No longer my boat, sadly, but this is Xanthus back in the late Seventies - probably 1979, as I can't be sure exactly when the photo was taken. I'm not sure if I really want to know where she is now, but I hope that she still travels the waterways and is loved by someone.
After we sold her, in 1985, she was taken on by Black Prince Narrowboats, and renamed "Mauritania". The observant will note that they couldn't even get that right - "Mauritania" with an 'i' in the middle is the country, not the "Blue Riband" liner she was supposed to have been named after, which had an 'e', but that was typical of BP. Unlike the
RMS Mauretania, which survived the War, Black Prince managed to sink their new charge within a fortnight, somewhere near Fradley Junction. Luckily the water wasn't deep.
A few years later she was sold on to a private buyer. I did hear rumours through the grapevine that she'd made her way to a marina on the Grand Union, in the Blisworth area, and had been reverted to her original name. If anyone's spotted Xanthus more recently I suppose it would be good to know that she survives ...
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