Things disappear on a boat. There are so many nooks and crannies that houses and flats don't have.
I spent 10 minutes scouring the boat for my favourite drinking glass, actually a jam jar.
No success.
After I sat down—only once my eyes were at gunnel level—could I spot the glass atop a radiator. It was sitting very still, to avoid being spotted, tucked under the gunnel. That's a ledge on the outside of the boat; inside it's an anti-ledge.
Last week's roses dropped their petals. To replace them today, coming down a rural flight of locks, the offside bank (not the towpath side) offered us several abundant choices, only accessible by boat.
Not sure what they are, but they're looking good on board in the evening sunshine.
#CanalLife #canal #boating #narrowboat #boat #flower #bloomscroll #floral #plants #UK
The long and winding road…
For once the camera has caught a bit of the beauty I see with my eyes.
#CanalLife #canal #boating #narrowboat #boat #vegetation #tree #lighting #photo #camera #overcast #sunshine
Last night in the dark, a boat went by.
I say "in the dark" but it had a headlamp on it, a foot (30 centimeters) in diameter that lit up the world.
I heard this boat long before I saw its headlamp. It was a steel narrowboat, about 30 feet (about 10 meters), with a diesel generator roaring on the forewell, and a tiny electric outboard motor on the stern—barely enough to get this boat crawling through the water in the dark.
#CanalLife #canal #narrowboat #OutboardMotor #boating #boat #generator
Along the canal there were wild roses. It was on the off side, not the towpath side, in a stretch that nobody can reach on foot.
Have boat, will flower.
With the bow in close to the rose bush, it was possible to clip a small bouquet. These roses are in full blat but there are also some buds tucked in below.
#CanalLife #canal #vegetation #plant #rose #flower #bloom #boating #narrowboat #boat #BloomScrolling
Where a weeping willow hung low over the canal, the only option was to slowly boat through the hanging curtain of leaves.
Then: an enormous TWANGGGG. Something caught the solar panel brackets.
Amidst the twigs and leaves was a hidden limb with a diameter of 5 inches (12½ centimeters).
Out comes the electric chainsaw. That tree got a trim.
#CanalLife #canal #willow #tree #vegetation #pruning #maintenance #boating #narrowboat #boat #solar #SolarPanel #CRT #CanalRiverTrust #CanalAndRiverTrust
A long day of boating. It was busy on the cut, but not crazily so, which is good for a bank-holiday (long) weekend.
The weather was gorgeous so I wore a wide-brim hat, long sleeves, and cotton gloves. There's nothing like holding a tiller all day for getting a sunburned right arm and hand.
Call it a boater's tan.
#CanalLife #canal #boating #narrowboat #boat #weather #sunshine #holiday
In dim light, spiders always look bigger than they are.
One just did a Tom Cruise Mission Impossible drop from a ceiling vent. Straight down, like it owns the place.
. |
🕷️
I turn to the light switch, flick on the lights. By the time I turn back to it, the spider has made a speedy return to the ceiling. It's medium sized.
One gentle tissue-grab-and-shake later, and this spider finds itself on the canal towpath outside the swan doors.
It's time for moving on.
Cloudy days are days you don't get sunburned. If it rains, it usually blows over quickly, on days like this.
#CanalLife #canal #waterways #boating #narrowboat #boat #CRT #UK
We were set to pass a steel narrowboat when it slowly backed directly across our path. At 2 miles per hour, that's enough time to walk through the boat to the bow and push off.
"Sorry, sorry!" they said.
I said, "No worries; it's just boating. Everybody knows backing up is hard to do."
Like that 1960s Neil Sedaka song:
🎵 Don't take your boat
🎶 away from me
🎵 'Cause backing up
🎶 is hard to do
(I'm quite sure those are the lyrics.)
#CanalLife #canal #boating #narrowboat #boat #reverse #BackUp
Bobbing Boat