New year........New Life!

Well........A very happy new year to all who read this? Probably not too many at the mo but as our life changes so will this blog! If you do happen to read this, please feel free to leave us a message.

So, what's happened in the last couple of months then? We have been very busy ironing out minor issues with the boat......a little bit of having to go to work......oh, and a month's holiday in Egypt! :-)
The guys at Milburn Boats have been very busy with our home and we are very very pleased with the progress. It seems every time we go up to see Swamp Frogs we forget the camera or get side tracked and forget to take some pictures......so I'll pinch a few from Milburn's own build blog (I'm sure they won't mind)

All Lined out, wired and ready to be fitted out

Had to get the sofa in before any bulkheads put in......how did they get it in? I don't know!

Our own design of a dining table......will it work?

Bathroom Vanity unit being built....note the curved work eh? so smoooooth!

Not every boat has a bath....What Suzie wants.....Suzie gets!

Hand made Galley started complete with beautiful curves.

So, there you go a few pictures of our dream........Oh and if you are going to Crick Boat Show this year you will (we hope) see our boat on show and meet the team that turned it into a reality.

Since our last blog we have done 0 Canals, 0 miles and  0 locks.......

Worth the wait.........

Well, It's been a hectic month since the last update of our blog.

1. Suzie and I have now sold our house and moved into our temporary accommodation provided by our friend Gary Dyer......Thanks Gaz
2. Our Narrow Boat arrived at Milburn Boats in Daventry, Northants.

So, you may say that the 2 highlights above is not that traumatic but it is for us and they both seem to have come at once. So, the house move.......this was made easier for Suzie and I as we  managed to sell every single scrap that we owned from our house and moved to Totton by doing 4 or 5 trips with the car as Gary's house is fully furnished and this is a great help to us as it saves us having to get rid of stuff next March when our boat will be ready. The only problem with the house is that there is a loo dedicated to Arsenal????. I have decided I can't use this loo as there is a picture of Gary with Arsene Wenger and it just so wrong to be in there doing personal stuff with Gary and Arsene looking on!

Our Boat.....We arrived at Milburn Boats early afternoon with Suzie's Sister Pat and Brother-in law John who both were desperate to be with us when our boat arrived. Swamp Frogs arrived at 14:30 but alas no crane..... The crane turned up about 90mins later with a driver who really didn't want to be there which disappointed us, we just could not understand how he wasn't as excited as us!

Anyways, it is now here ready for Andy, Pete and the team to fit it out to their usual high standards. Check out this review in Waterways World ( Milburn 100 ) and you will then understand why we chose Milburn Boats to turn our dream into a reality.

A few pictures of the arrival.....

It's here

Just need a crane!

The start of our dream

Easy does it

Mind the van!

Inches to spare!

Almost there

Andy Milburn looks on....What is he thinking?

Andy is going to try and push a 15 Ton Boat with a 2 ton Fork lift.....I don't think so!

Change of vehicle does the trick.

My darling wife takes the first step aboard Swamp Frogs.

All signed up and raring to go.....

Well, it has been a busy few weeks for Suzie and I but it gives us great pleasure to say that on the 19th September we signed the contract to allow Milburn Boats to build Swamp Frogs. Please take time out and check out their work it truly is magnificent.
There is a lot of history with Milburns as the company was started in 1992 by dad John Milburn and is still going strong today with well over 100 boats having been built by Dad, along with sons Andy and Pete plus the rest of the team.

Suzie and I have spent many hours researching what  to have on our boat and also the layout of the boat as this will become our home for the foreseeable future so it is very important to get it right at the beginning. I mean where would I be without my Sky sports so, to ensure I get to see my beloved Southampton FC we will have a "in motion" satellite system installed! Suzie loves her baths.....no problem we will have a corner bath installed!

Our shell is being built by TylerWilson and it will be Jonathan Wilson who will be constructing our shell. Again as with Milburns there is a lot of history with TylerWilsons as Jonathan was an apprentice to Mike Heywood who is well known on the cut and Jonathan has been in the business now for over 30 years.

The other thing that has taken our time is that our financial advisor Mike Baggaley from PQR has advised us to sell our house for tax reasons even though we had a tenant lined up for the next 5 years. Mike explained there were so many tax reasons why we should sell it and the longer we kept it the more it would cost. Please don't think that we have sold the house to buy the boat because this is not the case. We spent many days thinking about this and in the end we took Mike's advice and decided to sell.

So, we had an agent round and within 2 hours it was sold......not once, but twice! and they say the housing market is depressed at the moment?

Anyways.......it is all systems go now, we have sold the house (albeit quicker than expected) and will now go into rented accommodation till Swamp Frogs is ready sometime in March.........

........WE JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!