ALL FIRED UP

It’s not all plain sailing for Louis Darling but an engineer partner makes it happen

- Louis Darling

I found a white fibreglass boat on Facebook for £1,000. It was not attractive but the idea was to enjoy days with a picnic offExmouth beach in the hazy sunshine.

It felt lovely and a little exciting. I dreamed a little dream then spoke to my partner, Dawn. “No, why do you want a boat?” was her reply.

I was not to be put off, after 15 years together I know a little about Dawn’s manipulation. I waxed lyrical about the sun, picnics and wine in the afternoons, we had those ‘what if’ discussions, the lazy ones fuelled, occasionally, by wine and dreaming.

We researched, we looked on sites far and wide then went to look at our first boat. Following excited and animated discussions during the hour-long trip, we stood in front of a 42ft narrowboat. Dawn gazed at it with longing. She had taken my idea and run with it, a narrowboat was what we needed.

Dawn is a HETAS engineer and has been a chimney sweep for 11 years, owner of Chimney Sweep Devon, where we live.

There are many things to get excited about as a sweep; thatched roofs, inglenooks, ingenious and creative chimney design. Dawn loves her job, she loves the challenge of installations, overcoming obstacles and leaving safe in the knowledge that the carbon monoxide alarm is fitted correctly.

So the first question, before we were even boarded was: “Is there a stove and what is it?”. No attention was paid to anything else, she homed in on the stove. Dawn’s first words about the boat were:

“The stove is okay but not screwed down and the carbon monoxide alarm is in the wrong place.”