While I’ve been self-isolating I’ve been going through pictures and videos that I took over that last couple of summers on the canals in England and Wales. I started with mostly scenic shots, lovely bridges, peaceful stretches of canal, cows and sheep on green fields, that sort of thing. But they all started running together and after a few went by they began looking all alike.

I quickly realized that it was the people I shared my adventure and sometimes my boat with that drew my interest. Some I had met along the way, often spending several days with them sharing locks and pub nights. Others were friends from home who made the huge commitment to travel to stay with me for a few days. And there were even several that I had met in 2018 that I was able to reconnect with in 2019.

So that’s the focus of these slide shows, showing some of the people that have come to mean so much to me on my canal travels, and in my life. Of course, there were many others of whom I didn’t get a photo. There’s also a few scenic pictures, of places with particular memories. If you’ve been following the blog you might recognize some of them.

Enjoy…

I’m not going to go on and on about the hardships and annoyances during this weird time. I also don’t want to minimize them, but we’ve all heard so much about it. I’m just writing to keep busy. Now, that implies that I have nothing to do…nothing could be further from the truth! I’ve got lots of cleaning waiting, I need to wax and put my skis away, I should get some exercise, the list actually is quite long. But I am getting way too used to not <having> to do anything! It’s quite freeing. Perhaps it’s not all that useful or productive, but there it is. I’m just too busy doing nothing.

I also understand that many people are still working, often putting themselves in danger in order to help the rest of us or to simply pay the bills. I honour them all, particularly those on the ‘front lines’, in the health care system, in the grocery stores, and many other places that are considered essential. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. I know we’ve all been saying that, but it’s a very important thing to keep saying and to keep in the front of our minds.

Now, since this is a narrowboat blog, I’ll talk a bit about narrowboating. The situation in the UK is a bit dire but fortunately they have an amazing health care system. I’m hopeful that this will help balance the slow start they got to help produce better outcomes. On the canals it’s a strange situation. The Canal & River Trust, the charity that administers the majority of the system, has issued instructions for boats to remain in place if possible. Only ‘essential’ movement is allowed. This is primarily moving to get water, dispose of waste, and get groceries. People that live full-time on their boats but don’t have a ‘home mooring’ are called continuous cruisers. Normally they are allowed to stay at most mooring locations for up to 14 days before moving on but under the present circumstances that limit has been lifted.

The biggest issue being discussed is use of the towpath. Over the last couple of years the CRT has been promoting the use of the towpaths by non-boaters as a healthy place to be (“Life Is Better By Water”). Walkers and bicyclists are encouraged to make use of such a beautiful resource. At this time however, they’re being discouraged from doing so in an attempt to reduce the crowding on a narrow pathway, to try to keep the boaters and themselves safer. It’s causing a lot of controversy and some heated exchanges. 

I know of a similar situation in North America, mostly concerning travel to holiday locations (such as ski hills). I hope this doesn’t turn into a ‘them and us’ situation, we’re all in this together no matter where we live (hear that Donald Trump?).

One of the things I have been doing is going through video that I’ve taken along the canals. I have no intention of trying to compete with the ‘boat tubers’ out there, many of them are very talented and work hard at creating high quality videos. I am, however, putting some crappy videos up on YouTube. It’s been fun and interesting and I thought others might get a laugh out of the attempts. My YouTube channel is, of course, called “Canuck on the Cut“. Please don’t expect much, but there is the occasional nice scenery shot.

Awaiting my return…

As always, thank you for reading, keep in touch, and take very good care.