Thank you!
We would like to thank all those that holidayed with us this summer. We had a great summer season and our bookings were all we had hoped for. In particular we want to thank those of you who tell friends and acquaintances about your holidays afloat as this is by far our biggest source of new enquiries and bookings. Not only do we take it as the biggest compliment we can get but it helps ensure that we can continue operating with confidence in what have been uncertain times.

Photos
Each season we receive many photos from guests which are always appreciated as we have very little time or opportunity to take photos ourselves. The prize for this seasons best picture has to go to this fantastic shot of a kingfisher. Sightings of these notoriously shy birds are few and far between so to be able to grab a shot of this quality of one sitting still as we approach deserves special mention. So good in fact we have featured it in the new brochure. Many thanks to Margaret Murphy for sending it through and praise for a quick eye!

Kerala progress
As we type, Kerala makes good progress. She is about 1 week away from being put into the water but really looks like a boat now with sides, roof, bow and stern. It really is amazing how quickly the steelwork comes together and we are so pleased with how Colecraft have taken on board all the things we particularly wanted. We have learnt so much from boating with Rose for the last 3 seasons that we had a very clear idea of what worked on a boat that was towing a butty… and what didn’t. We obviously won’t know for sure how she handles or what her hydrodynamics are like, until she’s in the water with engine and prop ready to go but we are very excited by the prospect.

On an interior note we are busy ordering all the things which make a boat, not just liveable, but comfortable. Having fitted out Karnataka 2 years ago we have a good idea of what materials to use and those guests that have been with us before will know the high standard to which she was fitted. Kerala will be no different and even, possibly, having learnt the odd trick or two from last time, she may well be even better. We have no doubt that she will be ready well in time for the beginning of the season, as she is already 2 months ahead of the butty, giving us plenty of time to complete those finishing touches!

On another interesting note it seems that life on the canals does come around in cycles of a sort. Having made the decision to fit Kerala out on the wharf of Tooleys Historic Boatyard in Banbury (est. 1790 and start point for Rolt’s epic journey in 1939) we have since found out that it was also the location for the fit out of Mable & Forget-me-not, the hotelboats on which Hanna’s Dad, Stephen, started his canal career as crew in 1968.

Galley cooking
After so many requests Hanna has finally made a commitment to produce her own cook book. Nothing quite so fancy as Gordon Ramsay's latest, but she hopes to include a few of those recipes which are obvious guest favourites and in particular those that she has designed or adapted herself. Details of this are promised for the April newsletter and we will have copies of the book on board for purchase next season.

A big Thankyou to Steve & Jill
Our crew for this season deserve a particular thank you given that their uncomplaining hard work helped our season go so smoothly. Steve and Jill did a stunning job not only of working the boats through the locks but also of entertaining and looking after our guests. Their strength of character and obvious enjoyment and love for the canals always won out even on the harder days. They have both decided to make a move back to their day jobs behind the wheels of HGV’s and we wish them both the best of luck with that or whatever else they choose to do.

To finish, here is an extract of a lyric written by one of our guests this summer. We hope you like it as much as we do.

Our hosts are John and Hanna, jolly fine hosts they be
John is not the captain as those are all at sea
He is called the steersman or so we have been told
For all that we passengers say he’s the skipper bold
Our hostess draws attention when we hear the dinner gong
Then there’s her image as a navvy bow hauling the butty along
First rate was our first assessment of Hanna
All in all she conducts herself in a most accomplished manner
The crew then, what to say, their accent reveals they’re Yorkies
They keep us on the straight and narrow and set out knives and forkies
Steve steers the butty with cheerful outlook through locks of any sizes
And then is on hand to help we passengers as the need arises
As to Jill, a busy lass who seems a Jill of all trades
She washes the dishes, cleans the cabins and does the job of two maids
Just after that she’s working the locks, seems in more places than one
And all through the day what ever it brings she looks like she’s still having fun

Bywater Horsedrawn Holiday Cruises
It is with great regret that we must break the news that holidays with Bywater Horsedrawn Holiday cruises for 2010 have been put on hold. Following a very difficult summer dealing with serious issues with weed growth and shallow scours on The Montgomery Canal, Stephen had several meetings with British Waterways to try and gain an assurance that they will be carrying out maintenance works on the canal to ensure a navigable standard. With no such assurance given, he has been forced to take Sian out of the water and look for an alternative. Negotiations continue with British Waterways over The Montgomery but there is also a significant opportunity to move and begin operating on a new canal. This obviously takes a certain amount of logistical research and it will be at least a month if not longer, before he will be able to confirm if he will continue the holidays somewhere else. In the meantime, we hope that if you were planning a Horsedrawn Holiday on board Sian that you won’t mind putting the possibility on a back burner and awaiting future developments. We realise this is by no means ideal for anybody involved and Stephen will be doing everything in his power to resolve the situation as soon as possible and contact all those interested in a Horsedrawn Cruise for next year.