London Interlude 1999 - 2004
Now Hampton had been made comfortable and was mobile under its own power, Tim took the boat down to Battlebridge Basin in London where he lived on board for the next five years.
There was a constant battle with leaks. The wooden undercloth cabin needed replacing and the gunwales were beginning to deteriorate.
Hampton was now looking pretty good, but work was needed to make the cabins watertight.
Tim loading up ready to take Hampton to London.
The cloths were now vinyl, the cloth ones having disintegrated. Tim made stencils for the cloths and did all the lettering.
Tim lived in London for nearly five years, but then BW suddenly increased the mooring fees by 300%. There was no negotiation - take it or leave it.
So, reluctantly, Tim had to move Hampton back to Cowroast and he went back to live on the bank.
