How do you leave your home for the holidays? Empty the fridge, check doors and windows are closed, pull the front door shut, turn the key in the lock, perhaps even set a burglar alarm, and head off.
Similarly how do you leave the office for a break? Put up an out-of-office email, log out and walk away?
It doesn’t vary that much for us living and working on a boat, but demands a bit more logistical planning. A week ago we headed off bound for Cornwall together, then individually to Hampshire and Lancashire.
Before then we recced the canal looking for a good place to moor. What makes a good spot to leave a boat for a time varies, partly on the time of year, partly on the length of stay, and partly on individual preference. As our boat is our home, we tend to be a bit fussy about where we leave it. We don’t currently have alarms or cctv as some boats do. We’ve seen Internet connected camera doorbells, automatic lights, and all manner of security device on boats which owners have to leave for weeks at a time. Maybe the time has come to think of such things?
We do look for a mooring spot somewhere with other permanent resident boats around. Our first Christmas away from the boat (a time when one can expect many boats to be empty) we put the boat into a marina, but since then we’ve employed our principal of leaving it near other, occupied boats.
So this time we had the car with us (our method of travelling south), so we wanted to leave the boat on a mooring spot that wasn’t too far from a place we could park to load and offload, that was near other occupied boats, and that had mooring rings, piling or edging to the canal to which we could attach chains for more secure mooring. Ideally we wanted all of this in a rural but not remote or inner city location. We had the opportunity to leave the Ashby Canal before we left and before works closing one of the bridges near the start of the canal closed it to navigation but we decided staying on the Ashby rather than turning onto the Coventry Canal would suit our purposes.
We had been moored at Duck Corner – so named for obvious reasons – on the outskirts of Stoke Golding. Ideal in some ways except we ended up moored on the road side where there is a layby, and we became aware in the evenings whilst we were there of youngsters pulling up in cars after dark. It’s very obvious to people regularly visiting such a spot if a boat is empty – they may not bother with it at all, but better safe than sorry. So we moved. Our original plan was to move only a few hundred yards to a quiet and popular location where we knew there were mooring rings near a great farm shop. When we got there, there was no space to be had – nose to tail boats. So we moved on, and returned to a mooring we knew from some years ago, opposite some residential moored boats and near another farm shop (the Ashby is very well provided!).
Chains deployed, ropes made fast, we packed up our stuff, turned off and cleaned out the fridge, loaded the laptop to come with us, turned off the internet, and the irritatingly faulty pump along with all the electrics. That way, the solar keeps the batteries topped up even if there isn’t too much sun.
Laden with bags of gifts for friends and family, laptop, clothes, shoes for all weathers and coats we headed off down the towpath towards the car. I got distracted as I left the boat (that’s my excuse anyway) and closed up, following a heavily laden Steve to the car. We cast a backward glance, all looked well and we headed off.
About half way down the M5 I began to wonder if I remembered actually locking the boat up rather than just closing it… Eventually I voiced my concerns but we decided that it could be a safety feature. Anyone wanting to break in wouldn’t need to do much damage if the door just opened when they tried it!
By the time we arrived in Cornwall we decided maybe we should contact some very good friends who live in a bricks and mortar home some 15 miles from where we had moored, and who had offered to pop by and check on her. We messaged them and explained there was no rush, but told them how to check if the boat was unlocked, and how to lock it if it actually was. I have to say I was interested to know what the response might be!
Sure enough, the next day this WhatsApp arrived – proving my incompetence and the generosity of friends going out of their way to check for us. That is the first time we have had boat security!
We had a wonderful break away and Steve returned first en route for Lancashire and found the boat happily bobbing securely on her mooring. An encounter with a neighbour’s wheelbarrow led to a conversation, and it was apparent that our absence on board had been noted but people were keeping a friendly eye out for us.
When I then returned from Hampshire after a decluttering mission and assistance to Covid-stricken relatives in their 90s the boat was still safely where we had left her (I always wonder when we come back separately if Steve is going to move her just for “fun” to confuse me).
I think our next trip away may well be Christmas! In the meantime, we have many miles to travel – a lot of them on foot for me as I train for and complete the London Marathon. I’m doing it for MIND, whose work supporting mental health is nothing short of essential. If you haven’t sponsored me yet and feel you can – please do. I and those who benefit through the work of MIND will be hugely grateful. https://2023virtualtcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/deena-ingham
Next week, sometime when the closure ahead is lifted, we will head off once more, shaking off the sluggish pace of winter and cruising to locations familiar and fresh at our usual lively 3mph!
Pickingupducks 