BOATING ON THE THAMES

I know most barges don't have steering chairs - it's just not the barge-y thing to do (you're supposed to be made of sterner stuff). But we spent five years cruising along the Thames in one when we had our little Dutch river boat - see above - and found it very relaxing. Especially on the five hour trips from Wargrave to Goring.  So we decided to buy an adjustable barstool on ebay and managed to get the one in the photo for 0.99p plus £9.99 postage and packaging. I couldn't believe it. It's brand new! But because there's a tiny cut in the faux leather no-one else wanted it. We tested it recently and I have to admit that it has completely transformed my barging experience. When I'm standing at the helm I get restless and fidget a lot. But when I'm sitting down I can - quite literally - sit back and take it all in. What's more, it's multi-functional. Because when lowered, our boaty barstool fits under the dinette table in the wheelhouse or out ...

Three life changing things have happened since my last post on A Man, A Woman and a Boat: 1. I became Mrs J (we got married in September 2013) 2. I closed findaTVexpert.com (earlier this year in fact) 3. We bought a 15 mtr Piper barge which has made boating on the Thames even more wonderful Happy Chance (the barge) is our third boat, as we upgraded from our original 7.5mtr Antaris Dutch cruiser to a slightly bigger Diamond Dutch cruiser in 2012. She came down from Stoke on Trent on the back of a truck and was launched at the Thames & Kennet Marina in May 2015. I wrote a piece about our first year on Happy Chance for the Piper Boat website. I could copy and paste it into this post, but the photo layout wouldn't work as well. So here's the link instead: http://www.piperboats.com/owners-articles-22/