Our old blog for Lucky Duck was started in 2008 and documented the process of buying, cruising and living on the boat. I used Blogger from the beginning and got used to its quirks and foibles, the way it does funny things to photos, the way it’s impossible to make satisfactory posts from the iPad, and the way the template I’d chosen limited me. It had begun to look outdated, but knowing that a new boat was on the the horizon for us, I didn’t invest time in a redesign, much as I was itching to.
So, when we went to look at Willow, and decided that we wanted to go for it if the survey came back positive, I set about researching the options. I actually created two blogs, one in WordPress and one in Blogger (I investigated Typepad too, but it costs, so that was out!). I played with them both, looking at the available templates and options for making it a webpage as well as a blog, with “Pages” etc. Although WordPress was less familiar at first, I began to prefer it to Blogger, and then after having tried various different looks, happened upon this template which we are now using. I like it a lot – it feels fresh, fun, and a little bit thrown together and rough round the edges, much like the current state of Willow’s interior, and I though it would suit a fit-out blog well. I also love the wood look background, as it was the quality of the woodwork that had been fitted that really clinched Willow for us.
As you can see, we plan to make this a place to find information about not only Willow but also the “Tree Class” and other Severners, as well as about the Severn and Canal Carrying Company itself. I also have plans to introduce a blogroll, but as there are so many and I don’t want to favouritise, it will consist of just historic boat blogs and those bloggers we have met in person. For a more comprehensive list of all the blogs, we use Nev’s Percy blogroll and Adam’s Briar Rose one, which have most of the regularly updated ones that we enjoy reading.
I hope that you will read, comment on and enjoy this blog as much as you all seem to have enjoyed nbLuckyDuck. I’ve removed comment moderation now, so all you need do is fill your name and email address to enable your comment to be posted. As we are new to this fitting our business, we’d particularly appreciate any comment you have on different ways to do things, and general suggestions and questions.
M. B. Willow 
very jealous VERY!!
I started my blog with Blogger as well. I stuck with it for a couple of years before switching to WordPress. WordPress has its foibles, but I’m much happier with it.
I hope Willow works out well, and, most importantly, that Lyra is happy. I met her on Lucky Duck on World River Day a few years ago. She was curled into a circle and allowed me to stroke her. So sweet.
Look forward to hearing your new adventures with Willow!
It’s looking good, the blog that is – the boat’s a given – and I wish you both well in your fitting out adventure. Do you have a timescale for moving Willow down to Cambridge? And what will you do with the Lucky Duck blog?
We had some fun times on a boat called Willow …
You are so very adventurous, I am sure you will be the very best of custodians of such a fine boat. I look forward to reading about the refit, and give me the enthusiasm to make the changes to Percy to personalise him to us.
Take care
Small black text on a dark brown background doesn’t help readability. In fact, the colour combination almost kills it completely.
Viewed at 1024×768 resolution via Windows XP (w SP3) and Firefox v19.
I hope the boat works out better for you.
How strange. For me, on every browser and computer I’ve viewed it on (and i tested several) it is black text on a white background.
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