which you can take characteristics such as colour ('Sandy'), habits ('Scratch'), distinguishing features ('Patch') etc and use them as a guide to a name. Our boat isn't even built yet and they are all pretty much the same in design, so what to call her?
At first we were going to call her 'Harrier' after the marsh harrier which is common near where we live. I said people would get it mixed up with the plane of the same name so we thought of 'Marsh Harrier' but this didn't seem quite right for some reason, although lots of boats are named after birds.
Our next idea was 'Kork's Crew'. This came about during our trip round the Avon ring. Ken's brother made a rather corny joke about he, I and George being Kork's crew (he used to call Ken Korks as a child and sometimes still did). Sadly he passed away last year and we did entertain the idea for a while, albeit for sentimental reasons, of calling our boat 'Kork's Crew'. However after the umpteenth time of explaining to people what 'Kork's Crew' meant we abandonned that idea as too much hassle!
Next on our list was, back to the bird names, 'Harnser', which is another name for a heron and possibly not as commonly used. However this was also soon rejected as I came across a NB 'Harnser' whilst looking at a boat name website. I know there are probably lots of boats called 'Harnser' and I would have to work extremely hard to find an original name for our boat but seeing it there in black and white on another boat just put me off!
We decided we really wanted something that was a bit personal to us but not too personal (if you see what I mean?). So we tossed around a few other ideas such as 'Winterton', where Ken's father's family come from and finally we decided on 'Waveney' as it is where we both live at the moment (The Waveney Valley) and it is where I have always lived. It will be like taking a little bit of home with us on our travels (ahhh)!
I am sure there are other boats called 'Waveney' (especially on the Norfolk Broads!) but we are happy with our choice.
Cheers, B. xx
At first we were going to call her 'Harrier' after the marsh harrier which is common near where we live. I said people would get it mixed up with the plane of the same name so we thought of 'Marsh Harrier' but this didn't seem quite right for some reason, although lots of boats are named after birds.
Our next idea was 'Kork's Crew'. This came about during our trip round the Avon ring. Ken's brother made a rather corny joke about he, I and George being Kork's crew (he used to call Ken Korks as a child and sometimes still did). Sadly he passed away last year and we did entertain the idea for a while, albeit for sentimental reasons, of calling our boat 'Kork's Crew'. However after the umpteenth time of explaining to people what 'Kork's Crew' meant we abandonned that idea as too much hassle!
Next on our list was, back to the bird names, 'Harnser', which is another name for a heron and possibly not as commonly used. However this was also soon rejected as I came across a NB 'Harnser' whilst looking at a boat name website. I know there are probably lots of boats called 'Harnser' and I would have to work extremely hard to find an original name for our boat but seeing it there in black and white on another boat just put me off!
We decided we really wanted something that was a bit personal to us but not too personal (if you see what I mean?). So we tossed around a few other ideas such as 'Winterton', where Ken's father's family come from and finally we decided on 'Waveney' as it is where we both live at the moment (The Waveney Valley) and it is where I have always lived. It will be like taking a little bit of home with us on our travels (ahhh)!
I am sure there are other boats called 'Waveney' (especially on the Norfolk Broads!) but we are happy with our choice.
Cheers, B. xx
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Deciding to buy a boat.
So how did we come to decide to buy a narrowboat? Well, Ken had always said he wanted to live on a boat. Initially this meant a cruiser on the Broads (near where we live).
We had been on several boating holidays on the broads, then by default we ended up going on our first narrowboat holiday with some friends in 1996. We had a boat from Foxton locks and went up to just past Leicester and back. Funnily enough we moored for one night just opposite MGM boats which (although we didn't know it at the time) were later to become our chosen boatbuilders for 'Waveney'.
We really enjoyed that trip but didn't go on another narrowboat holiday until 2005. This time we went from Bidford Boats, near Evesham, on a 65 footer called Dabchick. We took Ken's brother with us. We only had a week so we went up to Tewkesbury and back. We all had such a great time that we decided to go the following year for a fortnight and do the Avon Ring. After this fantastic holiday Ken and I really started to think seriously about having our own boat and living aboard when we retired.
We started researching. Ken was in charge of logistics and I was in charge of aesthetics! I bought Canal Boat and Waterways World magazines every month, scouring the reviews and articles for information. I e mailed nearly every boat builder in the country (it seemed!) for information and brochures. Having looked through these carefully, armed with our shortlist of about 6 possibles, in 2007 we went to the Crick boatshow. We visited all the boatbuilders stands we had picked from the research and lots more too! On the Sunday a nearby builder was having his open day so we went to that and viewed boats in progress and ones with people living aboard. On the Monday it was a real washout! We were freezing cold and soaked to the skin so we kept an appointment we had made with one of the builders to look over his boat again then we decided to go home. As we were leaving we stumbled upon MGM's stand. They had no boat on show just a sort of tent with testimonials and a rather cold looking Martin Parsons! I had seen a review of their NB Brandywine in one of my mags so we popped in to find out more. After our visit we put MGM on a shortlist of 2 with the other builder we had visited that day.
Back home we decided later in the year we would visit both builders at their yards. As they were both near Leicester and picked as the 2 easiest ones for us to get to from where we live we decided to have a weekend in Melton Mowbray and do our visits. We went to MGM first and had a very enjoyable visit with Martin, Mark and Rach (who makes lovely tea!). When we left we both decided we didn't need to go and see the other builder on our shortlist, we had found the right one already.
When we got home I e mailed MGM and told them we had decided to go ahead with our new boat. Our build slot is Jan 2009 for the hull and April 2009 for the fit out. Hopefully we will take possession in about June/July 2009.
More later!
Cheers B. xx
We had been on several boating holidays on the broads, then by default we ended up going on our first narrowboat holiday with some friends in 1996. We had a boat from Foxton locks and went up to just past Leicester and back. Funnily enough we moored for one night just opposite MGM boats which (although we didn't know it at the time) were later to become our chosen boatbuilders for 'Waveney'.
We really enjoyed that trip but didn't go on another narrowboat holiday until 2005. This time we went from Bidford Boats, near Evesham, on a 65 footer called Dabchick. We took Ken's brother with us. We only had a week so we went up to Tewkesbury and back. We all had such a great time that we decided to go the following year for a fortnight and do the Avon Ring. After this fantastic holiday Ken and I really started to think seriously about having our own boat and living aboard when we retired.
We started researching. Ken was in charge of logistics and I was in charge of aesthetics! I bought Canal Boat and Waterways World magazines every month, scouring the reviews and articles for information. I e mailed nearly every boat builder in the country (it seemed!) for information and brochures. Having looked through these carefully, armed with our shortlist of about 6 possibles, in 2007 we went to the Crick boatshow. We visited all the boatbuilders stands we had picked from the research and lots more too! On the Sunday a nearby builder was having his open day so we went to that and viewed boats in progress and ones with people living aboard. On the Monday it was a real washout! We were freezing cold and soaked to the skin so we kept an appointment we had made with one of the builders to look over his boat again then we decided to go home. As we were leaving we stumbled upon MGM's stand. They had no boat on show just a sort of tent with testimonials and a rather cold looking Martin Parsons! I had seen a review of their NB Brandywine in one of my mags so we popped in to find out more. After our visit we put MGM on a shortlist of 2 with the other builder we had visited that day.
Back home we decided later in the year we would visit both builders at their yards. As they were both near Leicester and picked as the 2 easiest ones for us to get to from where we live we decided to have a weekend in Melton Mowbray and do our visits. We went to MGM first and had a very enjoyable visit with Martin, Mark and Rach (who makes lovely tea!). When we left we both decided we didn't need to go and see the other builder on our shortlist, we had found the right one already.
When we got home I e mailed MGM and told them we had decided to go ahead with our new boat. Our build slot is Jan 2009 for the hull and April 2009 for the fit out. Hopefully we will take possession in about June/July 2009.
More later!
Cheers B. xx
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Introduction.
Hi everyone,
This is the first in a series of (many) posts from me, First Mate (Bridget), which will outline the journey of our (my, Ken and Captain's Dog (EBT) George's) move from the old 'terra firma' in Suffolk to a life on the waterways aboard our (still to be built at the moment) narrowboat 'Waveney'..
Over the coming months I will explain how we came to decide to give it all up for a watery life and all about how, where, when and of course by whom 'Waveney' will be built.
I hope to include photos of her build progress and the completed product (if I ever work out how this blog works!).
After all that is done I will continue to bore you all with tales and photos of our riparian adventures (and disasters too I shouldn't wonder!) as we travel the waterways of England.
So if you haven't fallen asleep yet and are agog to find out what we're up to read on!
Cheers B. xx
This is the first in a series of (many) posts from me, First Mate (Bridget), which will outline the journey of our (my, Ken and Captain's Dog (EBT) George's) move from the old 'terra firma' in Suffolk to a life on the waterways aboard our (still to be built at the moment) narrowboat 'Waveney'..
Over the coming months I will explain how we came to decide to give it all up for a watery life and all about how, where, when and of course by whom 'Waveney' will be built.
I hope to include photos of her build progress and the completed product (if I ever work out how this blog works!).
After all that is done I will continue to bore you all with tales and photos of our riparian adventures (and disasters too I shouldn't wonder!) as we travel the waterways of England.
So if you haven't fallen asleep yet and are agog to find out what we're up to read on!
Cheers B. xx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)