Canal Boat — January 2018

(Jacob Rumans) #1

20 January 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk


I


truly love our 69ft narrowboat Foxy
Lady, named after the Jimi Hendrix
song – in hindsight maybe a mistake
after the comments I got when we
boated through London. We purposely
bought her (our second boat) to be a
family home. She was made in 2007 and
our daughter Mia was made in 2010.
Looking for our ‘perfect’ home, we
vowed not to get another project boat,
but she ticked most things on our list of
‘wants’, and was a good price, but
unfortunately another project.
Over the past eight years, we have
created a beautiful, functioning floating
home. Richard, who is a computer
programmer, already had sound
knowledge of mechanics and electrics,


he has now become a skilled carpenter
and boat painter too. Most visitors to
our boat will comment on its tidiness
and how large it feels for a narrowboat.
That’s down to Richard’s clever storage
designs, and me running a tight ship.
You need to live in a small space or
you’re constantly looking for things in
the Tardis.
Foxy Lady is our life, our love and our
identity, a comfortable and stylish home
and also the place where I work. She is
perfect for our family of three and two
guinea pigs.
Most of the year we are at our
communal mooring in Newbury, on the
K&A. For five years we have been
residential on this island, and prior to

this we were nomadic, continual cruisers
for five years.
Term time is my creative time when I
do my sewing. I make clothes, soft
furnishings and accessories from
unwanted textiles, mostly vintage
(upcycling basically). I love working with
bright colours and have a contemporary
retro style. Just like Foxy, who is olive
green and orange, we have organically
grown together. During the school
holidays, we like to go back to the ‘wild
side’ and escape the humdrum of static
life and go for a cruise.
During shorter holidays we generally
head west to Kintbury and Hungerford,
but during the big summer holidays, we
like to take our annual pilgrimage to the

On the wild side


School holidays means time for the annual family pilgrimage
on the Thames for Sarah Mackfall and Richard Harrison
Free download pdf