Completely nuts as it may seem, The Newun is available for trips on the North Walsham and Dilham Canal from near Gaze's [Tonnage] Bridge, Dilham absolutely free of charge. If you wonder as to the motive for making trips available free, it is simply that I enjoy having guests on board to share the experience of the boat and the canal. That's not complicated and relieves me of the expense of insurance for public liability for paying passengers. I just wouldn't be able to take passengers on board often enough, now that I am retired, to make it a viable business. I just enjoy sharing what I have made so much. I set about building The Newun in my front garden during lock down with the help of friends. It was launched in January 2022, so it took me about 2 years. Like any boat, it's still not absolutely complete. I have a mooring at Dilham Hall Canoe Hire field, Tonnage Bridge. The farmer there is happy for me to have guests coming provided that they give him £5.00 per car per visit to pay towards the private road access. The Newun has been used mainly for lifting heavy logs out of the canal, using it's winches, mast and gaff and as a floating/mobile base for canal maintenance. All on a completely voluntary basis. It is driven by an electric motor and a huge battery of LiFePO4 cells, which do not catch fire, last very well over 20 years, don't give of any gas (flamable or otherwise) and so on. This is a compltely stable and safe battery design. The motor is over 90% efficient, unlike the 10-30% efficiency of the petrol engine (which I do have on board as balast only).

Graham Pressman