How would you like it if life was just one long cruise?

Well for David and Hilary Body it is. In fact a very long one because home for them is a 110 foot long Dutch barge named “Lotte”.

They recently featured on the Five TV programme, “Build a New Life in the Country”, and as a result their website was deluged with visitors wanting to know the secret behind life on the water.

Lotte is no ordinary barge. In fact the word barge could easily be changed to cruise ship for the standards on board are first class, and David and Hilary are now using her as a floating business.

At the time of making the television programme David and Hilary were planning to sail Lotte over to France offering weekly charters along the canals, but a change of circumstances means they will now be staying in the UK this year, offering short breaks on the Rivers Colne and Blackwater near Colchester.

So what prompted the move from dry land to a life on the water?

“We had done the whole narrow boat thing on the canals of England” says David. “We went over to Holland, saw Lotte, and decided she was just what we wanted.”

David and Hilary charter Lotte – she is not available on a self-catering basis. Imagine the potential for catastrophe with inexperienced people manoeuvring 110 feet of barge along a British canal or river!

Lotte began her life in 1926 as a cargo vessel but now has gone through luxurious conversion to a floating hotel accommodating up to six people in four spacious cabins. The whole barge is centrally heated with every facility including a fully equipped galley.

“Some people think we lead a strange lifestyle but it suits us perfectly,” says David who used to work in the media as a photographer. Hilary is a medical practice nurse locally but at the weekends becomes hostess and chef on board Lotte.

This unusual mixture of lifestyle and business suits David and Hilary perfectly. In the 1970’s many people experimented with life on canal narrow boats, this is just a larger scale progression. I recall a friend who went to live on a narrow boat, modestly small in comparison to Lotte, but he, his wife and two dogs lived idyllically for several years.

He made a handsome living selling hand crafted copper jewellery to passing tourists and the last I heard of him he had retired after spending his last few working years as a lockkeeper.

“There’s a certain magic about life on water and we love it,” said David. “We get to meet all kinds of interesting people and we certainly never dreamed we would be on television.”

Are you living your dream in Third Age or do you have a dream lifestyle you would like to lead? We’d love to hear from you if you do.

More details and pictures of Lotte and her owners can be found at  www.bargelotte.co.uk.

Graham Smith for Third Age.