Southern Hawker is our 60ft narrowboat (note not “barge” or “long boat”). We bought her in August 2016 as Finesse. In April 2018 she became Southern Hawker.

Why “Southern Hawker”? We wanted to change from Finesse to something that meant more to us, ideally something unique. Having drawn up an extensive long list and whittled it down to a short list we chose Southern Hawker as these are the type of dragonflies which hatch from our pond at home. Choosing a name is a bit like choosing a name for a pet, you don’t want to have to explain it, and you don’t want to be embarrassed when mentioning it (at least you don’t have to shout it out the back door which is our test for cat names). There is a long tradition of names with puns on the canals but somehow Dave was persuaded not to choose one of those.

She is perfectly fitted out for long cruises so this is what we are doing. For six months starting at the end of April 2018 we are cruising the canals and rivers of England and Wales, going where the fancy takes us.

The posts in this blog are aimed at updating friends and family on where we are, what has happened and where we plan to be.