I'm writing this retroactively, therefore there are some insights in it that there would not have been at the time.
The Sunday before we were due to pick up the narrowboat (Monday, July 1st) we left Cathy and Mike's house with a very full car! I was already panicking that I had packed too much but it wasn't just clothes. I had also bought things that I felt we needed on the narrowboat that were not listed in the inventory we had been sent. After all, the boat was going to be our home for three months, and I would be cooking regularly, washing and cleaning as usual, as well as entertaining ourselves when we were not at the pub.
I always think of my sister Jane's advice on going on any self catering holiday- take a good frying pan (supplied ones are always scratched to bits and never non stick) and a good sharp knife (which are always blunt). I bought a rather large paella type pan in order to cook one-pot meals- it does work brilliantly but barely fits on the gas hob on the boat, so I have not used it as much as I thought I would. I did end up buying a smaller non-stick frying pan which has been very useful since.
I also had a small sharp sheathed kitchen knife that we had used until we had left our house, along with a wine pourer (!) and some packed lunch knives and forks that travel well, so they became part of the packing too.
The inventory had not mentioned any linens but they did stay they would provide pillows and duvets as we were technically overseas visitors. Cathy lent me a turnover set of sheets and duvet covers just in case (which we have used), and I bought tea towels and kitchen towels (which you can never have enough of). Supplied mugs and glasses are always tiny - almost children's size, and so we bought a couple of pint glasses and have since added decent sized wine glasses too.
I bought storage bags and clips, rubbish bags and some basic cleaning supplies, as well as a sock hanger and pegs for drying clothes. There was supposed to have been a clothes horse on board too but they didn't have one available and I ended up buying one later which I will keep. I tried only to buy things I will use again either in a new house or for our next adventure (a motor home?)
One of the best things I did beforehand was to do a very slow walk though a big supermarket. I bought some things there and then but largely made a shopping list of basic cooking supplies as well as heavy or bulky items such as tinned (canned) foods and cereal, and a few days supply of fresh foods. I booked a delivery slot to the boatyard a few weeks ahead and kept adding to it as it drew closer to the time.
Cathy had the bright idea of supplying me with small bags of the herbs and spices that I usually use so I didn't have to buy every one I needed, and they would take up less room too.
I bought a couple of non-powered gadgets. A hand powered food processor (which makes great hummus and cauliflower mash), and a thermal slow cooker. You cook ingredients, for example, for a chili, in the pot on the stove and bring it to the boil for at least 5 minutes, and then close it up inside a thermal container for several hours to do the rest itself. We used it while it was still cold in early July but haven't used it since.
There turns out to be only two 240v sockets on the boat and they drain the boat batteries very quickly if used when the engine is not on, therefore we opted not to get a toaster, kettle or microwave. All of which they would supply if we had wanted. We did cave in to bringing a toaster onboard later (my mum had one she doesn't use) as the grill would only do two pieces of toast at a time and very slowly, whilst heating up the boat unnecessarily.
We stayed in a very nice local B and B in Lower Heyford the night before we were supposed to pick up the boat as pick up time was 9.30 AM. We had also spotted the Duke waiting for us on the quay.
It wasn't, however, the same calm quay the next day! There had been a broken lock north of the boatyard the weekend before and many of their short term rental narrowboats had been stuck on the wrong side of lock. This meant that the owner and all hands had to go and rescue the boats by reversing them all back up the canal and round a loop so they could hire them out again. That caused all their normal cleaning and sorting schedules to be late. Therefore, when we arrived, the Duke was still being prepped for us, and they were running way behind. After they finished a very quick clean, they asked us to load up the boat with our belongings. It turned out we hadn't bought that much after all having witnessed how much was being loaded on and off other boats for just a weeks hire! My online grocery shopping order arrived on time and that was also loaded on board. That's when I found out how small the fridge is. That's been one of the hardest things to adapt to as I am used to shopping once a week and loading up my big American fridge.
There is an enormous space under the bed to store empty suitcases and things we don't use very often. We also discovered later that it stays nice and cool under there as it is below the water line, so it is a great place to store excess supplies such as wine and beer :-) I also found some very handy small plastic storage boxes under there that had been left behind previously.
As soon as we had unpacked and the car was moved into the compound for storage for a while, the owner came on board and rather quickly explained how the boats systems worked and what to do on a daily or weekly basis. He showed both of us everything, but I am very glad that Dick knows something about engines and was able to take it all in. Before we knew it, having confirmed we'd been on a narrowboat before (once, back in 2018 for a 5 day trip!), they helped us move out of the boatyard and we were off! We hadn't even checked the inventory, which did turn out to be short of several items, but I let the owner know by email and there was nothing we couldn't live without. It was just before 1PM.
The Duke is definitely cozy inside and really does fit two comfortably but not many more as we have discovered since. We can only seat four people.
Two hours later, we had been through three locks already, and luckily, everything had come back to us.
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