UK canals. When we were first married we hired a boat with his parents and some friends and had a great time, so that sowed the seed. Shortly afterward I was left some money, just enough to have a 60-foot narrow boat built. I could just afford the engine and water tank, but nothing else. With the help of his parents we fitted it out. I remember we bought old bus windows for it from a breakers yard. We were living on his parents’ cruiser while doing this. In those days everything was much more basic. More like camping! We had just one battery for lights. It was a while before my daughter came along and we were just like a couple of kids playing house! We had no hot water. When she was born we got a gas water heater, but had no shower so I used to bath her in the kitchen sink. We had a coal stove for heating and used to strip wash in front of it with a bowl of water. My first husband was not very good at working or responsibility, so it became difficult with a child to care for. We moved up to the north to work on a Leeds and Liverpool short boat (a traditional working boat from that area), but it was hard for me. This is where I met partner number two who was a boat engineer! We moved to Oxford and I left the boat for a short while. We lived in a flat by the river as he got a job working for Salter Brothers who ran the trip boats there. During this time he built us a boat and we bought another two, so we had a small fleet. Also during this time my son was born. We moved onto one of the boats, sold the one he built and kept the other which was a butty boat (a 70-foot unpowered boat that is towed by the motor boat), the idea being that it would be a workshop. We traveled around as much as we could, usually to work at different boat yards around the country. The children went to a few different schools. Eventually we settled for a while in Braunston, which is a small village, but quite famous on the UK waterways as a center for old working boats. During
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this time my daughter left home to study art in London. My relationship ended and I took the boat down south to be near my sister. Partner number three and my husband since 1999. Rod, was working on old narrow boats in Braunston and has been on working boats for a long time. We both have a love of boats and traveling, and together have visited several countries, always checking out the boats. We traveled on the Amazon for four days and the Mekong for a couple of days during these travels. We spent several years at a small boat yard in the northwest of England, working, saving money, and traveling when we could. The boat, which I had had since the late ‘70s, had a wooden cabin, was 70-feet long and the maintenance was getting tiresome. It was the boat that I had brought the children up on, so I had a huge sentimental attachment, but it needed new owners and we wanted to buy a wide-beam craft and explore larger waterways. We wanted an old boat but settled on a new build replica Dutch barge that wasn’t very well built or fitted out, but gave us the space we wanted and we could just about afford it. That pretty much brings us to now! We cruised around the rivers in the north of the UK for a couple of years while Rod checked out the possibility of working from the boat. The UK canal system has become very busy and can be frustrating, so we are now into our third year cruising on the continent. We’re currently in France but heading back to the Netherlands which we both love. However, I am missing the UK and children and grandchildren, so we plan to return sometime next year. We hope to explore the waterways in the south. Cruising Outpost: Over the years you have seen many changes in your community. What are they? Anne Laurd: I think that since technology has made life on board a lot easier, more people consider it a possible lifestyle. With inverters it is possible to have freezers, washing machines, electric kettles, toasters,
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