| Isabella:-
<Background> Construction at Liverpool Boats Fit-Out:- Thinking of fitting out your own boat?
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Prior to us owning Isabella we hired a 27ft Narrow boat boat on the Chelmer & Blackwater Canal in Essex (the only time I had ever been on a narrow boat before was some 25 years ago). We liked the experience so much we decided to get afloat ourselves. Having looked into buying a second-hand boat we decided to buy a new shell, and fit it out ourselves. The timetable of events were as follows:-
We both have full time jobs, so the fit out was done over weekends, public holidays and the odd vacation day. The complete fit out was done on the mooring at Sandford Mill Lock, on the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal. The mooring has no electrical hook up, and I had no generator, so the only power tools were battery (Black & Decker Quattro, with spare battery sets..... excellent tool.....could not have completed the boat without it, even drilled through side of steel hull for water outlets etc.) The boat has hot and cold running water, shower, full cooking facilities, fridge, bathroom, colour tv etc. |
The
aim was to have the boat 80% complete, ready for comfortable use
within 6 months, which we achieved. By September 2000 Isabella was
around 95% complete. She is now 98.5% complete (April 2002).....I
still need to trim off around 1 of the inside windows plus a couple of
other jobs.... we hardly did any work on her during 2001, just enjoyed
using her.