A little background information

The John Gray was originally a 36ft horse drawn narrowboat built for the Cromford Canal Society in 1977 (YouTube video). Since then she has been stretched twice to a length of just over 60ft, had a cabin fitted, been converted to have solar powered electric propulsion, lived in, had an identity crisis (name change), and even hosted a wedding reception (see page 10 of PDF).

We bought her in November 2012 with very little experience and even less of an understanding of the task we were undertaking. She was a bare shell, ripe to be fitted out and lived on. Or at least, that's what we told ourselves.

It didn't take us long to realise that the cabin was what professionals and amateurs alike would describe as a "bodge". Unfortunately it took us a little longer to realise that we couldn't live with these bodges and a new cabin was in order.

So this is where our journey begins...

The John Gray working the Cromford Canal. (photo borrowed from Narrowboat Starcross)