A last-minute, late availability offer from a local narrowboat hire company in 2008 sparked my love for inland waterways and boating. So much so, that within the span of one month, my wife and I not only hired two boats but also purchased our own sail-away. I began fitting her out and completed the work in time for the following summer!

Since then, we have spent most of our weekends and holidays exploring the canal network and observing the way of life. Eventually, we decided to make this lifestyle more permanent. In 2014, we bought our own Dutch barge/Liverpool Icebreaker hybrid boat shell and were fortunate enough to secure a rare find—a permanent mooring in Stoke Hammond near Milton Keynes (talk about being in the right place at the right time!). By July 2015, I had fully fitted and completed our new home, and we moved aboard. We still believe it was one of the best decisions we ever made, and we consider ourselves very lucky to be live-aboard boaters!

Since then, I have carried out full refits on four other boats, become a Webasto heating engineer, and, during the pandemic, decided to build a boat for holiday rentals (https://theepicboatingcompany.co.uk/). With that venture up and running and my passion for boating growing, I was invited to train as a Boat Safety Examiner in 2022. I hoped that this opportunity would allow me to spend more time on or around the waterways. I am delighted that it has worked out, and I thoroughly enjoy meeting other boaters and helping them navigate the stress of their boat safety examinations. I hope you will give me a call next time yours is due or if you want any other work carried out on your boat, I look forward to meeting you.