Update (Financial and otherwise)

Have been refraining from posting, as so much has been in flux, and I wanted to wait til things had settled a bit.

Financial news first. I did go tothe bank, and to my surprise, they didn't throw me out on my ear. He said it was very likely that they could offer me something, having looked at my details. And although I wouldnt go for a loan with the Halifax (my bank) it did sound promising!

Anyway, when James and I arrived in Cambridge on Saturday, we found that the latest issue of Canal Boat featured Just Maggie II, one of our 'Top 5'. This caused a minor panic, given that it was one of our favourites. I phoned Whilton there and then, to see if we could perhaps go and visit it,and start the whole process rolling. However, they explained that Maggie was in need of a £7-9k hull repair, by an iron specialist. This was also the reason for the £8k price drop last month. We entertained the idea of buying it anyway, but soon decided that as a first boat it was too much to take on, especially if we needed to move in immediately.

However, the immediacy of the situation, and the shock of findingout just how different a boat can be from its description on a website has made us seriously think about moving our time schedule forwards. That is, we need to start viewing boats NOW not next month!

So we called up the next boat on the list: Rebecca Isis. Sold. Pants :( But all is not lost. We have a new, proactive timescale and a lot of boats to look at!