Pete had lived on a narrow boat before meeting Marion and was keen to take to the water again. But it took some persuading to get Marion to agree to leave behind her roomy house. Sarah Woolman reports

Peter and Marion's boat

Pete bought the boat in Holland and sailed it back through Belgium and inland waterways. He'd lived on a boat before, but Marion had no history with boats and it took a lot of persuading to get her on board. She'd previously lived in a four bedroom house and she was expecting their first child.

But now Marion has really fallen for the lifestyle. There is a community feel to living on a boat and living in such close proximity with each other means that arguments rarely happen or last for long if they do. Marion says, "we don't have the opportunity to walk away from each other".

But living on a boat is not exactly an easy life especially with two small children. One of the harder aspects is constantly running out of water and Marion misses taking a bath.

Marion and Pete realise they will have to move into a bigger boat when their two little girls (Chrissie and Carys) are teenagers. But Marion can't ever see them moving back into a house: "I've got the bug, completely hooked!"