HERE's one David Clarke made earlier - while behind him is his latest effort.

When he was only 16-years- old, David Clarke made a pretty model of a narrowboat. Now, aged 45, the York cabinetmaker is about to complete the real thing.

Even as he puts finishing touches to a year's work on the luxurious 60ft long, 6ft 10in wide rivergoing vessel it is already on the market for £110,000.

It is the first of what could be a whole fleet in a slow but sure production line for his new company, Cut Above Narrowboats, a subsidiary of his regular business, Joint Design.

"I prefer this one," said David, patting the bow of his giant creation in his workshop off Stamford Bridge Road in Warthill.

"The one I made earlier as a teenager was fun, but this was a real challenge."

Of course it does not yet have a name - he'll leave that to the buyer - "but its working title is Costalot," he quipped.

That is because he and his wife, Louise, who live in Bridge Road, Bishopthorpe, spent £30,000 on a brand new Colecraft shell and at least £40,000 more creating curved internal walls in veneered ash for a stylish galley, with dining and living rooms, shower room and cassette toilet.

"The interior is unlike anything afloat," he said.

Into his design went all his 26 years experience as cabinetmaker and joiner, but also his know-how as a sailor and member of the Naburn Sailing Club.

The boat also has a bow thrusters for sideways manoeuvre - "very useful for my target market, which is the retired/semi-retired over-50s," he said. Electrical items are powered by a bank of 12 volt batteries charged by a Beta 43 engine.

Whether moored or running, there is enough power to generate an on-board washer- dryer. The cooker is gas powered.

He said: "For five years my parents had a share in a 72ft narrowboat and we have had several enjoyable holidays.

"Then on one holiday on Macclesfield Canal, Louise and I decided that we would begin building boats - and this is just the start."

He has already sorted out the problem of how to get the boat into water for its new owner. "We'll crane it on to rollerskates, push it out of the workshop, then crane it into a lorry," he said.

Updated: 10:53 Thursday, May 05, 2005