Having purchased the narrowboat Alkenyin January 2021 it took until Saturday 9th January 2021 to prepare the narrowboat for living aboard and eventually move her to Mercia Marina. When the weather improved I would commence cruising the rivers and canals of England. Much of the work to prepare Alkenyand to move her to Derbyshire was delayed by the third Covid-19 English national lockdown that was introduced on 6th January 2021. The work also took much longer than expected, with delays brought about by other work in the boatyard, the weather and the late supply of equipment and components.It was planned to rename the boat “Tradewinds IV” (TW4), in sucession of my previous boats of the same name, but that was a long way down my list of priorities.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 not be unable to travel to where I want to be in Europe! 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 was opening up ahead of me!
My Waterways LifeAboard my Narrowboat on the Rivers & Canals of England