I thought about getting a narrowboat several years ago in 1998, when I first got a copy of Waterways World. I took a look at the prices and nearly fell off my chair. They cost as much as a small house. So I shelved the idea.

Then in 2002 I went on a narrowboat holiday from Gayton Marina (Near Northampton) I went with my sister and my daughter. It was sooo relaxing. I felt a bit like I had gone back in time. Everything went in slow motion. 4 m.p.h. It was a wonderful holiday. Again I was struck by how expensive it was even to rent a boat. Finally I resolved to build a boat. I had done an evening class in welding so had the basics. I took out a loan and early in 2004 ordered 9 tons of steel.

The steel arrived at Uxbridge where I had planned to build the boat, in my friend (Andy's) yard. Only it wasn't exactly his yard. And the owner didn't want a boat in his yard. So we loaded it straight onto another truck with a blown-up engine to decide what to do. Andy had another engine to put in this truck and we spent a few interesting evenings doing this. He was planning a move from Uxbridge to West Drayton so the steel stayed there, in the truck, for a while.

Finally after some months everything was loaded onto various trucks and lorries and taken to the new yard at West Drayton.