For the past twenty-five years, boats have quietly shaped our life together, marking each chapter of our relationship with a different hull, horizon, and sense of adventure. It all began modestly, with a small Larson bow rider bought when we were first dating. She wasn’t grand or glamorous, but she was freedom.

Weekends were spent learning the rhythms of the water, figuring out terminology, weather, and each other, all while discovering that life felt better afloat. As the years passed, our confidence grew and so did the boats.

One motorboat led to another, each a little larger, a little more capable, mirroring our growing ambitions. The true highlight of this era came with the purchase of a 50-foot Prestige motor yacht. She opened the door to genuine passage-making and unforgettable journeys.

From Cornwall we crossed the Channel to France, then pushed on across the Bay of Biscay to northern Spain. Eventually, we followed the sun south to the Algarve, savouring the blend of challenge and exhilaration that long coastal passages bring.

Yet even that wasn’t enough.

Somewhere along the Portuguese coast, we realised we wanted more than Europe had to offer. We felt an irresistible pull toward the Atlantic and the dream of exploring the inter-coastal waterways of the United States.

To do that, we made a bold change, selling the motorboat and buying a sailing catamaran. In 2018, we crossed the Atlantic, an experience that tested us, thrilled us, and rewarded us in equal measure. Life slowed to wind speed, days were measured in watches, and the ocean became both adversary and companion.

Eventually, life nudged us toward calmer waters. When our dog, Banjo, became too old for ocean passages, we brought him home to the UK, settling into an apartment and promising ourselves a quieter chapter. That promise lasted only a few months.

Restlessness crept back in, and on a whim we called Ovation Boats who had a stock boat available and bought our first narrowboat in May 2023. Within a month, we realised we were completely captivated. Canal life offered us everything we cherished about a nomadic lifestyle, minus the stress of storms or rough seas.

Understanding this was now our long-term plan, we reached out to Chris at Ovation Boats to see if he was keen on crafting our ideal narrowboat. Apart from perhaps thinking we were a tad mad to order a second boat so soon, Chris was genuinely thrilled to be part of our entirely bespoke project.

We spent a few months designing and planning, as this needed to be our forever boat, so we were intensely focused on quality of life features that would ensure our new home was comfortable throughout the year. Some aspects were a bit unconventional for a traditional narrowboat builder, but we found the team at Ovation to be completely supportive of our requirements, from the underfloor heating system to the Smart Glass in the skylight, or the hybrid diesel/electric propulsion system to the Tent Box on the roof of the boat—every item on our must-have list was met with enthusiasm and a solution-oriented approach.

Over the next eight months, we made regular visits to the boatyard, refining various aspects of the design, sometimes tweaking plans here and there; it truly felt as though the boat was being constructed around us. More than that, the connection we forged with the craftsmen and women involved in the build and the insight we gained into the process has made our bond with this boat feel more tangible—I’m not sure every builder would welcome so much client interaction, but we are incredibly grateful for the relationship we’ve developed with the team at Ovation, all of whom we now consider friends.

We are small personal team of professional boatbuilders with a range of skills from apprentice to experienced.

Offering a broad spectrum of ‘Charnwood’ fully fitted steel boats from the all-electric short narrowboat ‘Charnwood Hobbit’ to the Dutch barge style ‘Charnwood Euro’.

07963 974 793
https://www.ovationboats.co.uk