So she's back folks!

the Honey Ryder story ended in August 2009.

the new life, the new boat search commenced in July, just before I said ta ta to the floating caravan cigar box (aherm narrowboat)

what started as an adventure turned into a saga and a whole new world of material, er materialised as the saga unfolded and is being added to the next book. The Honey Ryder blog is currently being turned into a novel (semi fiction)

I travelled to Poole, Ipswich, Burnham on Crouch, Brighton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, Cardiff, Pembroke dock, Fowey, Helford, Plymouth, Troon, Dinten Loord (NL) and Gibralar!

I have covered over 10,000 miles in my search and spent over £5000 on my unexpected epic adventuring. Plus I blew up my car... I also spent several nights sleeping in a rental car

the things you can do with wet wipes. thats another story right there.

I had one boat fall through due to a bad survey (Cardiff), another fell through because the owner decided to sell it to a friend (IOW). I went all out after that, threw caution to the wind and flew out to Gibraltar to see one.

That was in late October. Since then I had a survey done and all was going well, but the finance got the wrong end of the stick from a lengthy hard to understand survey and pulled out. I spent hours on the phone and emailing, trying to pull it all back together, the finance company eventually changed their mind and said ok and the sale was back on. Then the paperwork... and solicitors got involved. The boat needs to be registered. A box was ticked wrongly on an old bill of sale. SHOW stopper.

Shit, shitting shitter.

then the solicitors found a way around it by registering it differently, different place but same thing. Sweet!

job done.

I now own a boat again as of Feb 4. Shes called Varekai.

((thinks....(I guess I should change my log in user name thingyme on canalworld? although itsnot a canal boat its a yacht so maybe not ))

Happy days.

Except its in Gibraltar and needs to be sailed back to the UK, but not before May. (insurance companies get twitchy about that bay of biscay any time before May)

So, in the mean time, I found friendly and extremely enjoyable accommodation on a friends lovely Dutch Barge. (nick named Not So)

Im back on the sodding canals and rivers, those hateful drainage ditches and even better than that (she says with a sarcastic wry smile) Its got a solid fuel log burner as its only form of heating. and joy of joys the boat is constantly cruising so I still have a devil of a job getting to work from obscure places off the beaten track. Fekkin marvelous. The three things I love most in the world... nothing changes does it?

Ah, you just have to laugh at the irony. I am embracing it with both arms (and a knee to the nuts)

Varekai out for survey and antifouling

er, yours truly copping a feel of the wheel

and a glimpse of the back of the boat and a previous location this winter