I love narrow boats and the freedom to go more or less anywhere on the waterways. We have shares in two different boats but some day the dream would be to own outright a boat of our own.
I especially love the rich social and industrial history dating from the time when whole families would live about in a living space of about 10 foot. They worked so hard moving loads around from town to town.
I like to see the remains of rope marks on bridges left by barges that were pulled by horses. The photo below is of one of the rare rope rollers which were occasionally placed to protect the brickwork from rope damage.
There's also the folk artwork that adorned the boats since they painted them with bright colours and designs of roses and castles.
Today I appreciate the peace and quiet of the canals and the wildlife. I've seen swans and ducks, moorhen and coots as well as kingfishers and herons and even the occasional water vole or bats at dusk. This picture is of a swan with it's nest, you can see there's an egg in the nest.
I have been a recreational sailor for 48 years... I keep the boat at an island based club that has launches to take members, guests etc, from the shore to the club but I generally prefer taking our own small motor boat across as it is convenient and efficient to take us, the dogs, groceries and clothing over. This is the boat sailing this past summer..It is also lovely down below deck with comfortable accommodations..
@SW-User Thank you.. good design (and construction) is timeless and I am pretty serious when it comes to maintenance.. One of the things we are thinking about is to build a rowing skiff (narrow boat) for the lagoons - that can be rowed or have a small outboard fitted.. VERY pretty A friend of mine owns the company that used to build these and no longer does.. He has the molds and when I asked about it he said it would be a good idea for us to build three of them this winter.. The kicker is the designer of this skiff ... is the co-designer for my boat and unfortunately he recently passed away... but just the same this would be a very VERY cool thing to build and have..
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@pdqsailor1 nothing ventured, nothing gained. It will be hard work but then again nothing worth doing is ever easy. I wish you luck xx
New post to an older thread of yours, but I first stumbled upon the British occupation with narrow boating by pure serendipity one afternoon before covid when I came across the first videos of "Kevin" (Country House Gent) huddled with his remaining possessions in life in his van. He seemed a bit unhinged, his life having taken a certain turn, and he'd just spent all of his worldly money on a narrow boat Aslen, and was about to become fully invested as a complete cherry. The thing was.....I found myself getting totally sucked in with each episode. And I won't lie, I was wholly astounded by the length and breadth of these thousands of miles of canals and locks that travel like so many veins throughout UK. It became a very compelling piece to watch and I had watched from his beginning until some time after covid when, he had this go round with content and sponsors and all that rubbish....and I sorta fell away.... In all of that however, I have found it SO very cool. It's like this flotilla of water vagabonds and gypsies. They travel all over the country-side in their magnificent little narrow boats and I think it's the bomb really. So....all that said, I can identify with yer thoughts.
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@Freeranger yes there are a lot of very interesting free spirited people on the canals and the thing I love most is that nobody is ever in too much of a hurry to stop and chat when the top speed is 4mph 🙂
i have seen many a video on you tube ,, of Narrow boating your canal s ,,, to the point i would move there if i could ,,, i have a love for boating and would enjoy it even more the freedom for one ,,
@SW-User that is a long one ,,, how many are going with you ,,, is it a rental or a friends boat
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@oldercanuck1 actually I got that wrong, it's 58 foot. It's fairly standard size wise but there are bigger boats. We hired a 70ft boat once to do a different stretch of the canals but I found it was pretty tight in the lock and too close to the cill, I was on edge in case we got stuck on it! I usually steer whilst my husband and boys work the locks. They can be quite stiff and heavy and I'm small and quite ineffectual.
@SW-User Well that to is a long boat ,,, are you going on a long cruise ,, 70 is a bugger for sure and yes they can be tight and restrict where you can go ,, but did you have a good time all the same ,,, yes stiff goes with heavy ,,, i think your size is not that restrictive ,, you just need more boat time ,,,lol
I have never been lucky enough to own a boat but I do love walking down a canal. They really do head off in to the remotest parts of the countryside once they leave the towns and cities.
@SW-User I once thought about buying one, but perhaps better to hire one and try it out first.
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@MrAverage1965 definitely a good place to start. Try to hire one with bow thrusters as they are easier to steer. Also avoid electric as they are too light and get blown around too much. 60ft or smaller is best, bigger boats are harder in locks.
Not as hard as it looks. Easier if you have a crew on the tow path who can help guide the boat around with rope if needed. Our boats both have bow thrusters too which makes things easier.
That’s a wonderful tale of you. I love the water. I have a cabin cruiser now but I think I’m going to sell her
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@gdon39 are they difficult to steer due to being light weight? I've only ever handled narrow boats but seen some cruisers on the canals and they seem to be all over the place in windy conditions.
