Hi, we are Steph and Paul and have a daughter Chantelle and a dog called Tilly, Chantelle also has a dog called Winston (Tilly’s brother) who also likes life aboard the boat.
Our first Narrowboat holiday was when Chantelle was 3 years old, Steph’s brother Dave took us along with his friends Julia and John and we absolutely loved it. This was the first of many a happy holiday with them all and before long we were joined by John and Julia’s two sons Sam and Oliver.
The dream of having our own narrowboat became more real following Paul’s retirement in 2018.
The boat search began with a big question, second hand or built to our specifications? Initially after seeing lots of used boats although nice we never really fell in love with any of them, so two years prior to Paul’s retirement, we spent endless hours designing our dream boat, reading countless reviews in various magazines, visits to boat shows and even having a number of meetings with a boat builder in Stoke on Trent.
However just before Christmas 2018 an advert appeared on the “New and Used Boats” website for a Narrowboat called Hang Loose, which was reviewed in the Canal Boat magazine when it was first built two years earlier.
So even though we had not seen inside (apart from the magazine photos) we went on the website and put in an offer! Crazy right?
The day New & Used Boats opened following the Christmas holidays, we jumped in the car and were off to see the boat of our dreams. On the way we had a call from the surprised staff to check we had actually put an offer in without seeing it! We went on board and we knew instantly we wanted her. Our offer was made to the owner and on our way back home we had a call to say it had been accepted. We were over the moon. The dream was about to become reality!
In February 2019 we were the proud and happy owners of Narrowboat Hang Loose!
We initially moored Hang Loose on the Erewash Canal and had a few cruises out in her until Steph retired in May 2019 when we moved permanently on board.
In the remaining 6 months of 2019 we cruised up the Trent & Mersey to the Caldon Canal - we had dreamed of cruising along this canal on our own boat since we had a lovely walk along it previously. From there we cruised the Macclesfield canal, the Peak Forest Canal, the Huddersfield Canal, Aire & Calder, the Rochdale Canal and finally back down the Trent & Mersey to be back near family for Christmas.
Then Corona came! 2020 was mainly spent on the Trent & Mersey at Weston on Trent. We did manage to do the Leicester Ring between lockdowns (but got stuck again in Leicester when it went back into lockdown).
In 2021 we explored the River Soar and the River Trent but a lot of time was spent on the Trent and Mersey to be close to family.
Canal life for us is about exploring villages and towns along the way and being part of the wonderful boating community. We love meeting different people from all walks of life who have fantastic stories and experiences - some of these have become friends for life.
At the end of 2021 we decided to cruise on to the Coventry Canal to spend the winter months. Each previous winter we have had winter moorings at Weston on Trent and really wanted a change - and to carry on cruising through the winter months. So we headed for the Ashby Canal which is absolutely gorgeous- rural and lots of walks to be had. Our aspiration is to explore as much of the UK network as possible and maybe even one day to explore the French canals, where we have previously had boating holidays.
We both love walking and obviously so do Tilly and Winston!
So besides our cruising blogs we have walking blogs. A lot of these are walks that we have done in the Peak District and around Derbyshire - so if you’re interested please take a look.
Our many hobbies include, learning to speak Spanish, sampling real ale, DIY projects on the boat (like fitting solar panels), taking photos and videos which we share a lot on Instagram and Facebook. Paul has spent time learning how to edit the videos to make them into something watchable and then puts them onto our YouTube channel as a record of our Very Narrow Journey.