mb Willow

There is a new boat on The River Cam.

Not quite 'a new kid on the block', as this one was built in 1935........

James and Amy, late of nb Lucky Duck, and now of Tree Class Severner, mb Willow, have, after a somewhat epic voyage, arrived safe in home waters.

I have been tracking their progress and nightly blogposts carefully.

(Indeed, when what turned out to be a much needed pub session in the company of fellow boaters delayed a post a couple of days ago, I was on the cusp of scrambling the Sea Kings, thinking perhaps they'd been torpedoed.....)

But all is well.

I caught up with James and Amy at The Bridge Hotel at Clayhithe this evening after work. My friend Jane from The Hole Making Shop came too.

What an absolutely beautiful boat Willow is!

And I'll tell you what, it don't half take a while to walk past it!

(She's circa 72 feet long.......)

And the interior!

Goodness me!

Such woodwork!

Such quality!

While she's very much a work in progress at the moment, you can just see the sheer love that the previous owner has shovelled into that boat in spades.

I can think of no better people than James and Amy to continue that work and bring it to completion (if, indeed, a boat can ever truly be called 'finished'....).

It is a privilege to witness the beginning of something as significant as James and Amy's ownership of 'Willow'.

For a start, you just know they aren't going to muck it up!

No.

This is home.

Family home.

For many, many years.

James showed me the kitchen he and Amy had installed with a certain pride:

"You could bathe a baby in that sink, John...' he said........

Well, give them time, ................but watch this space, people!

:-)