We all at some time dream about what might be, and how we will achieve it. My dream is to be able to retire early, and to do so on a narrowboat. I then intend to spend at least a year continuously cruising, visiting all of the network, and then many years of more leisurely cruising, hopefully writing a book or two in the process.

The goal of early retirement is in sight, and the finance to afford my plans is in hand. All I need now is  the Ideal design for the boat. 

 Having said that, now I have married Shirley, the wish to spend my retirement afloat  is  secondary to spending all our time together, so who knows, maybe retirement afloat, or even the boat, will become a forgotten dream, replaced by the happieness that is having a true soulmate. 

The boat plan however, is still being worked on. I would ideally like to have a boat built to my own design, and often have sketched a rough plan of an ideal layout, and opposite is what so far comes up most often. As you will see I am no draftsman, and wonder if there are any easy to use, design-it-yourself computer software packages available, I know of several for house design, but wonder if they are flexible enough to cope with a six foot wide, forty-six foot long "bungalow" Any suggestions are welcome.

As far as builders go, I of course dream of the luxury fitout, on an exceptional shell, and soon realise that more realistic would be the good, solid shell and the sort of fitout that is functional and will last as prime requirements, and luxurious after that.

Two reasons point me in that direction, firstly cost, and secondly the fact that to stand up to what I hope will be many years of constant use without the need for major refits and expensive running repairs, a more basic approach would seem to be wiser.

Steve