Aqua Narrow Boats

Canal Boat Holiday Discount

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:57:55 +0000

Just a reminder that we currently have 10‰ discount on all our published prices for all canal holidays booked before the end of January 2012. Our live online booking system is displaying prices including the discount - our published prices (without the discount) can be found on our Holiday Prices website page here. Hurry, since the 1st of January we’ve had nearly 40 new bookings taking up this offer – so don’t loose out on the date you need. Unfortunately this offer can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer.

A taster of the canals! Image courtesy of Jennifer Clare Photography

Scarborough Pair Narrowboat Complete

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:03:54 +0000

Many apologies but i can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post on the blog. I try my best to keep it up to date but there is never enough hours in the day! Although we can’t complain as we’ve had such a fantastic autumn – it could be far worse with all the dome and gloom out there.

I do try to keep our Facebook account updated more frequently than the blog as it’s a little quicker for me to sort out - you’ll find photos of our next build on their at the moment. So, if you can, check out our Facebook page and if you like what you see make sure you ‘Like’ us too! We also encourage customer posts and comments as it’s always good to hear feedback.

Anyhow here’s a few photos of the completed narrowboat Scarborough Pair – owners Richard and Monica took her out for a cruise in early December and were thrilled with her. The extending dinette requested by Richard has already proved popular, the bespoke boat build after next will also be having the same style of dinette.

Front cabin leading out onto the bow of the boat. The cross bed flap design makes it quick and simple to make up - no more struggling with pulling out extending frames!

Over bed storage with curved cabinet around porthole. The curved base section is made out of solid oak and takes about a day and half to make!

Looking back through the bathroom towards the stern of the narrowboat.

Again looking through to the bathroom. A large custom made mirror has been fitted to the bulkhead to create a feeling of extra space.

Granite work surfaces in the bathroom matching those in the galley.

Looking from the bathroom towards the stern. This photo was taken before the soft furnishings were put in place.

For additional storage space we created a small cupboard opposite the main galley. As we didn't have room for a drawer unit we built a small pull out drawer inside to hold cutlery

With one seat extended....

Finally with both seats extended and table extension in place ready to seat six. The table also drops down to the same level as the seats to form a huge cross bed.

The saloon situated at the stern of the boat with just enough space to accommodate two leather recliners!

The stern steps - we've had lots of positive comments about this particular arrangement of steps. The base of each cupboard contains a large storage area - you can just make out the access doors at the bottom of the photo.

The lids of the steps are made out of thick solid oak and are hinged to access more storage space under. The top step has been divided in two to accommodate mooring pins and windlasses

Access doors on the cupboard fold into each other. Therefore half can be accessed from the rear deck when cruising and the cupboard nearest to the camera can be accessed when inside the boat.

The top storage compartment has a drop down door so it can be used as a small table from the cruiser stern. Perfect to rest a Nicholsons Guide or a cuppa!On the compartment doors we've fitted flush door pulls so that coats and jackets don't get caught when coming in amd out of the boat.

The solid oak rail surrounding the cruiser stern

Powered by a smooth running Beta Marine 38 with upgraded PRM150 hydraulic gearbox. A hospital silencer is also installed for quieter cruising.

The calorifier (hot water tank) is installed in the engine bay creating additional storage space inside the boat.Narrowboat Scarborough Pair

Scarborough Pair 55ft Cruiser Stern – New Bespoke Boat Build

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:21:47 +0000

Welcome to our latest bespoke boat build Scarborough Pair which is being fitted out for it’s owners Richard & Monica. The boat is a reverse layout but as opposed to the galley being at the far stern, Scarborough Pair has the saloon aft, then the Pullman Dinette followed by the Galley midships this leads onto the walkthrough bathroom followed by the main cabin with crossbed at the bow of the boat.

: Layout Plan for narrowboat fitout

The owners have enjoyed many years on board there previous narrowboat before commissioning Aqua Narrowboats to build them a new bespoke boat, built to their own specification for holidays and extended cruising during their retirement. The boat is being built on a Colecraft shell and the fitout commenced late August having already been sandblasted and spray painted with 2 pack epoxy paint by S & G Refinishers. Heres a few photos of the progress to date:

: Scarborough Pair’s hull being fabricated at Colecraft

Narrowboat steelwork nearly complete

Whilst out cruising Richard uses a small fold up motorbike to enable him to go back to their last mooring spot and collect their car. To enable this to be stored securely whilst their on board Richard requested that a steel locker be incorporated at deck level for easier access. The photo below shows the storage compartment from inside the cabin, this will be boxed in during the lineout stage and the space underneath will become a storage cupboard (photos further down). For safety the steel compartment is seam welded and has an overboard vent.

Motorbike compartment from inside boat cabin.

From outside the neat storage compartment for Richards folding motorbike

: Scarborough Pair fully painted just after arriving at our Mercia marina workshop ready for fitout.

As soon as the boat arrives and the weather permits we install the narrowboat windows to get the boat water tight. The location of these windows are determined at the initial boat planning stage before any steelwork is started. The window locations are worked out to the nearest millimeter to ensure that they are positioned correctly in relation to the boats layout, and not positioned in the centre of a bulkhead or inside a wardrobe!

: Narrowboat windows being put in with portholes in the bathroom & bedroom. The living areas will be fitted with hopper type windows, with the exception of the galley which will have a sliding window over the sink and a pair of steel glazed side doors opposite.

: The team quickly ballast, floored and battened the boat out ready for the sprayfoamers to insulate the boat. Once complete we always mark out the layout on the floor with masking tape. We find this provides a valuable exercise for our customers as it allows them to visualise the layout and make small alterations before the main boat fitout and woodwork starts.

: The motorbike storage locker sprayfoamed and battoned. The masking tape on the floor mark the locations of the two floor to ceiling cupboards. One will encorporate and cover the locker so visually from the inside it will look like a cupboard.

: Timber bulkhead being cut ready to fit. The side door have also been lined and have had windows fitted.

The solid oak timber framing has now been put in. All the screwholes are plugged with solid oak.

: Looking towards the stern of the canal boat from bow – the bathroom bulkheads are now in place together with one wardrobe side (closest to camera). The main cabin will have a crossbed with two wardrobes either side and connecting arched cabinet over the porthole.

Looking towards the stern of the boat - immediately in front of the camera will be located the galley, the two half bulkheads form either side of the pullman dinette and beyond this will be a small saloon with steps leading up to the cruiser stern.The two rear cupboards as mentioned early in the post. The one to the right is boxing in the bike locker at the top but has storage underneath. The cupboard to the left will be split into various storage areas. This will have an access door from the saloon side to match the righthand side cupboard opposite, as well as access doors to the side. One door will form a small drop down cubby hole that can be accessed from the cruiser deck. This will be used to pop canal boat guides in whilst navigating the boat.

: Work to the pullman dinette is started. This is a fairly large dinette as Richard and Monica have tall relative who needs to be able to sleep in it when converted into a bed, therfore we’ve made it 6’7″‘ long, four inches wider than our standard dinette.The dinette will also be able to accommodate six people sat down as it will have additional seats that extend out from each dinette seat – more explained below. Notice here too that the half bulkheads have now capped with beautiful chunky pieces of solid Oak.

: The shower bulkhead has been installed and a small storage cupboard formed that will also contain the shower pump. The small square aperture is for the switch that will turn the shower pump on and off. The hole in the floor is to allow the shower tray waste to drop into when put in place. The shower will be a 800mm quadrant type.

: This is the base of the curved cabinet that will installed over the porthole in the bedroom. This has been painstakingly made from machined strips of solid oak each one being cut at a different angle to form the arch. From cutting down the rough oak boards to the smooth finished piece here it has taken around 10 hours, and the main cupboard hasn’t even been started yet!

: Saloon – looking backward towards the cruiser stern. The two cupboards that will form either side of the access stairs. We decided to split and alter the one to the left, with the addition of a shelf – this provides more visual interest, as the two flat bulkheads look a little overpowering. The shelf will be handy for the odd mug of tea or coffee (with a coaster of course!) as this area will contain two stressless type chairs.

: Saloon – The split bulkhead cupboard – the front section missing here is pictured below being made in the workshop. Not sure if they can be made out here but we’ve added solid oak curved mouldings around the vertical corners creating a softer, more tactile feel to the fitout.

: This is the side panel for the cupboard pictured above this photo. The cupboard is split into different storage areas as Richard & Monica what to be able to store chairs in one side, coats in another and canal boat guides in the top section.

: This is the internal shelving for the cupboard

: And with the front panel in place – the top cupboard will have a drop down door so it can be accessed from the outside. The two vertical doors will open into each other from the centre support, this allows the far cupboard to be accessed from outside and the closest cupboard to be opened from inside the boat.

: Monica & Richard want to be able to seat six people at the dinette. Therefore Richard designed and asked use to build slide out seats into the each of the dinette seats. Both slide out seats pictured here will have a reversible lid which will have upholstered foam attached on the underside.The lids will then be lifted off and turned over to form the two seats. We’ll also be building a table extension that can also be used as a infill piece when the seats are out to form a large bed.

: Dinette – The chunky solid oak fronts to the pull out extension seats.

: The beg innings of the dinette table.

That’s all the news on boat build progress up until today (Thursday 29th September), i’ll update the blog again when we’ve made a bit more head way. I’m also currently working on plans for our next bespoke build that will be on a Tyler Wilson shell with a beautiful long Josher bow – but again i’ll update you all once the shell has been started. We’re looking forward to working with yet another well respected canal boat builder.

Justin, Jane & Team

Canal Boat Hire 2012

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:54:46 +0000

Well we’ve not even finished the 2011 season and we’re already receiving enquiries regarding canal boat holidays for the 2012 season! Hopefully that’s a good sign for the hire boat industry next year. Unlike some fleets we have had another good season this year at over 80% occupancy so far - although bookings have definitely been later than usual.

Our 2011 prices are being held for 2012 if booking before the end of October, so book early to avoid the price rise!
If you’re thinking of getting a way this year we only have the following weeks available:
Aqua Jeta – 1 week in October
Aqua Leven – 2 weeks in October
Aqua Vita – Short break in September & 2 weeks in October
Aqua Vie – 2 weeks in October
Aqua Bywyd – 1 week in September (price reduced)
(As of the 22nd August – Check out our online booking system for the very latest hire boat availability)
Hope to welcome you on board one of our luxury canal boats soon!
Justin, Jane & Team

Aqua Bywyd Complete

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:18:22 +0000

Aqua Bywyd was launched a few weeks ago and here are a few photos of the completed boat. Bywyd is our fifth hire boat and the forth Sponsored boat in the fleet. Graham & Lynn the owners are thrilled to bits with her and managed to take her out for a few days on a maiden voyage before the scratches and scrapes are added!

Graham & Lynn with their new Sponsored boat built by Aqua NarrowboatsBywyd moored at Alrewas

Bywyd has a semi cruiser stern - a cross between a semi trad and cruiser. The two lockers provide seating on each side of the boat.A closer view of Aqua Bywyd's semi-cruiser stern. The stable style doors are great to safely contain pets or young children whilst your cruising

Bywyd is a reverse layout boat with the galley at the stern making cruising a lot more sociable. Bywyd's galley has granite worktops and solid oak cupboard doors.Bywyd features an eye level oven and seperate hob, together with a microwave hidden out of view under the sweeping stairs.Bywyd like all of our hire boats have sweeping stairs to the stern to make access easier.Sweeping stairs from the galley to the semi cruiser stern

: Aqua Bywyd’s saloon with modern upholstery and furnishings

Seating area converts to two singles or one double

Glazed side doors - so a view can be enjoyed even in the rain when there closed! All Bywyd's windows are double glazed.

The fixed double berth cabin has doors at either end to provide total privacy. The cabin also has a full length wardrobe with shelves and hanging spaceModern bathroom with granite worktops, semi recessed basin, full size macerator toilet and full size shower cubicle with chrome bifold door (no mouldy curtain that sticks to you whilst in the shower!) . A huge custom made mirror fills the space with light from the downlighters.Top quality fittings are used throughout the boat.

Justin, Jane & Team – Aqua Narrowboats.

Narrowboat Honesty – Norton Canes’ 100th Shell

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:08:13 +0000

I can’t believe that my last blog update for Honesty was in December, how time flies! Since my last post the boat has been back to us a few times to continue with the build. Here’s some photos of progress since December.

My last post was when Honesty was at Norton Canes for painting and what a fantastic job Graham Edgson’s team made of her and Dave Moore’s signwriting looks superb.

Above & below – The cabin after Dave Moore’s scumbling. Jan worked incredibly hard to undercoat and prepare the back cabin. These photos are before Jan had picked out the wood beading in red paint.

Above: The stove is surrounded by Welsh slate as a heat shield.

Above: Thick solid oak steps lead up out of the boat – here they are covered with ply to protect them from splashes of paint.

Above – The completed Boatman’s Cabin – this was Jordan’s first Boatmans Cabin and what a fantastic job he made of it – well done Jordan. Jan’s painted the beading and what a diffence it makes, it suddenly brings the space to life. This bed hole is 4′ 6″ wide making it a lot more comfortable than the traditional 4′ wide standard bed holes.

Above – Instead of a traditional Boatman’s solid fuel stove at the stern, Jan went for a small diesel Glembrig stove purchased through Kuranda Marine. Having felt the warmth of the heat it produces, it’s impressive for such a small and compact unit – and no need to store any additional coal.

Above – The seating area will be upholstered by Jan.

Above: Embracing advances in technology Jan & John opted for LED lighting in the cabin roof.

Above: Jan has made all the pull cords herself and all are colour co-ordinated to compliment the colours in each cabin.

Above: Dave Moore’s decoration sets the whole cabin off.

Above & Below – Engine controls disguised by a decorative panel when not in use.

Above – The completed galley.

Above & Below – The galley cupboard doors without the stained glass inserts.

Above & Below – And with the stained glass panels in place and back lit. These panels are influenced by the seed heads of the plant Honesty, which the boat was named after.

Above: The dividing door between the saloon and bathroom featuring another beautiful piece of stained glass. The stained glass was commissioned by Jan from Dave Griffin a Derbyshire based stained glass artist.

Above – The space saving split doors leading from the bathroom into the engine room/utility area.

Above: Bathroom with colourful basin and accessories hand made in Mexico

Above & Below – Solid oak flooring being laid in the saloon and galley.

Above – Solid Oak bespoke made led light holders. Jan wanted to ensure that the lights lit up her collection watercolour & oil paintings that she’ll be hanging on the cabin sides, Jordan came up with the idea of these small angled holders. The screws holes seen here have since been plugged with solid oak.

Above – Solid oak pigeon box linings.

Above & below: Jan & John moved on board in April so that they could put there existing boat onto brokerage. They commissioned Elite furnishings to make this sofa bed and pair of foot stools in a deep red, which, with the oak floor and Tongue & Groove panelling, creates a lovely warmth to the cabin.

Above & below: One of the final items made before Jan & John left us for a few months were these ingenious folding steps for the side hatch. A number of years ago Jan & John had a part share in a boat that had very similar space saving steps that Jan wanted to incorporate onto Honesty. Those steps folded completely, but as the Honesty steps are situated in the saloon, we came up with idea of keeping the bottom step in the normal flat position when closed, creating a small shelf when not in use for 80% of the time. The photo above is the steps in the closed position and the photo below is in the open position. Once again these are built in solid oak.

Honesty will be back with us for a week in August – where we’ll be concentrating on getting the utility/engine room finished, the last major job to be completed.

Justin, Jane & Team

Aqua Bywyd

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:52:40 +0000

Well, a very belated welcome to Graham & Lynn the owners of the latest sponsored boat we are currently fitting out for our fleet.Aqua Bywyd (chosen by Graham & Lynn and meaning life in Welsh – following our Water Life boat name theme) is a 58ft, 4+2 reverse layout and will be launched in July. As with all our hire boats she is being built to five star standards and will include double glazing and granite worktops as Jeta before her. Here’s a few photos of the build progress so far:

Above: Hull being fabricated.

Above: Cabin now in place.

Above & Below: Graham & Lynn spotted the Semi Cruiser stern we did on our last bespoke boat Tom Kitten and asked if they could have a similar stern on the hire boat which we were happy to accommodate. I think this will be a good choice for our hirer’s too as it makes the stern a lot more sociable.

Above: With the steelwork complete the shell is craned onto a wagon at our shell builders and taken straight to the painters, S & G refinishers who sand blast the steel work and spray paint the boat with Two Paint Epoxy Paint for us.

Above: A couple of weeks later and the shell has been painted in our corporate colours and arrives at our workshop & base at Mercia Marina ready for the fitout to commence.

Above: Touch down in the water – the straps always stay on whilst the boat is fully checked as this is the first time she has seen water.

Above: The craning in of Bywyd was watched closely by her sponsored owners Graham & Lynn. They intend to sail off in her in four years time when she comes out of the fleet.

Above: A few days later the upgraded double glazed windows arrive and are installed to ensure the boat is water tight so the fitout can commence.

Above: Now watertight the wooden battens are installed – these battens are what the timber lining of the boat is attached too. Shortly after the battens were installed, the boat was spray foam insulated to ensure it stays warm and cosy all year round.

Above: Once spray foamed the whole cabin is lined which Oak veneered Plywood. The above photo was taken before all the timber bulkheads (dividing walls) have been installed. Notice all the wiring tails for both the 12v and 240v electrics have been installed too. At this point all the separate cabins are measured and marked out on the floor and any adjustments made and then the main fit out work commences.

Above: Galley installed – here the templates have been made for the granite worktops. Also the cabin sides and ceiling has been painted with white eggshell to provide a bright and modern look to the boats interior.

Above: Looking from the saloon backwards towards the galley at the stern.

Above: The sweeping stairs have been installed together with the cupboard that will accommodate a microwave initially and then possibly a washing machine when the owners take over the boat.

Above: Our trademark solid oak scroll surrounding the hatch opening leading into the sweeping stairs.

Above: Looking forward from the saloon towards the bow of the boat through the double and single cabins.

Above: The fixed double bed, since this photograph has been taken we’ve now built a floor to ceiling wardrobe. There will also be a dividing door between this bedroom and the saloon.

Above: The vanity unit has been started in the bathroom. This will have a granite worktop with inset basin.

Above: The shower cubicle has been started too.

Above: This is the front cabin that will contain two singles that will also convert to one double bed. This will also contain a floor to ceiling wardrobe as well as a second TV & DVD player, ideal as an additional living space in the evening if the boat is fully occupied. More updates to follow as work progresses on Bywyd.

I’ve still to update the blog with details of our next bespoke build that will be arriving with us shortly as well as an update of nb Honesty – hopefully i should be able to do this by the end of the week, as usual i’ve never enough hours in the day – hence why i’m posting this at 11 oclock in the evening!! Please check back again soon.

Justin, Jane & Team

Aqua Jeta Launched

admin — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:04:00 +0000

After a hectic week of putting the final touches to the boat Aqua Jeta our new sponsored hire boat was launched last Saturday 7th May. The first hirers were a newly wed couple on their honeymoon for two weeks which was a particularly special launch for the boat. They are currently on their way around the four counties ring and should be somewhere on the Shroppie as I type – so wave and say hi if you see them!

Here’s a few photos of the boat a few weeks before completion and some others of the completed Aqua Jeta.

Galley – With granite worktops and flooring in place.

Saloon – woodwork completed but still requiring varnishing

Saloon – looking back towards the stern doors, Jeta is a reverse layout hire boat.

Above – The electrics cupboard in the galley – Ian & Lyndon our Engineers have made a fantastic job of the all the electrics, plumbing and engine installation. Everything, whether on show or not, has been meticulously installed, here all the switches and controls have been aligned perfectly – all our employees and boat build customers know how i like everything to be symmetrical, I’m sure they think i’ve some sort of disorder!

Bathroom – Granite worktop and semi recessed bowl in place. The wiring hanging down is for the under shelf lights in the bedroom which were passed through the bulkhead. Jordan our Lead Carpenter has crafted the Aqua waves out of solid oak and put them on the lighting pelmet (top left of the photo) to add interest and a bit of corporate identity!

Bedroom – looking forward leading onto the front deck, all done bar the varnishing.

Above – Solid oak handrail complete and in place. Rear apron also completed by Roy at Midway Upholstery. Deck board at this point were still in the workshop so the temporary ones are in place here.

The next few shots are of the completed boat

Above & below- All ready to go on the morning of hire.

Above – Stern doors. Engine control panel above the electrical cupboard – as a main dealer for Engines Plus we are now installing the Canaline range of engines into all of new hire boats.

Above – Galley, we went with a splash of red to add a colour theme through the boat.

Galley – Looking forward through towards the saloon.

Saloon – Complete with 19″ LCD TV & DVD. Like all our hire boats the seating converts into either two singles and a double for maximum flexibility. It’s also worth noting that the windows are all double glazed, meaning that condensation is greatly reduced.

Above & below- Glazed side hatch adding more light into the saloon and galley. The tables can be seen stored below the gunnels.

Above – As with all our hire boats we have added roman blinds to all windows for a cleaner and more modern look.

Above & Below: Bathroom – large custom made mirror with downlighters providing a feeling of additional space. The Aqua waves can be seen more clearly in the photo below.

Above & Below: Bedroom – which has an additional TV & DVD player.

Well done to all the team that helped out with the fitout – Jordan, Ben & Josh, our Carpenters and our Engineers Ian & Lyndon. The owners are thrilled with their boat so many thanks to all.

Now that Jeta is complete we’ll be straight on with the fitout of Aqua Bywyd another sponsored hire boat being launched in July of this year. Here’s a couple of photos (below) of her being craned into our base at Mercia Marina - the boat has already been spray painted and went straight to the painters premises from Colecraft. More about boat painting in my next up date.

Thats all for now.

Cheers Justin, Jane & Team

Aqua Jeta

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:58:00 +0000

Finally I have a few spare moments to update you all with the progress of Jeta, our latest sponsored hire boat. So many people have been asking about how progress is going, but i just haven’t had chance to update the blog until now – so here’s a few photos taken over a week ago now.

Above – Galley worktop templates fitted and ready to be taken to the granite suppliers.

Above – Engine control panel in place, the 240v and 12v circuits boards have also been installed inside the cupboard.

Above: Oven has been fitted and connected to gas supply pipe.

Above – sweeping stairs in place, this is slightly different to Aqua Leven as we’ve installed a full height cupboard to accommodate a compact washing machine once the owners take over the boat in four years. As this will contain a microwave in the mean time, we’ve installed a mesh grill to allow for ventilation.

Above – Our trade mark solid oak curved block on the corner of the hatch leading you into the boat.

Above: Galley looking from stern.

Above – Gas connections in place. The little green box is a 12v spark generator for the hob.

Above & Below Saloon – work has started on the seating.

Above – The solid oak capping’s have been put in place on the cabin top.

Above – TV cabinet in place.

Above & Below – Vanity unit with worktop template, this will have granite on to match the galley.

Bedroom – Bed installed, this has an upgraded stainless steel waste tank situated underneath.

Above: Engine in place and just a couple of days off being fully commissioned.

Jeta has now been craned out of the water ready to be taken to a local company who spray paint narrowboats. As we work to tight deadlines we have decided to look a spray painting as an option for our boat builds. Having seen boats spray painted with the same Two Pack Epoxy finish the results are virtually flawless, the colours are also less susceptible to fading and the whole process is quicker than hand painting. Here’s a few photos of the craning out.

All ready for her short journey to the spray shop. Whilst see is gone Jordan and the team will still be continuing with making doors and the movable seating cubes as various measurements have been taken.

I intend to go across to the spray shop next week so i’ll update again with photos and mention a little more about the company involved.

Justin, Jane & Team.
Ps – We are finally up to speed with Facebook and have our own page that we also keep updated with various snippets from the business – just follow the link at the top of the page.

Tom Kitten complete & so on with the next build..

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:51:00 +0000

It’s been all hands on deck (quite literally) during the last week as we prepared for the handover of Tom Kitten to owners Phil & Debbie on Saturday. Although we’ve a few small jobs (putting up a couple of coat hooks and touching in some small marks on the white cabin panelling) it didn’t stop the handover on a very wet Saturday last weekend. Phil & Debbie have become good friends with Peter & Mel owners of n/b Eunoia which we built in 2009, and for n/b Tom Kittens’ inaugural trip Peter & Mel are joining them on board there own boat for a weeks cruise down onto the River Trent. Say hi if you see them! Here’s a few photos of the completed boat.

Above – Tom Kitten being watered and filled with diesel on the quay

Above – Final coat of two pack varnish to the cratch board and connections being made for the aerial.

Above – Jordan’s custom built headlight, horn and aerial bracket.

Above – Tom Kitten’s semi cruiser stern deck. The locker to the left is the gas locker, the one to the right is for storage only. Both of these extend down into the engine bay by a good 5″ so they are particularly spacious gas and storage areas. The bonus of having a stern gas locker like this is that it’s far easier to manoeuvre gas bottles in and out during changeovers compared to those normally positioned in the bow, especially if you also have to contend with a cratch board and cover.

Above – A little about the LED under gunnel lighting. Most of the photos below have been taken with the under gunnel RGB (Red, Green, Blue) LED lighting strips switched on. The LED’s take a fraction of the ampage draw from the batteries compared to the halogen lights placed in the cabin roof throughout the boat. The lights more than adequately provide enough ambient lighting whilst watching TV or relaxing and we’ve all been impressed by their performance. The thin flexible strips are controlled by the remote control pictured above. They can be instantly switched to any of the colours on the pad - it has been suggested by one of the team that they can also be used as a romantic barometer, Green for ‘I’m in the mood’ and Red for ‘Don’t even think about it!’ The lights have been sourced from Kuranda

Above – The completed galley, unfortunately the venetian blinds for the windows didn’t arrive in time when taking the photos. Phil & Debbie are considering the installation of some shelving on the small bulkheads at the far end of the galley. They’ll decide this after spending a few weeks on board to see if their needed first.

Above – The rest of the blinds for the saloon did arrive and were supplied and installed by Ned of Cabincare

Above – The black dinette cushions in place together with the upholstered removable back rest closest to the camera. i think i’ve explained in a previous post that this can be lifted out and placed on the opposite side of the seat creating a small sofa facing the saloon. The upholstery was carried out by Roy of Midway Upholstery in Lichfield.

Above & Below – The domestic styled hob and oven.

Above: Galley looking forward towards the saloon. The granite is called Star Galaxy which has silver coloured flecks that shine and sparkle in the light. The granite has been curved around the walkway into the dinette area.

Above – Ian has made a fantastic job of the wiring, plumbing, gas and mechanical installations on the boat. Together with the help of Lyndon our other engineer, the systems have been meticulosy installed even though a lot of their work is hidden out of view.

Above – Prior to finishing; Inside the electrical cupboard controlling the 12v and 240v circuits throughout the boat.

Above – The finished solid oak paddle steps. As these will get a lot of use and will be exposed to wet boots they have been treated with an epoxy resin and finished with a hard wearing varnish.

Above & Below – The saloon area, the seats convert to form either two singles or a double and have been supplied by Elite Furnishings. In both the saloon and dinette areas the under gunnel lighting gives off a fantastic reflection on the stainless steel radiators, something i couldn’t quite manage to capture in these photos.

Above – The diesel corner stove and TV cabinet.

Above – The Saloon looking towards the galley at the stern.

Above – …And again with just the under gunnel lighting on.

Above – The mirrors installed on the bathroom bulkheads create an illusion of extra space.

Above – The vanity sink with curved granite worktop in Star Galaxy to match the galley.

Above – The extra large 900mm quadrant shower cubicle.

Above – More under gunnel lighting in the bathroom too!

Above – The shiney chrome finish on the double glazed portholes look fantastic with the halogen downlighters reflecting on them.

Above – Phil & Debbie decided to go for a domestic china bowl macerator toilet. The controls to the left are the electric flush buttons and tank gauge level indicator. The stainless steel towel raditor has been sourced to match the rest of the radiators, all of which are controlled by thermostatic valves.

Above & Below – The front cabin with kingsize cross bed. The round upholstered pads on the bed are known as ’Bungs’ and are placed in the portholes at night for privacy. The chrome step lights can also be seen here, these are controlled by the light switch on the cabin side which also controls an outdoor light situated in the cratch over the outside deck.

Above & Below – The cubby hole lights work a treat, creating just enough light to check the time in the night without disturbing your partner.

Above – Looking through from the bedroom into the bathroom and saloon beyond. Another mirror has been added above the dressing table.

Above – The bedroom in girly pink mode…

Above – ….or in green ‘I’m in the mood’ mode..

Above – ….or as in the majority of occassions red ’Don’t even think about it’ mode!

As mentioned above handover day was last Saturday, which typically was the worst day for rain all week, but i still managed to take a few photos of Phil & Debbies first trip out of the marina.

Above – Phil, Debbie and Daughter Hayley reversing off our mooring. Tom Kitten will be moored in Mercia for a year until being moved closer to home.

Above - Steady as she goes….making the turn towards the marina exit.

Above – Cruising past Eunoia built by us in 2009, Peter & Mel are joining them on their first journey out.

Above – And off they sail….

Above – ….followed closer by Peter on n/b Eunoia.

That concludes the blog fitout of Tom Kitten, thanks to all our team Jordan, Ben, Josh, Ian and Lyndon for all their hard work, as ever the team have done us proud. Thanks also to Phil & Debbie for their valued custom.

I’ll shortly be commencing the blog for the fitout of our next sponsored hire boat Aqua Jeta which is currently being battened ready for sprayfoaming this wednesday.

That’s all for now

Justin, Jane and Team