There’s something about boat shows. People go to them to dream, to plan, to wander around and just feel the vibe. I go to buy stuff. And party.

The Crick Boat Show is the largest show for canal craft on the UK system. It’s held each year at the Crick Marina, a small village near to Rugby in the heart of England. There are narrowboats of all varieties…old, new, vintage,  and even a couple of the few remaining ‘working’ boats. Many of the businesses associated with narrowboats have displays and marquees so it’s a great place to pick up those essentials that just aren’t available in a ‘normal’ store. Since I don’t have a car over here, I’m reliant on shops that are close to whatever canal I happen to be on. So this was my big chance to spend too much money.

I was, of course most excited to reconnect with friends I met at the show last year. And since there’s a fun music festival included it gave lots of opportunity to reconnect (it’s also a beer and cider fest). Last time the headliner was an ABBA tribute band, this year it was Dolly Parton. Not quite my first choice but lots of fun nevertheless. Some of the other bands and singers were fantastic, and the music went on all day and into the night. Not all of us were into Dolly however…

I had some furnace trouble on the boat the previous week, and was told about the Hurricane, made in Canada, supposed to be great. So I checked them out and sure enough, I met Marchello from Langley. He was happy to meet another Canadian too, we had some good laughs and I told him I’d make him famous!

Ultimately the show was fun but I was also very glad when it ended and I was able to start travelling again. I made my first day out a long one, all the way back to Foxton where I had started the season. So, the new adventures begin now! Well, in the next blog post that is…

 

 

Oh my god that is a big, happening city. London has so much going on, so many shows, so many people, and so many shops! We were only there for a few days (and I’ve been a couple of times before) but still didn’t do or see nearly enough. It was amazing to be there with my son Robbie for the first time as an adult. We sampled several (!) pubs together, visited some museums that he wasn’t the least bit interested in the last time he was there, and just enjoyed each other’s company.  It’s not much use adding too many words, pictures tell a better story for this post…

One of the highlights for Robbie was to see Sunflowers by Van Gogh. It’s normally in the National Gallery so we made a beeline upon arrival. Here’s what we saw:

Needless to say, we were then required to make a trip to Tate Britain. Due to timing issues (late in the day), we had to go twice! We did eventually see the show, it was pretty amazing…

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We also ‘had’ to visit Savile Row to check out the clothes. Turns out there was actually something on that street I could afford:

Another of the ‘must do” things includes a trip to the original Hard Rock Cafe. So much memorabilia and history…

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I would like to just comment at this point to Jill. I’ll get you back, somehow, someday…

The fun had to end eventually of course. Robbie headed back home but I’m staying on to continue my travels and adventures.

As I write this, I’m back on the boat preparing for the Crick Boat Show. It’s more of a party actually, but also a good chance to pick up things for the boat all in one place, to catch up with friends from last year, and to learn more about narrowboat life. It should be an interesting weekend!

Even after the winter on snow, getting back into the groove of the canals has been easy. It does require a slowing of expectations to return to 3 miles per hour (not that I ski fast) but the pace is the best part of it. Robbie has embraced some aspects of this life, mostly the locks (something to do?), he’s really enjoying them and often helps out other boats.

On the way from Foxton south to Crick we had some cool evenings, and as luck would have it the furnace quit working. No problem, we just picked up some coal and lit the stove!

We managed to stop at Crick on a Sunday so couldn’t miss getting a Sunday Roast at a local pub (noticing a theme here?).

Now, before anyone makes any comments, I will say I ate all the ‘real’ food on the plate.

I should also mention that this particular pub would have been perfect for Pip…

After leaving Crick, we went south along the Grand Union Canal as far as Weedon to connect with some wonderful people we (myself, Peter, and Jill) met last year over on the Hatton flight. Martyn and Amanda drove down and joined Robbie and I for a great dinner and a catch-up at one of Weedon’s four pubs (almost within sight of each other). Another amazing time was had…

(I’ll work on my selfie technique).

So to catch you up on my location a bit, here’s a couple of tracks to follow…

We’re now heading back toward a marina where we’ll leave the boat for a few days to go down to London to do some touristing…this should be fun!

 

Hello everybody from jolly old blighty. No, seriously, I’ve made it back to England, onto the narrowboat, and loving every minute, just like last year. The boat survived quite well through the winter, with only some minor issues to deal with. I’ll see if there’s more serious stuff once we get moving on the canal, I suspect if a problem is going to show up it’ll be there. Most likely at the worst possible moment, in the worst possible place. No matter, I’ll deal with it. Or rather, <we> will deal with it! I have my son Robbie here for a couple of weeks, someone to work the locks and take out the garbage (as if). We’re having a blast together so far, getting things unpacked and working. It’s still early spring so the heating system has been tested, no serious problems yet but some strange noises that I’ll have to look into. There was an intermittent beeping but it turned out it was the boat next door. It had been left here for three years and the CO alarms’ batteries were all dead. The lady is from Australia but her (now late) husband was ill and they couldn’t come back.

The trip here was quite uneventful, although it was as tiring as usual. The inside cleaning and dusting is done (goodbye cobwebs!), the outside washed down. That job was delayed a bit however, because instead we cruised a mile along the canal to Foxton Basin, moored up at the pub and had a late lunch!

We (he) did get around to it however:

Foxton locks is a flight of 10 locks, two sets of five ‘staircase’ locks. There’s no space between them so it’s a quick run through (considering the length and height drop). I went through at the end of last year’s cruising, it’s quite an experience. I think going up will be less dramatic…

Here’s the view from the top, pretty spectacular actually (except for the two photobombers):

Alan and Abigail were with us for a few days, we had a great time together. It was fun to share my ‘other’ life with a ski buddy.

No, we didn’t JUST visit pubs, here’s Abi doing all the hard work…

We’re going to miss having them aboard!

Robbie and I have headed back down the way I came last year, toward Crick (the big boat show) and Braunston. Not sure how far we’ll make it, we’ll have to turn back to leave the boat for a few days while we go to London to ‘tourist’ a bit.

I hope everything back home is going well for everyone. Please feel free to comment or send me a message, love to hear from you!

Okay, Year 2 on the British canal system is about to begin. I’ve had a great winter on the mountain but it’s now time to return to England and get the narrowboat going again. Having said that, I was up the hill last weekend and it sure was nice to be ‘home’! Looked awfully skiable too, just a few dirt patches. And luckily for the Snow to Surf race, it was a gorgeous day. I was sorely tempted to strap on the planks and hike a bit for a few turns (just tempted…as if I’d actually walk UPHILL!).

I have a cruising plan (as outlined in the previous post and below), my flight and train arrangements are made, my stuff is mostly packed, and all the goodbye visiting that I could do is complete. Since I left everything over there last fall, I don’t have much luggage anyway. Carry-on only!

Just to start things off right, we’ve managed to arrange for my son Robbie to join me for the first few weeks! I’m excited about that as I was hoping he’d eventually get to hang out with the old man in some pubs (and work the locks for me). There are lots of other visitors planned too, I think my constant raving about canal life is having an effect. The first to arrive are Alan (sans Jane, sadly) and his daughter Abigail. From ski hill to canal in a month. I’ll also be catching up with Rich, Jane, and Joanne on the Trent and Mersey Canal, great people I met on the K&A last summer. Later on, several others are planning on meeting up; some are ski friends, some are lock-buddies from last year. More on those adventures as they arrive.

I’ll be attending the annual Crick Boat Show again this year, along with awesome friends Chris, Julie, and Poppy. I had the good fortune of meeting them while camping at the show last year, they were in the tent next to me. This year we’ll actually be staying on the narrowboat so it’ll feel like we’re part of the ‘in’ crowd. Look out Crick, it’s going to be quite a party.

Overall it looks like it’ll be a long trip if I manage to complete the plan. Fewer locks than last year, but more mileage (yes, they use miles over there). I’ve been tweaking the plan daily, looking at Google Earth to make sure I’m not in urban areas too much. I’ll have a big decision to make later in the summer about whether to take a ‘shortcut’ across the River Mersey from Liverpool to join the network at Ellesmere Port. It’s not that far, but it’s a huge waterway with large ships and a tidal component. Not something a narrowboat is made for. Lots of people do it however, they flotilla together and pick a good day. Since I’m not likely to be in a rush, I might just take the risk. It’s either that or backtrack to the Bridgewater Canal. The tough part of this decision is that the Bridgewater looks well worth doing as well. Nice to have two good options! If I’m early enough getting over the Leeds to Liverpool Canal, I might just do both.

As the summer goes on and I write more blogs posts, please sign up for email notifications and send me lots of comments! Don’t worry, there’s no spam or advertising. I’ll reply to all the comments I can (eventually) but I’m not sure if you get notification of that so check back often. I love hearing from all my friends back home as well as those I meet along the way. I’ll try to update other social media stuff more often this year, I’m still figuring it all out. I’ve also made up a business card to make finding me easier:

And as you can see I’ve got a new logo, and have made a name sign that I’ll be putting on the side of the boat: