The Dream: a narrowboat to live on and cruise on in (early) retirement.

The Design: a boat to go anywhere on the system, so 57 feet long and 6'10" wide. Central corridor for ease of access. In the centre master cabin a permanent double; an adjoining bathroom; then a stern cabin providing an occasional 2 berth cabin. Finally, add the usual galley and open plan saloon and a cratch. Oh and 18" asymmetric portholes.
The Name: The boat we had a share in was called Twelfth Night - so what comes next....? In the Christian calendar, the twelve days of Christmas are followed on January 6th by Epiphany - based on the story of the Magi following the star. A dictionary describes Epiphany as "an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking". In other words, the penny had dropped that living on a boat was for us, and we hope our design is simple yet striking.
The Boatbuilder: After looking at lots of brochures, and visiting nine boatyards, we decided that Bath Narrowboats should fit out a shell built by Colecraft .
The Mooring: "You need a mooring before we will loan you the money"! We lived in Cornwall, so the nearest canal on the main system was the Kennet and Avon, so we chose the beautifully rural Devizes Marina.Then a residential security mooring came available and we took it. After a while, being in a marina was a little "claustrophobic" so we jumped at the chance of moving on to the Cut. 
The Journey Blog: Well, September 2008 was the month we retired and  become continuous cruisers. You can follow our travels in words and pictures on the Blog and the Gallery, and even live on a map.