Can’t remember when I first started thinking about getting a boat to live on but it must have been a long time ago. I guess it was my friend Rik Fame (aka DJ Slab-a-Cake) who first got me thinking. He’s been living on Rambler II for about 8 years now and I’ve been friends with him for most of that period, messing around with music, doing gigs etc.. I guess I caught the bug on one of the many trips we’ve been on in Rambler II. Our friend Helen also caught the bug off him and bought 'Baldrick' soon after that.

Luckily for me I didn’t have enough money the first time I got a serious impulse to buy a boat, otherwise I’d probably have ended up with a dud. By the time I’d worked out the money and got a mooring sorted in June 1999 I was sufficiently clued up to avoid most of the pitfalls - well nearly...

I managed to sort out money in the spring of 1999 and started a proper search for moorings soon after that. In actual fact, I’d been keeping my eyes peeled for several years prior to that. They really are few and far between on the Thames and demand outstrips supply (see Mooring section). Most people end up buying a boat on a mooring. I didn’t want to do that because the boat’s value would have been inflated and I wanted a vacant mooring to plonk my choice of boat in. What I found was that it's impossible to find a mooring unless you 'know a geezer who knows a geezer' type of arrangement. As soon as I started name-dropping mooring owner's names when on the phone, people took me more seriously and didn't just turn me down flatly.

As soon as I heard that the landlord of some moorings in Surbiton was ‘considering’ my request, the hunt for a boat was on. I very nearly put a deposit down on a 50ft narrowboat at Virginia Currer marine, but at the last minute realised that the landlord has mis-measured the length of the mooring. It wouldn’t have fitted… Luckily they had a 47ft narrowboat for sale also. It was cost more more though. At this point the landlord accepted my application and demanded the first month’s mooring fees. A mooring and no boat, doh!

Everything came right though because my (low) offer on the 47ft boat was accepted. The name was Havana and everything about the boat was great. I’d overlooked her the first time round because the original asking price was too high.

Next came the survey. Although Havana was only 5 years old, I had her surveyed for my peace-of-mind, and also to assess when she’d need blacking (hull painting) next. The survey came out trumps and I also had the opportunity to take some surreal photos of her high and dry in a car park (see photos).

Money was transferred around, things were signed and on August 12^th she was mine! By this stage I was homeless (my rental ran out at the beginning of August in Brixton).  Had a beautiful journey down the Slough arm of the Grand Union canal, down the main line to Brentford and up the Thames to Kingston and the moorings. Apart from the landlord not making electricity available to me for 2 weeks everything was great.