Trust is vital when you let someone cut out a chunk of your floating home with an angle grinder while you’re on the water… Trust we had but I still feel glad the dramatic work is over, and we are still afloat! It was something that had to happen. So why did we need toContinue reading “Steeling ourselves for the future”
Tag Archives: travel
By narrowboat to America for world guidance
Travelling to the United States of America by narrowboat is not something I ever thought we would be able to do, but this summer, we did just that. We travelled down the River Thames to the Berkshire/Surrey border, moored our boat home with the help of a handy English oak, and set off on footContinue reading “By narrowboat to America for world guidance”
Historical perspectives and Operation Sanctuary result
We did it. The fable of the tortoise and the hare proved valid for (certain) narrowboats and their crews in 2025. Slow, dogged determination won the day against The Drought and The Closure of Locks to Preserve Water (capitals all mine!). Slow it may have been but stressfree it was not. We left Thatcham outsideContinue reading “Historical perspectives and Operation Sanctuary result”
When a marathon is also a sprint
This time last week we were in West Berkshire, tootling along the Kennet and Avon determined to cross the Thames and Tidal Thames and see how far up the Grand Union we could get before the closures of canals due to low water levels which Canal and River Trust announced would happen on 26 August.Continue reading “When a marathon is also a sprint”
Drought forces Operation Sanctuary
As waterways are closing around the country through lack of water including England’s inland artery, the Grand Union, we are now on a race to get to somewhere we can live, work, and safely access water and waste disposal. According to the National Drought Group this has been the driest year bar 1976 since recordsContinue reading “Drought forces Operation Sanctuary”
Regrets aren’t always necessary
On Wednesday BBC Womans Hour featured women narrowboaters during their Listener Week. Back in late June when they first asked for suggestions for topics to cover, I proposed a segment about women narrowboaters, particularly about Charlotte Ashman, a talented artist, mum, and skipper of not just one, but two boats. This is what I toldContinue reading “Regrets aren’t always necessary”
National wonders or damp squibs?
More than 50 years ago Robert Aickman, co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association compiled the original list of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways.’ With our descent of the Caen Hill a flight last Saturday we have now travelled through or along each of these, and we would take issue with Aickman on several ofContinue reading “National wonders or damp squibs?”
New faces and new places
A lot can change in a week. People, scenery, nature, and weather can all be feelgood (or depressing) factors, but this week they’ve been positives. As the countryside unfurled from flat fields to rolling hills ahead of us, and white horses cut in chalk have appeared alongside the boat, we have continued to make ourContinue reading “New faces and new places”
Is this trip a stage too far?
Is this the journey that’s going to finish us? We turned onto the Kennet and Avon, aiming to head through Berkshire, Wiltshire, and then to Avon. We have now been on the canal for two weeks, and only now are we feeling we might survive it. Never have we shouted at each other so muchContinue reading “Is this trip a stage too far?”
Free-floating anxiety management
It doesn’t matter how many times you launch yourself into new ventures, there is always a frisson of fear, an nagging anxiety, concern over what might happen (even when you know you have prepared, even over-prepared for every eventuality). There are those nights of unsettled sleep, butterflies in the stomach, irritability, and edginess. It’s theContinue reading “Free-floating anxiety management”
Pickingupducks 