Checking out pre-loved narrowboats at Sawley Marina

One of our options for having a narrowboat is finding a secondhand (I prefer the term "pre-loved myself) narrowboat.  Sawley Marina is pretty local to us and usually has a good selection of used boats to peruse

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and other people's thoughts had turned to finding a boat as there was a queue to get boat keys from the Boat Sales Office. After filling in a card with our details (including email address and phone number) we were given a handful of narrowboat keys on big round cork keyrings and left to view boat on our own (hurray - I hate accompanied viewings)

Five narrowboat, five TOTALLY different interiors and layouts. One was so cramped inside (it had two tractor seats squeezed onto a traditional stern for example) that we had to get straight off. Others looked wonderful from the outside and were less appealing inside. One had a shower room but no toilet . . . . on closer inspection, there had been a freestanding Porta Potti which had been removed.  Some had traditional engine rooms - but these smelled oily, and one had a wonderful boatmans cabin. One was a tug-style boat and had two single berths tucked under the well deck - perhaps an idea we can utilise . . .

Five viewings later, there was nothing there that came near what we are looking for. However, we picked up lots of ideas of things we liked and things we didn't. What worked for us, and what didn't. And we got up close and personal with cratch covers for the first time (gosh - don't they get hot?  It all comes under the activity of "research".