For the last 20ish years we have had 12 different hire boat holidays doing various rings and rivers and once on the Canal de Midi,and for the last couple of years we have looked at various boats but never had the bottle to take the plunge.
In September we had a lovely week on a boat hired from Cherwell Valley on the Stratford Canal and we planned on visiting a couple of brokers on our journey back to our home in Yeovil but after viewing half a dozen boats none seemed to fit the bill and we were about to leave when the man said,hang on here a minute I'll just get another set of keys to show you another and as soon as we stepped on board that was it,it just clicked and she felt just right,put down a deposit,subject to the survey,and now 6 weeks later we are the proud owner of NB Elizabeth Austin and keep her at The Droitwich Spa marina.She is a 46ft Cruiser stern built in 1995 and 1 owner from new,a local and been very well cared for.We had or first trip on her last week down to Droitwich & and up to the Worcester & Birmingham,not enough time to do the ring on the Severn,but various passing boaters recognised her,put the thumbs up and wished us well.
Its a 2 hours + trip from door to door up the M5 so it's 1 long weekend a month and high days and high days and holidays for now and in a few years when we retire,March- October,but for now we unfortunately both have to work.Roll on Nov 9th for our next visit ???