‘Riverside’ a 65ft narrowboat of reverse layout was completed by bespoke narrowboat builder, Aqua Narrowboats, in February 2018. She is an impressive bespoke narrowboat, with beautiful blue/grey interior reflected throughout the boat with clever lighting, reflective mirrors and glass doors.

Her performance matches the interior with many upgraded specifications including:

• Large stern narrowboat with large outdoor seating area
• High specification boat to include Beta 50 with hospital silencer
• Mastervolt Lithium ion batteries
• 75kgf bow thruster
• Houdini hatch
• Auto seeking satellite dish
• Onboard Wifi
• LED lighting
• Extra wide side doors
• Double glazing
• Artificial teak decking

Owners Testimonial: by Steve & Denise Wright

‘We are fortunate in that we had previously owned a bespoke 70ft narrowboat built by a reputable builder within reasonable travelling distance of our home town of Doncaster

Before our first purchase we had hired various narrowboats of different lengths covering all three stern designs and visited many boat shows including Crick in our research for the boat of our dreams.

Decisions made we completed our first build and to our delight we were delivered with a stunning boat albeit several months later than plan

Throughout the ownership of our former boat we had moored at Mercia Marina, travelling the inland waterways during summer and visiting as much as possible during the colder months

Aqua Narrowboats had helped us with the specialist maintenance of our boat throughout the years and we had always been pleased with their work and their professionalism

Following a visit to an Aqua Narrowboats open day we fell in love with one of their show boats and at the same time studied in detail “a boat in build”. We liked the neatness and attention to the fit out behind the scenes and means of access for future maintenance

Following our visit whilst continuing to cruise on our beloved boat we managed to speak, and gain entry into many of Aqua’s private build boats and without exception all the owners had been delighted with the build process and results of their boats. We had also observed when passing how well their numerous hire boats swam effortlessly through the canal in relative silence

Our decision was made and we placed our order with Aqua, the challenge was to build a better boat than we already had and that wasn’t going to be easy. We wanted style and ease of maintenance, we wanted technology and comfort and we wanted a boat designed for long term cruising with power to handle the mighty rivers we enjoy – and it had to look good and be sociable

The build process was much quicker than our previous boat and we had planning meetings from which Aqua produced computerised drawings for us to study and tweak. We were invited to the shell builders for a planning meeting to discuss and agree our particular requirements as we had chosen an off standard stern design and detailing

When the shell arrived for fit out we were introduced to the Aqua team to discuss our specific requirements and for them to improve on some of the design features we requested from our previous boat – and improve they did

The planning and detailing from Shell to Painting and Sign Writing was comprehensive and professional and we felt involved with the design decisions and build process

The “Lads” were exceptional in transforming our thoughts and hand drawn sketches into reality, adding valued input and advice into the final design

The finished result was beyond our expectations, we dared to dream and our dream was FULLY delivered by the Aqua Team and their partners – simply stunning!

Thank you all’

Steve & Denise Wright