A new lifestyle

Having    purchased    the    narrowboat    Alkeny     in    January    2021    it    took    until Saturday   9th   January   2021   to   prepare   the   narrowboat   for   living   aboard   and eventually   early   in   February   to   move   her   to   Mercia   Marina.   Eventually   I would   commence   cruising   the   rivers   and   canals   of   England.   Much   of   the work   to   prepare   Alkeny    and   to   move   her   to   Derbyshire   was   delayed   by   the third   Covid-19   English   national   lockdown   that   was   introduced   on   6th   January 2021. It   was   planned   to   rename   the   boat   “Tradewinds   IV”,   in   sucession   of   my previous boats of the same name. To be continued ………  

Why?

I    am    a    European    and    before Brexit     came     along     I     had     a passport   that   woud   allow   me   to travel   anywhere   in   Europe   for   as long     as     I     wanted.     Until     1st January    2021    I    was    spending about    11    months    of    each    year split   between   Greece   and   Spain   - that   was   my   life   and   my   choice, and    then    suddenly    it    all    was taken    away    from    me!   And    so    I needed   to   find   somewhere   to   live in   the   UK   during   the   6   months   I’ll be    unable    to    travel    to    where    I want    to    be!    Having    spent    36 years    in    the    Royal    Navy    and most    years    since    living    aboard yachts,     it     was     natural     that     I should     want     to     live     aboard somewhere                    somehow! Narrowboats    were    the    obvious choice,   not   only   for   the   lifestyle but   also   for   the   comradeship   of other   boaters.   My   new   lifestyle   is opening up ahead of me!