Canal Boat — November 2017

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat November 2017 23

Tell us about your boat and your boating – email [email protected]

ME & MY BOATS

WIN

£100

IT’S YOUR TURN: TELL US ABOUT YOUR BOAT

WIN

£100

TELL US ABOUT the boats – or just the boat –

in your life. Your story should be about 1,000

words and must have suitable photographs.

They can be prints, transparencies or high

quality digital (that means at least a 5

megapixel camera set on its highest

resolution). Write in or

email to editor@

canalboat.co.uk. All

photos will be returned.

What’s more, we pay

£100 for every story used.

CB

and live on the river without using

fossil fuels, so we decided the only way

forward was to build one ourselves,

even though we’d never done anything

like this before. But no one could tell us

how to do it and no one seemed

confident it could be done.

“Everyone kept saying ‘yes but

what happens on a cloudy day

when there’s no sun? And what

about the unpredictable British

weather?’ I’m originally from South

Africa so I think people thought I had

lost the plot.

“I researched all sorts of possible

solutions and I finally came up with

a system I felt would work, but it

doesn’t stop the nagging doubts.

What if everyone else was right and

I was wrong?”

Having accomplished the mission to

slash our carbon footprint, we turned

our attention to the interior, knowing

that canal and river boats can have a

reputation as being pokey, damp and

without enough space to swing a

proverbial cat.

Not this one. The SunFlower has 64

square metres of open-plan living space

with two huge double bedrooms, a

wet-room, complete with bath and a

huge kitchen. In fact, everything is large

• even the stern is spacious with room
  for ten.
  We wanted to create an inside space
  that felt more like a home than a boat.
  We loved coming up with some of the
  clever storage solutions, like the wine
  cellar sunk into the concrete floor. That’s
  a real surprise for visitors.
  But while the interior is warm and
  homely, the ultimate thrill will always

be quiet cruising along on on a one-off

widebeam – and it’s already making

waves.

“The look of the boat with its bright

blue colour, large reflective windows and

solar roof does attract a lot of attention

when we’re out on the Thames,” adds

Ryan. “People often ask ‘is that really

fully solar powered?’ and I’m so thrilled

to be able to tell them that it is.”

Rooftop photovoltic panels top up batteries

Double bed lifts for extra storage

Wet room has an oversized rain shower

Huge space for party people