A lucky find

My local knowledge of Suffolk and a brief scan of the internet, identified Ely as being the first place to start looking for a boat and mooring. Ely is a beautiful place situated in the Fens of East Anglia. Steeped in history and tradition, the town lies on the banks of the River Great Ouse (what a name!) and, being only a 40 minute drive from home and in the centre of the Fens, made it a prime location.



A day out to look at a narrowboat being advertised at the Ely Marina was planned but as we walked along the waters edge, we came across a brightly painted, boat called Midnight with a hand written sign in its window saying, 'For Sale'.


We tapped on the door, and out popped a head - it turned out to be the boat’s builder Mick Sparrow, followed closely behind by Gena, his wife. We were invited in and shown around their newly completed boat. After a coffee and a chat, and lots of questions and answers we left to think if this could be the boat we were looking for. It seemed all a bit odd, finding a boat so soon - the first we looked at. The price was good. It had everything we wanted. It was new, built to a high standard and would not have any of the problems associated with an old boat. Mick and Gena appeared very open, honest and trustworthy so we started to think about this option as a real possibility. We continued to run these questions through our heads as we walked back to the boat with the intention of speaking to Mick and Gena again. When we got back to waters edge, we found another couple in conversation with M&G. We sat down and waited politely for them to go. When they finally went, we sat down inside the boat and started to express our interest in terms of a hard cash offer to be told that the other couple had just done the same and their offer had been accepted.


While this was bit of a blow, we had not had time to get this particular boat too far into our thoughts so our disappointment was minimal. It was more of surprise really that something as expensive as a boat could be sold from the quayside in such quick-time. However, Mick and Gena were sorry that were disappointed and wanted to help so offered to build us another boat, to our specification for much the same price. It all sounds a bit surreal but that's how it all began.