We've made many decisions over the past two years as you can imagine, some good and some bad. "Body and Soul" was built by the Liverpool Boat Company through our "Brokers", the New Boat Company of Hanbury, who supervised the building of "Her" on our behalf. We were obliged to employ a Certified Marine Surveyor to enable us to comply with all regulations. Once this was done, we registered "Body and Soul" with the Small Ships Register (UK) (SSR120892) She wears this number, proudly, on her port side where it can be seen at all times.
On delivery from Liverpool to Hanbury she was already partially completed to our specifications, with windows, bulkheads (walls), wood paneling, engine, basic wiring and electrical systems installed. Fitting her out with bathroom, kitchen and bedroom was completed at Hanbury Wharf by another small two-man firm who took ten weeks to do it. We were very much involved at this stage in influencing what our new home was to look and feel like and how it would operate. It was a good relationship and on the whole we got what we wanted without spending too much on trimmings but quite a lot on the best equipment.
Good decision (eventually): We initially were against the idea of installing the more traditional wood burner because we reckoned that a central heating system would be cleaner, easier and more efficient. Wrong! We love our Jotul wood burner and find our fuel all over the place in France, where they know a lot about wood and its management. Our Eberspacher central heating system failed so many times that we had a complete reversal, a u-turn in thinking which is proving to be a completely great idea and so economical. But apart from the practical aspects, it has added the "Soul" to the "Body" just as a real fire does to a conventional sitting room. We love it. (Janie, you were right after all!)
