A resume of our 2018:

The year began frustratingly with a lot of uncertainty.

The boat build had not started, with no prospect of it starting, and the shell was still in storage. Despite initially being given a launch date of the week before Christmas 2017.

Both houses had buyers but the sales were not progressing very fast, especially Chester Road, the sale of which we were constantly expecting to fall through.

I had been finished work for over 6 months, this to oversee the build, so a lot of wasted time and the loss of a lot of wages.

Brenda had officially stopped work in January but, because the build was not progressing, she continued working but cut her hours to 24 per week.

So we felt very much in limbo.

Meantime, we continued to clear the house which was a mammoth, upsetting task that neither of us enjoyed. It was very hard sorting through treasured items collected over the years, photographs, books etc etc. It is surprising just how much can be collected over a lifetime. The loft was full of things, many that had not seen the light of day for many a year.

The sheds also had to be cleared of tools and equipment.

While a lot of our furniture and other items went to family and friends, which we felt really good about, at least it would continue to be used and loved, many items went to charity shops or were merely dumped. We had been attempting to sell items on e-bay for many months but either they went for next to nothing and weren’t really worth the trouble, or didn’t sell at all. We went to the car boot sale at Congleton a few times but again, people just expected things for nothing.

At last the boat build started mid-February, which was initially exciting but then dragged on and on. We had been told to allow 4 to 6 weeks for completion. It took 13. Even when the boat did go into the water on 17^th May, she was far from completion. Many things still had to be finished and many snags came to light. And the builder never came anywhere near us for over 3 weeks.

The houses duly sold, we moved full time onto the boat and the car went. It felt strange parting with the car. We had had a car for 43 years and it felt as though you were almost giving up your independence.

Eventually we left Swanley Bridge Marina to head for Middlewich and arrive for the Folk and Boat Festival. Because of the breach in the Middlewich Branch, we had to take a roundabout route which only just left us enough time for the journey.

Once in Middlewich we then had to spend over six weeks in the area, waiting on jobs on the boat to be completed and then to have the engine room and electrical cupboard completely rewired. Disgraceful, frustrating and still we felt our lives were on hold.

During this period of repairs, we were reviewing and sorting our finances in conjunction with a financial advisor at the bank. We found we were in a good position and already had one pension activated.

Due to water shortages and damage to various waterways, routes out of the Middlewich/Northwich area were being closed at an alarming rate and it looked likely that we would be trapped for some considerable time.

All was completed on 24^th July and at last our new life could finally begin. We felt released, elated, and relieved. At this time there was just one route out open to us, the Trent and Mersey canal, and even this was being daily threatened with closure at Middlewich.

Since then we have travelled the River Weaver, the whole length of the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Erewash Canal, Rivers Trent and Soar and the Ashby Canal. We have visited and explored many towns, cities and villages and met many interesting and nice people. We have travelled 655 miles, passed through 323 locks and 30 tunnels, operated 5 swing bridges and travelled the Anderton Boat Lift twice.

We truly miss friends and family. Especially our grandchildren, whose lives we played a great part in and the leaving of who was very difficult and could easily prevented us following our new lives. Having said that, we are very thankful to people coming out to visit and stay with us.  

While our new life is not without challenges and is much harder than living in a house, it is much more rewarding. We are enjoying our new life and looking forward to our next years of travelling the country.

An emotional year of many contrasts.