Narrowboat "Mr Jinks"

Introduction

"Mr Jinks" is our second narrowboat. Like many people, we started our narrowboating lives by buying a cheaper, older boat, only to discover that cheaper, older boats aren't as cheap as they first appear! Once you've taken account of the expense of repairs and refitting the older boat to get it how you want it, you've spent just as much on an old boat as you would on a new one, to say nothing of the time you spend on it!

So, in January 2004, we decided that it was time to move upmarket. After two years of giving us some great times out boating, our current boat "Genesis" was sold, and we put in an order for "Mr Jinks" with Lees Narrowboats.

Sailaway Superior

"Mr Jinks" is a Sailaway Superior, which means that she arrived fully lined out, and with bulkheads already in place, all the wiring installed and the exterior gloss painted. The builders did all the back-breaking donkey work, leaving us to complete the fit out.

Design

The big advantage of this being our second boat is that we've had two years of finding out what works for us, and what doesn't. There are some things that we want to copy from "Genesis", and some that we want to do a different way.

Things we will be doing the same
A large (as large as possible) dual sided galley at the stern	very handy for mugs of tea for the steerer, and keeps dirty feet off the carpets
Thetford Cassette Toilet	we've never understood why people want to carry hundreds of gallons of sewage around with them
Fixed double bed	The luxury of having a bed that you don't have to put together every time you want to lie down is priceless
Things we will be changing
Move the dinette next to the kitchen	We've struggled carrying meals half the length of the boat
Change from a cruiser to a semi-trad stern	We like the look of the traditional stern, but we like the space that the cruiser stern offered us. The semi-trad is an ideal compromise for us.
Modern Vetus engine	The Lister STW2 was great. It sounded great, people liked it, but they didn't have to lovingly tend it, and they weren't going deaf because of it!
Compact wardrobe	4 feet of wardrobe with extra standing space in front was great, but it wasted a lot of space. By having a double depth wardrobe, we save 2ft.
A slightly shorter boat	"Genesis" was 60', which gave us lots of space, but there are places where 60' boats just can't go, so we've opted for 58' which can get almost everywhere. the smaller decks mean that we actually get a whole foot more inside.
Bubble stove	You just can't beat a real fire, but we want to get rid of all that soot!

Plans

Just as soon as we've drawn the plans, they'll be here

Diary

The diary page tells you what has happened so far