Last night I wrote the end on my fantasy novel hurrah! Still more to do but the battery defeated me so I decided that was victory enough for one day. Next plan is to re-read and tweak the final bits and bobs before sending to my editor. There comes a point when you can do no more and it needs a fresh pair of eyes.
Well, the much-needed rain arrived in the night and it positively bucketed it down which woke us up a few times and we made the all-important checks for any leaks – we are watertight people! Good news.
It’s still raining so we loiter for a bit as we can get good 4G so I upload my blog – only three months since my last one but whose counting. It feels like I’ve turned a corner with getting things off my mental ‘to do’ list and I intend to try not to let it get quite so frantic in the future.
Despite looking at the map I’m totally unprepared when we arrive at the lock as we head to Wosley. The bow doors are still open slightly – we tend to close these as the locks can be leaky and ideally we plan not to sink our boat. I rush around in a practised and calm way, pick up my bag, grab the walkie-talkie and windlass and head to the lock. I’m so glad we have the walkie-talkies, it makes it so much easier to communicate what’s happening. I can check if there are any boats in the lock, any waiting, which side the rope needs to be for tying the rope when in the lock etc.
We carry on through the locks as we plan to turn around Great Haywood, the Captain does a perfect turn in the winding hole/Marina entrance despite boats coming from every direction. No boats were harmed and we quickly moored up so we could have the tomato, mozzarella, and pesto sandwiches we have been promising ourselves. Tucker consumed we decide to head out and look at the country park/farm shop we are moored near. Apparently, there is a Spar nearby but at the moment we are okay for food.
Hold the phone… just had a lovely message from the fabulous Fran and Rich from Floating Our Boat that they were waiting for their latest vlog to upload and they have mentioned little old me… I cannot tell you how excited I was when I met Fran and Rich – Canal Boat and Floating our Boat YouTube royalty at Newark Book Festival. There I was, all sweaty and running around making sure the Literature Village was okay and checking up on the events in the Town Hall, when who did I spot on the balcony!
I was hoping I would see them, after watching them from the beginning of their journey, I knew they had a love of reading and my other half had talked to Fran the night before, so I knew they were nearby. I wasn’t with him at the time and was gutted I’d missed them, so I was very happy to catch up with them. It was a pleasure to watch their latest vlog – not only because they mentioned little old me but they also gave a big shout out to Newark Book Festival and Newark in general, which is where I live and it’s always a lovely feeling when people visit and enjoy the wonderful town – maybe Fran and Rich could be persuaded to come back one year and do a talk at Newark Book Festival…?
They are as lovely in person as they are on the TV. Such genuine nice people and it was a pleasure to chat to them – although I might have actually talked at them! I did give them some prosecco though so i hope it wasn’t too painful for them. Now I’m officially a live aboard boater I have so much respect for all the people who Vlog. I don’t know how they do it as well as just the day-to-day routines of living on a boat/cruising and what it entails… here we have a factual information dump provided by Brackets who normally has an opinion on my blogs… feel free to skip past…
((for example: Filling your water tank up so you have fresh water which can be done at various points along the river/canal side. These are usually provided by the canal and river trust and you need a key to use them. Then there is the toilet to empty – the discussion on canal boat toilets can go on forever but whatever you have, at some point you have to empty it! Which you can do via pump out at Marinas or using Elsans which are again provided at some service points along rivers/canals. There are also some compost toilers. Then you need to do the engine checks and make sure it’s all working properly before you set off and all this you do whilst also doing much ‘faffing’ which seems to be a must if you live on the boat. Also, you have to maintain and keep an eye on all the levels generally without any gauges to tell you said levels!)) Thanks Brackets. So that’s why I am so in awe of YouTubers, I don’t know how they find the time to put together such fabulous content as well as live on a boat as that’s only a snippet of living on a boat. I find it hard enough getting my blog together.
Since I’m name dropping, I might as well add this fabulous poster which I bought for my other half’s birthday earlier in the year. Made by the also fabulous Jo from Minimal List You Tube channel which also includes Michael, and of course, George! They have navigated the whole of the canal network, something we have a mind to do in a few years’ time – just need that lotto win or a best seller!
Not sure I have anyone else to name drop in the canal world ((I’m sure you will think of someone!))– ohhhh, Robbie Cumming apparently lived in the Marina we moor in so that’s pretty cool. Cannot get a natural link to the Country House Gent but if you want to binge watch some fabulous YouTube and some Amazon series then look out for all of these guys. Watching all of these YouTubers are the reason we decided to sell our house and buy a narrowboat! Got to also give a shout out to Narrowboat Will as well – we love watching him, what a cool bloke – Will – you are a legend! There are so many others I know I have probably missed. ((whilst editing this happened…)) Oh and Danni & Joe – they are a young couple who have pretty much built the inside of their canal boat from scratch! Oh my god, how could i forget Cruising the Cut who also has a campervan YouTube channel as well.
If you’re interested in the Rivers/Canals/Narrowboats then please do subscribe and watch all these channels. They give a great insight into Narrowboat life and we wouldn’t be doing this if we hadn’t binge watched their vlogs over the last few years.
Right, after that delightful interlude we moor up near the Wolseley Arms and I watch a bit of Footy – go the Lionesses! We treat ourselves to a curry and that’s another day done! What a day! ((Wow, you’ve included a rare picture of yourself! You must have enjoyed meeting them and you have your eyes open!))
C.L. Peache 