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.
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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..
@Patientlywaiting Thank you but I would not describe it as being proud, more like content. This boat has been in our family for 43 years and what you are looking at - I lovingly maintain.. All the repairs, upgrades etc... so I know the boat well and while it is far from new, I keep it like new and I also keep it relevant and capable. We sail her and use her as our summer home.. Modern galley complete with oven, refrigeration, induction cook top and a dishwasher... this is the forward cabin..
@Patientlywaiting 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..
