Ok – Clearly, they are VERY different boats – and whilst I absolutely loved Miranda and we had great times aboard her with heaps of friends, there’re some things that I’m REALLY loving about Northerly that we just didn’t have on Miranda.  Some key things that spring to mind…….

• Space for all my stuff – in fact, I keep losing things because I put them in one of the many drawers and then can’t remember which one (being used to only actually having a single drawer for everything).
• Air conditioning for sweltering summer days!!!!
• Hot water without having the run the engine.
• A huge fridge and freezer
• A separate shower so I don’t have to dry it before anyone can use the toilet – and having an ensuite in the first place, of course…..
• An extremely comfy bed that I can share with Mark – rather than pretty hard, separate bunks……
• Having a coffee machine (and soda stream… and Thermomix….and washing machine…. and dryer………)
• Space for garbage (especially the squillions of bottles we accumulate).
• Privacy if I want to read or have a sleep instead of being in a single space with everyone
• The fact that Mark and the girls love it
• The fact we have a few different spaces for entertaining so we can spread out and move around depending on the weather…..
• Having a washing machine (did I already mention that…?)
• Being able to have overnight guests