'You're going to live on a boat? You must be mad, ' said their friends.
But they did for 12 amazing years.
Jo and Jan May moved onto their narrowboat on the fourth of July 2003 - Independence Day. They'd taken the 'crazy but wonderful life-changing decision' to transform their lives forever. Jan was told she probably wouldn't live very long following some dire health problems, so they decided 'to get on with things'. Why choose life in a tin box on the water? Jan can't swim, the dog hates water and Jo prefers beer. Financially they were afloat and lived in a perfectly respectable house until Jan came up with the zany idea of downsizing by a factor of 10. She had watched a TV programme about a pair of loveable celebrities trundling along a canal in the rain on a narrowboat, and the seed was sown. They knew virtually nothing about narrowboats nor waterways lore, nor how they would cope with being cooped up together - particularly when it's minus five degrees and the nearest shop is miles away. They had a mountain to climb - and you can only go uphill by using locks. They'd never done a lock. A more accurate analogy is shooting the rapids, because their adventure took on a life of its own and they were washed downstream on a tide of enthusiasm and ignorance.
A Narrowboat at Large
spans three years as they begin a new life on the canals and rivers of the UK. It is the first volume of Jo's five-book
'At Large'
series (soon to be 6).
Books two and three are
A Barge at Large I and II
which relate their nine-year adventure in The Netherlands, Belgium and Fance.
Come and share the start of Jo and Jan's journey which was variously exciting, scary and marvellous - ultimately, it probably helped save Jan's life.