Welcome to the website of Chris and Diana Grant and their barge Esme

Chris and Diana Grant are already living their dream – enjoying adventures on the classic Dutch Barge Esme.

Esme at Penton HookHow it all began . . . . .

It all started in the summer of 2004. We were enjoying another holiday on board our 11 metre boat on the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire. The question arose "Wouldn’t it be great to live on board all the time? We could travel abroad and explore other waterways . . . . . . yes, then we could take our home with us!" So what kind of vessel would we need? A narrow boat would be a bit small to live on all the time (especially if you are tall!) It would have to be comfortable for year round living and able to go to sea. So the seeds of our Dutch Barge life were sown.

We joined the Barge Association and started our research, meeting many bargees who received us on board and answered our endless questions. In this way we were welcomed into the world of barges. The advice, support and friendship we gained was invaluable and helped us to make the right decisions.

By the summer of 2006 the children were independent, we had sold our family home and the search for our barge could begin. We met Ruud Thomas, a Dutchman who arranged a three day barge viewing tour of Holland and we found Esme up in North Holland. We loved her from the start, the price was right and a few weeks later were relieved that the survey report was good. As it was mid winter, it took a while to get her over to England. Firstly the repainting of the hull, then some essential work to prepare her for sea and finally to bring her to Nieuwpoort in Belgium for the channel crossing. And so our new life began . . . . . . . . .

Look at Cruising to see more of our travels.

Future plans are too far ahead to determine, we may cross the channel again and do some exploring ourselves in 2010 but will have to see about work commitments. The idea of the barging life is not to plan too much in advance – it takes away the sense of adventure.