When
Grace and I took possession of Kantara on September 2nd last year, we knew that we were embarking upon a new way of life in
which there were lots of unknowns. The numerous week-long holidays we
had had over the years had only given us experience of handling a
narrow boat – very useful experience, of course, but only a part of
the whole thing of living on the boat. Furthermore, we had never
before been responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of a boat, and
this was going to be something of a steep learning curve. So, now
that we've lived on Kantara for ten of the past thirteen months, what
are my thoughts as I look back over them?
In
no particular order...
We
love the life! We both settled quickly to the new home, and the huge
reduction in space after our years in a house has not been a problem
at all. Being in the marina for most of the year has not been what we
had in mind, but we have met lots of new people, and made friends,
and are very glad indeed that we chose Yelvertoft over the several
other options in the area. There are so many canal routes easily
accessible to us from Yelvertoft, we have years of cruising to do
from that base.
Cruising
is brilliant! When we have been out, alone or with family or friends,
it has been such fun to be taking our home with us as we explore new
places. We had this, of course, on holidays, but it is somehow very
different now the boat is our home. Waking up in a different place
most mornings is magic. Meeting other boaters is great fun
(usually!). Seeing the countryside, new towns and villages is
fascinating. It's
great to have family and friends with us, and to share with them
something of the magic of life on the cut. All of our visitors have
been really enthusiastic, and it's lovely to experience that.
The
suggestion that the word BOAT is an acronym for Bring Out Another
Thousand is not just a joke. Regardless of age (and Kantara is 11
years old, remember), things go wrong with boats, and we've had our
share of problems on this first year, many of which resulted in us
having to forgo cruising, and to spend additional money. But we have
learned a lot, and feel much more confident of being able to handle
such problems in the future. And now that we've had all of our
systems professionally serviced, and problems solved, we're expecting
to have less go wrong in subsequent years. Membership of RCR has
proven useful already!
We
still have to settle down to doing “ordinary” things,
particularly when we are in the marina, those kinds of things we
would be doing if we were still in the house. Both of us have writing
we want to do. Grace has painting, sewing and other creative gifts
she wants to be using. I want to write more music, do some serious
photography. So far, we've not established those as a routine part of
this boat life. Work to be done here.
It
may be at least partly attributable to boat life that I have entered
my 62nd year weighing less than I have for years, and
being a lot fitter and stronger. My blood pressure is significantly
lower, so is my resting heart rate. I have established a good routine
of cycling and strength training, and have done more walking than
ever before. And this has happened as a deliberate response to my
awareness that life in a boat could easily be one of little exercise,
poor eating, and reduced health and fitness. The book “Younger Next Year”
has had a great impact upon me.
So,
as we carry on into our second year on Kantara, still not knowing how
long we'll be living here, we look forward to a lot more cruising,
and to sharing some of the enjoyment of that with others. It's been a
good year, and we feel really thankful and privileged to have been
given the opportunity to live the dream which we'd had for nearly
forty years.
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