Katie and I have a passion for all things wooden, especially boats. When we heard that Lady Christina, once the family’s boat, was in a state of serious neglect, we had to save her. Unbeknownst to us we were embarking on a journey that was going to take a lot of effort, application and desire. At the beginning we just wanted to stop the rot and get Lady Christina in our possession. We thought we could get her fixed up in a few months, ha, ignorance is a blessing in disguise. Had we known what we were getting into I doubt we’d be here now in Norfolk with her restored. The plan was to put her on the Thames in Oxford, just up the A34 from where we lived in Winchester, Hampshire. Then somebody suggested that the Norfolk Broads would be a more forgiving & suitable place for her - so we decided to bring her home. We always had the desire to work together and build a business, so we got to work and started her restoration and planned to put her out to work herself. As Christina started to come apart in our garden, our knowledge on her began to do the opposite and we discovered that she was once a hire boat on the broads, built in 1938 by Windboats of Wroxham.  

We decided that Norfolk would be our goal and continued with the work. As the work progressed we realised that these boats are labours of love and that very few actually get to enjoy many days afloat, if any, as maintenance is almost a full time job in it’s own right. So we thought that we’d put the hard work in for others to enjoy, which in turn, would hopefully enable us to save more boats of the same ilk, to stop the loss of heritage and bring back such beautiful vessels to their former glory (and some!)

Whilst juggling a full time job in London and bringing up our three children the project rolled on. Hours of unscrewing, hacking, bashing  and head scratching passed and finally, the hand rail was removed (this was going to take a long time).

As often happens in life, a few challenges appeared out of no-where. Despite these we carried on pushing forward. We moved twice, acquired another Windboat, “Goodwind” and now had two wrecks in the garden - fantastic. Numerous other obstacles came, were overcome and we found ourselves finally here in Nelson’s county, just to cut a long story short, for the time being.

Well, we have since acquired two other Windboats (Nocturne & September Tide) and are busying ourselves with numerous other restoration projects. Our mission is to bring back the lost heritage to the Norfolk broads, to safe guard these hand-crafted pieces of history and to have them, once again, enjoyed by people who are passionate about these wonderful waters.  These boats were the beginning of the leisure holidays and tourism we see today. They are a part of the broadlands history that needs to be represented always, drifting along these serene waterways - bliss.

We very much look forward to welcoming you all aboard our Little Ships!

Thanks, Adam, Katie, Addison, Madelyn & Sennen.  :)