Well, well, well, it has been a long time and not a small set of changes either; due to some affectionately titled ‘life choices’ I seem to have found myself the captain of a beautiful, challenging and oddly all consuming 60ft narrowboat. An adventure! Whilst there seems to have been a few of life’s minor scars gained along the way and a website that wouldn’t play ball, other more important lessons have been gained, and an amazing life – embedded deep in the changing landscape of the UK.
Giving into the temptation to eulogise the life of a solo, live-aboard narrowboater, here’s a brief explanation of what the last 18 months has taught me..
Lesson 1. Patience.
The three days following Dec 8th, 2023 had been kindly donated by a good friend of mine, to help me take the boat, under my new ownership (!) from Polesworth to Shardlow, a 45 minute journey by car. After a slightly stressful meeting at the local bank and signatures gained by our broker, we took a bunch of day one pics then set sail. Within 200 yards of the engine failed, we drifted into a bridge with an almighty clunk, got her going again then the same happened only for us to gently thud into a fellow static boat, just avoiding a heavy collision by Ash (previous owner/electrician/bestower of plain-speaking wisdom) sprinting down the side and pushing the bow out. So that first weekend my friend and I, while waiting for a local engineer to come and help, supported local businesses and enjoyed the acoustics of the emptyish living quarters, and chilly metal hull.
As the engine had broken down due to fuel issues, the diesel radiators would not work, also the Morso Squirrel lil’ stove had two substantial cracks in the back, rendering it super inefficient (I could only get the cabin to heat up by burning fuel fast with the door open, I fondly remember the carbon monoxide monitor activating! In the coldest of mornings it was -8 degrees centigrade in the saloon/galley kitchen area. The washing up bowl was thick with ice. The patterns of frost on the insides of the windows – beautiful. Eventually it all thawed and the floods came, blocking off large areas of the Trent until I was rescued and somewhat repaired.
Leaning into the adversity and embracing the unknowns with a sense of abandonment became useful – I’d been paying rent on a mooring spot in Shardlow since the Nov to secure the electrical hook up point but due to engine failures, foods, stoppages and being frozen in, I stopped paying the rent in early April having not yet reached Shardlow, but survived in the wilds thus far.
Lesson 2. Needs
Aside from having a comfortable toilet situation, what else do we need, I’ll tell ya – electricity and fekkin wifi. Honestly, most people don’t last 4 hrs without a glance and stab at whatever device is currently playing them like a marionette, I’m no different. Ash left me with a good electrical foundation (I know, not so good in other areas) being a sparky himself; tons of 230v plug sockets and usb sockets everywhere, and 3 large 380v solar panels. I soon discovered in the winter months that to be able to run exotic devices such as toasters, microwaves and more importantly computers, the engine had to be running, unless there was latent charge in the leisure batteries. Understanding this charge was an electronic amp meter, a mystical, fickle and ultimately terrifying lord motivating me to keep the engine running to balance the reading around 12, or summat like that. PTSD has rendered this memory a foggy apparition.
In and of itself, running an engine/generator can work depending on your needs, however I had committed to running an animation bootcamp in mid Jan, working from home 6-9pm, online. I NEEDED secure electrics and solid internet access. After a bit of research I found Ed, the most kind, experienced, professional installer of lithium batteries. Fortunately he either had a window between other work, or saw my fragile desperation, and jumped in to install a bank of 12V 608Ah lithium batteries and other funky stuff (a new alternator, inverter and cool read out screen) in time for my course to start.
The wifi I again researched and bought numerous antennas, and the best router I could find. Initially I had tried various different providers and sim cards, all giving me crappy downloads. Of course what worked was turning it off and on again, seeing the test needle soar over 100mb download continues to give me pathetic smugness. All in all, figure out what you absolutely need, then pay professionals lots of money to do it. I also enjoy a spot of building, here a pic with my studio and pantry, previously a dinette, and my Chilli stove, other needs fulfilled!
Lesson 3. Friends
As herd animals aren’t we vibrating with the frequency of friendships, at our most pleasurable times? Personally I find it difficult to maintain a large group of friends, indeed it is not easy to maintain a tiny group 🙂 but do this ya must as problems shared are an antidote to the daily terror of boat life. Not only do my friends seem to have plenty of schadenfreud at their disposal, but they positively enjoy a regualr peek into the watery life. Some of the unique positives to be nurtured include –
It keeps shit tidy.
It reminds you how to properly cook a meal.
You can professionally use words such as bow, stern and bilge, without hesitation.
It gets you prepared for explaining your toilet setup.
Meet Pete, a bestest buddy from Uni days. Pete is frankly gorgeous, is unstoppably generous, has a great balance of seeking new experiences and holding his shit together. Here we are in the Trent, we’d spotted a pub from afar, the binoculars indicated a mooring so we pulled in. Weirdly, the river was slightly in flood and as we gracefully smoothed our way in we realised there were submerged concrete levels. It took us about 40 mins to prize DJ off as it was spinning from the middle. I thought the hull was fucked as the sound was a bit scratchy. Thankfully we slid away and found an alternative watering hole, deepening our well of shared fuckups.
Lesson 4. Solitude
Lesson 5. Tenacity
Repairs – prop shaft, engine mounts
Lesson 5. Love
;D
Lesson 6. Community
Giving random folk a ride…making new friends…invitations
And so it has been it a constant, fully immersive, raw and awe inspiring series of 24 hrs; just today I went through the massive incline of 10 at Foxton Locks, then narrowly avoided crashing head on with a guy entering a tunnel I’d spent 10 minutes chugging through. An hour of idly watching the hills of south Leicestershire glide by, and trying to learn our varied tree species, then saw me pull over and heave four large hunks of felled tree onto the roof for processing. Feeling smug as I tried to pull away, the engine swiftly failed, it would not turn the propellor and shut down immediately, bastard! And so I arranged for breakdown rescue whilst ai told me something was probably wrapped around the prop. And it was just that – a long piece of rope tightly wrapped that could only be undone by sliding into my swimming shorts and tentatively entering the water. Luckily it all worked out, the propellor was functioning once more, tomorrow I can resume my summer’s trip to see a special friend in Oxford, but tonight I make battle with my website finally – another averagely, unpredictable day.
