By July 2023, our dream of retiring aboard a narrowboat was beginning to develop into a practical design.<\/p>\n
We were still several years away from commissioning our boat, and Priscilla, Queen of the Canal<\/em> had not yet emerged as the bold vision she would later become. At this stage, we called our imagined boat Serenity<\/em>\u2014a floating sanctuary designed around comfort, intelligent use of space and long-term life aboard.<\/p>\n Our earliest layout placed the bedroom at the bow, followed by a full-width bathroom, galley and lounge, leading through to a sociable square cruiser stern. Every section had a clear purpose, while storage and flexibility were built into almost every available space.<\/p>\n The master bedroom would occupy the forward section of the boat, creating a quiet and private retreat away from the main entrance at the stern.<\/p>\n At its centre would be a fixed king-sized bed, positioned as far into the bow as the shape of the hull allowed. While ambitious for a narrowboat, we wanted our future home to provide the same comfort as a conventional bedroom.<\/p>\n The bed would be raised approximately 700mm above the floor, creating substantial storage beneath. Pull-out drawers or wheeled storage units at the foot would make the space accessible without requiring us to lift the mattress whenever we needed something.<\/p>\n A built-in headboard would provide further storage, alongside integrated reading lights, electrical sockets and USB charging points. These small conveniences would help the bedroom feel properly designed rather than simply fitted into the available space.<\/p>\n Wardrobes and shelving opposite the foot of the bed would complete the room, with a door leading into the walkthrough bathroom.<\/p>\n Moving towards the centre of the boat, the bedroom would open into a full-width bathroom.<\/p>\n Using the entire width of the cabin would create a more generous room and avoid the cramped corridor arrangement found in some narrowboat layouts. Closing the doors at either end would provide complete privacy while retaining a natural route through the boat.<\/p>\n Frosted portholes would bring daylight into the room without compromising privacy. We imagined a fully waterproof wet-room design, making the space easier to clean and allowing the shower to occupy more of the available area.<\/p>\n Our preferred toilet was a Thetford ceramic cassette model. Although other systems offered advantages, cassettes provided flexibility and avoided relying entirely upon pump-out facilities.<\/p>\n A waterproof storage seat within the shower area would conceal spare empty cassettes. The washbasin would sit above a fitted cupboard, ensuring that even the smallest spaces contributed useful storage.<\/p>\n The galley would follow the bathroom and form the practical heart of the boat.<\/p>\n We favoured a U-shaped arrangement because it offered generous work surfaces and storage while keeping appliances within easy reach. As we intended the boat to become our home, the kitchen needed to support everyday cooking rather than merely occasional holiday meals.<\/p>\n Our early equipment list included:<\/p>\n Choosing electrical appliances reflected our early interest in an all-electric boat. It would require careful planning around batteries, charging and power generation, but we wanted to explore what might become possible as marine electrical technology developed.<\/p>\n A breakfast bar would provide our principal dining space without requiring room for a separate table.<\/p>\n Positioned between a pair of side hatches, it would allow us to sit with the doors open and enjoy uninterrupted views across the canal. It could also serve as additional preparation space, a desk or somewhere to plan the next day\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n We wanted the internal faces of the hatches to display the plaques collected during our travels. Embedding them into the woodwork would turn a familiar boating tradition into part of the interior design, revealed whenever the hatches were opened.<\/p>\n One of our more unusual ideas involved glazed inner panels that could slide vertically into the gunwales. These would allow light and views into the galley while providing protection when conditions were too cold or windy for completely open hatches.<\/p>\n It was an ambitious detail, but exactly the sort of idea we wanted to investigate before settling upon a final design.<\/p>\n Beyond the galley, the lounge would provide our main place to relax, entertain guests and enjoy quieter evenings aboard.<\/p>\n The television would be mounted high on the wall between the windows, keeping the floor and walkway clear. Seating would face towards it while still allowing us to enjoy views through the windows and glazed stern door.<\/p>\n A generously sized sofa bed would offer comfortable everyday seating and convert into accommodation for visitors. Finding a model capable of fitting through a narrowboat doorway\u2014and functioning properly once inside\u2014would inevitably require careful measurement.<\/p>\n The lounge needed to feel open rather than crowded. Furniture would therefore have to earn its place by offering storage, flexibility or more than one function.<\/p>\n A half-width glazed door on the starboard side would connect the lounge with the rear deck.<\/p>\n Positioning the door to one side, rather than centrally, would create a more usable wall within the lounge and preserve a clear route through the boat. The glazing would bring additional light inside and allow us to enjoy the view even when the weather kept the doors closed.<\/p>\n When open, it would help the lounge and stern feel like one continuous entertaining space.<\/p>\n At the rear of the boat, we imagined a square cruiser stern with built-in seating.<\/p>\n Traditional cruiser sterns provide valuable outdoor space, but their curved edges can restrict seating and make the deck feel smaller than it is. A squared design would create a more defined social area and make better use of the boat\u2019s footprint.<\/p>\n Integrated seating would offer somewhere for friends to gather while cruising or moored. Storage beneath could accommodate ropes, outdoor equipment and other boating essentials.<\/p>\n This would be more than the place from which we steered. It would become an outdoor lounge: somewhere to enjoy breakfast, share drinks with friends and watch the canal disappear behind us.<\/p>\n Our first layout was not intended for a conventional holiday boat.<\/p>\n We were beginning to design a full-time home that needed to remain comfortable through changing seasons and changing stages of our lives. Storage, accessibility, electrical capacity and ease of movement mattered just as much as colours, finishes and furniture.<\/p>\n Some of these early ideas would inevitably change. Technology would develop, our priorities would evolve and every boatbuilder would bring different possibilities and constraints.<\/p>\n That was part of the value of beginning early. We had time to question each assumption, learn from existing boaters and gradually distinguish the essentials from the attractive ideas that might not survive contact with reality.<\/p>\n Looking back, this design represented an important step in our journey.<\/p>\n Serenity<\/em> was the working title for a calm, comfortable retirement home. The later vision for Priscilla, Queen of the Canal<\/em> would become bolder, more distinctive and more ambitious, but many of the underlying principles began here.<\/p>\n The king-sized bed, generous bathroom, capable galley, flexible lounge and sociable stern all reflected the life we wanted to create: comfortable, adventurous and unmistakably our own.<\/p>\n The final boat might eventually look very different, but this was where we first began transforming an idea into a layout\u2014and a distant dream into something we could imagine calling home.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In July 2023, we began transforming our narrowboat dream into a practical layout, designing a comfortable floating home then known as Serenity\u2014an early step on the journey towards Priscilla.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"pqoc_adventure_category":[27],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","pqoc_adventure_category-boat-planning"],"yoast_head":"\nA king-sized bed at the bow<\/h2>\n
A full-width walkthrough bathroom<\/h2>\n
A galley designed as a proper kitchen<\/h2>\n
\n
Breakfast with the canal outside<\/h2>\n
A flexible and spacious lounge<\/h2>\n
Connecting the lounge and stern<\/h2>\n
A square cruiser stern<\/h2>\n
Designing for life, not just holidays<\/h2>\n
From Serenity<\/em> towards Priscilla<\/em><\/h2>\n