Finally she's here and we're painting her

We really were beginning to think we weren't going to see this happen - at least not in time for this season. We'd set so many criteria that the new boat would have to meet, and at times it seemed that even though we were looking the length and breadth of the UK, such a boat could not exist, but finally she's arrived - so exciting! It's really nice to be able to start our new blipfoto blog with such great news.

She took two days to get here from Newcastle on the back of John's 'wide load' low loading lorry. Getting her off was quite a feat, and it took a couple of hours before she was settled in to her undercover area (think big, big tent) in Alan's boatyard at Waterloo.

She's staying there for a few days till we've painted her and spruced her up ready for the new season. She's all we could have hoped for in terms of size and space - not too much freeboard, uncluttered deck and viewing area, plus all the electronic equipment you could ever wish for.

Her previous owner was a marine engineer and we reckon he must have taken the engine out each night and tucked it up beside him - talk about pristine and well looked after! Thanks so much Mike, we'll look after her here, and you can always drop by and visit her :)