This is the final instalment of the incredibly true story ofall the boats that I have loved before. From my first true love, (IHad a Gut Feeling: I Wanted This Narrowboat!) to my unlikely bargain (I Bought a Narrowboat for Just ONE POUND!) my life of living on narrowboats was never dull!

My third narrowboat was a 57ft cruiser (pictured) and my boyfriend and I travelled all around Hertfordshire, Essex and London on it. Every winter we would take a temporary mooring in Islington, London and every summer we would travel out of the city and go exploring. We got engaged beside a lake, next to the Cut in Rickmansworth, and were moored in Cowley near Uxbridge when we got married. Both of our daughters were born on that boat, at home on our winter mooring in Angel. That boat really saw our lives change a bit, and by the time we were a family of four we began to discuss whether we needed a bigger boat!

One day I told my husband that my perfect boat would be a 70 foot narrowboat, green, with side hatches and a boatman’s cabin. I’d always fancied having the living room at the front of the boat with glass doors to the front deck so that you can look out at the glistening water up ahead. We had decided to leave the city and bring up our children in the countryside. After discussing some of our favourite places that we’ve visited by boat we came up with the idea of living near Tring, in Hertfordshire.

By a strange coincidence my ideal boat not only existed, but was moored near Tring and was for sale with Boatshed Grand Union!

Phil Bassett showed me the boat and not only did I buy it but I also asked him for a job! That is the true story of how I came to work for Boatshed.

We then had to sell the narrowboat which had been our first family home. It was relatively straight forward because we sold it to a friend; we just got something simple drawn up by Hannah, a lovely lawyer who specialises in boats. Why Would I Need a Yachting Lawyer?

We then got a mooring near Tring and our children grew older and started preschool and school. I wrote a personal blog for a few years called The Real Life of a Narrowboat Wife, about the highs and lows of parenting on a boat. A number of factors then came together to take our family into a completely different direction. We moved to a cottage in Devon to be nearer family and our beautiful 70ft trad was for sale.

Phil told me that the worldwide average for selling a boat is about twelve viewings but with the Boatshed system that figure is more like four. Within weeks of going on the market our boat was sold in record time, and my 13 years of living aboard were at an end.

So those are my stories of the boats I have loved. Have you got a previously loved boat that you now want to sell? I’ve put together a helpful eBook called: How to Sell a Boat: The Ultimate Guide. You can grab it for free on our Facebook page. We’ll also send you a monthly round-up of articles from the blog.

Peggy Melmoth

You may also like:

Living on a Boat: The Boatshed Guide (free) / How to Sell a Boat: The Ultimate Guide (free eBook) / How to Buy a Boat: The Ultimate Guide / The best blog articles of 2013 / Don’t miss:The Boatshed Grand Union Daily/ A slideshow of our boat of the moment./ More articles.

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