3rd September 2024

Arrived back at Calcutt Boats today to get back on board Merlin.  The engine rebuild has been completed to a very high standard, we are really pleased with the work done at Calcutt Boats.  The engine looks and sounds like new.  We are now heading to Wigrams Turn another Aquavista Marina for a few days to recoup, restock and relax before heading down the Oxford Canal for our next adventure.

29th August 2024

So the boat is currently at the boatyard having the engine rebuilt and John and I with the dogs are on a camping trip on Gwynevere.  We are planning to return to Calcutt boats on Saturday as the boat should be ready next week.  We will then head off to Wigram's Turn for a few days to clean the boat and campervan before heading down the Oxford.

27th July 2024

So we arrived back at Kings Bromley Marina on the 15th June so that we could take a rest and do a few chores.  We planned to get the boat engine serviced and the head gasket repaired, get the dogs groomed and the oven repaired whilst we were back at the marina.  However things did not go to plan!!!!

The dogs were groomed successfully and the oven was repaired by a lovely man called Tom who also sorted out our leak in the shower and the diesel stove, so all good.

Canal river rescue came and took our head gasket to get it repaired and then were due back in two weeks to replace it and service the engine.  They came back but then informed us that the middle block of the engine (no idea what that means) was also broken and so we needed an new engine.  We got several quotes ranging from £8,000 to £12,000 which was well out of our budget.  We finally contacted Calcutt Boats who confirmed that they could rebuild our current engine for £4,000 so that is the plan.

We thought nothing else could go wrong but then the pump on the shower broke so we had to fix that and then our inverter which allows us to use household appliances broke and we had to get that replaced.  

On the plus side, John sanded down the side of the boat and replaced the blue paint with black so the boat is looking very smart.

So our next journey will begin today as we are off to Napton on the HIll to take the boat to Calcutt Boats so they can rebuild our engine.  A two week journey so we are hoping that the engine will be ok for the trip and then we plan two weeks in the camper van before picking up the boat and headed towards Oxford for a few weeks.

I have managed to visit Lisa and Peter in the time we have been at the marina which is great and plan to visit Abi on the way to Calcutt.

4th May 2024

So this is the start of our blog, sharing our adventures on our narrowboat Merlin and campervan Gwynevere.

After spending the past 3 years living in Northern Cyprus we decided to come back to the UK.  Neither of us wanted to come back to bricks and mortar so we decided to buy a narrowboat to live on.  We had owned a narrowboat a few years ago (Maya) which we used for holidays so we knew what to expect from living aboard. 

The adventure really started in February 2024 but things did not go to plan so I didn’t want to start my blog on a negative note.  We are now ready for the adventure to start but I wanted to share our story so far.

I arrived in the UK on the 28th February 2024 after living for the past 3 years in Northern Cyprus.  John arrived on the 29th February as he travelled with the dogs to Istanbul.  We spent our first day back in the UK in the Ibis Hotel in Heathrow.  On the 30th February we headed to pick up our mini bus which would be our vehicle for a week whilst we waited for the sale of our house in Cyprus to be completed.  After picking up the mini bus we headed to the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow to await the arrival of Eren and Georgie.

At 4pm we were told that we could go and collect the two dogs who were very excited to see us and then we headed for West Wales to spend a few days at my Dad’s house.

Unfortunately the sale of our house in Cyprus did not go ahead for another few weeks so we had to stay in West Wales until the 10th March.

On the 10th March we headed for Andover in Hampshire so I could spend Mothers Day with the children for the first time in quite a few years. John and the Dogs stayed at a hotel in Andover.

On the 13th March we headed for Folkestone to collect our camper van Gwynevere.  We were both very excited and a little apprehensive as I would have to drive the camper van back to Heathrow so we could drop off the mini bus.  However we made it to Heathrow in one piece and then headed up the M1 towards Nottingham to the marina where the narrowboat we were buying was in the dry dock.

We stayed in the Shoulder of Mutton pub on the night of the 13th and then on the 13th March headed to Redhill Marina.  John had viewed the boat in December but this was the first time that I had seen it so I was very excited and it did not disappoint at all.

As we had to arrange the funds to buy the boat the owner of Redhill allowed us to park the campervan on the site until we could arrange for the boat to be put in the water and then moved to Kings Bromley Marina.  On the 16th March the boat was launched into the water but due to the constant rain we could not move the boat until the floods went down.  The launch video is below. The rain did not stop for days and days and it wasn’t until the 11th April that we finally managed to get the boat moved onto the Canal at Sawley and then on the 19th April that we got the boat moved to Kings Bromley. 

We have now been at Kings Bromley since the 19th April and we have managed to get all the furniture sorted, the boat painted, the garden planted and deal with a few snagging issues.  John is off to Cyprus for a few days in May so we have planned our first outing on Friday 10th May down as far as Rugeley.  Then when John comes back from Cyprus we are going to do the Four Counties Ring from Kings Bromley and back via Market Drayton, Barbridge, Kidsgrove and Great Haywood.  So let the adventures begin.