Into every life, some rain must fall.

The British and boaters are obsessed with the weather. It plays a major part in how we live, enjoy and in our case, move, our floating home and office. Walking this morning as rain and sleet, hail and wind whipped my skin and Boatdog shivered beside me, I was in full agreement with the manContinue reading “Into every life, some rain must fall.”

Planning another leap or two this month

If January was our time of hibernation, February is time for preparation. Preparing for what we need to do, for getting ourselves and the boat to the right place, and making sure we are all where we need to be. It is still a time for planning rather than big movements because this is theContinue reading “Planning another leap or two this month”

Weathering the storms when you live and work afloat

It’s been a stormy, destructive week for so many. Hot on the heels of last week’s Storm Henk we’ve had to contend this week with both Storm Isha and Storm Jocelyn. The winds are still strong, but we seem in a time of respite with sun streaming through the boat windows. It’s interesting that weContinue reading “Weathering the storms when you live and work afloat”

A different view of our week wending and working our way from ‘up north’

We are now halfway along the length of the Rochdale with 44 locks and 16 miles of the canal still to go. Then it’s onto the Bridgewater, Trent & Mersey, Coventry, Birmingham & Fazeley, Coventry, North Oxford, Grand Union, and Leicester Line to our ultimate destination… a little way to go (191 miles and 143Continue reading “A different view of our week wending and working our way from ‘up north’”

How do you plan?

We planned to head to live and work in Yorkshire this year, but none of our plans are set in stone. Last week, we decided we wanted to head to join and support family over winter, so we began planning… The plan was to travel 275 miles and 255 miles on inland waterways to reachContinue reading “How do you plan?”

Slow way, small person way

Cruising with an energetic 3 year old is something we’ve avoided doing by ourselves – until now. Up to this point we have always had a seriously big family crew on board with the small person so there is a tillerman/woman, crew for locks and a child crew allocated at all times. Now he’s 3Continue reading “Slow way, small person way”

Life and Death and Tiller Itch

Tiller itch was something I first heard from Robbie Cummings and I agree with him  – it sounds revolting! (If you want to know what life is really like living on a cruising narrowboat Robbie Cummings’ Canal Boat Diaries are a MUST). It has been a month now since we arrived in Leicestershire and we’ve notContinue reading “Life and Death and Tiller Itch”

20 tips to make the most of any holiday – afloat or even ashore

Top 20 tips drawn from hard experience – ours and others – here to help you have a fab holiday. Packing – whatever you think you need in terms of luggage – halve it! If you think the old waterproofs from the back of the hall cupboard will be fine, put them on and standContinue reading “20 tips to make the most of any holiday – afloat or even ashore”