First year of living on a narrowboat (part 2 of 2)

In February 2023, I gave up my flat and moved onto a canal boat to explore the UK waterways. This video starts in the summer – returning to the water following my hull blacking and heading North to explore more of the English countryside. Following a rather wet start to the summer, I enjoy voyages with friends and family and start settling into my new lifestyle.

Part 1 – https://youtu.be/RCYc8AY20wY

Chapters:
00:00-01:10 Heading North
01:11-02:50 Rain
02:50-05:40 Second summer
05:40-06:17 Autumn
06:17-08:35 Winter begins
08:35-13:52 Reflection

Music:
00:20-01:08 ‘Fourside’ by Samwise and Johto
01:53-02:49 ‘Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall’ by Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots
03:04-04:22 ‘In Nature’ by Brockbeats
04:44-05:21 ‘Bicycle Race’ by Queen
10:45-13:52 ‘Opaline’ by Novo Amor

I’ll put my hands up and acknowledge that I stole a lot of footage from Winnie the Pooh.

My brother Joe who made multiple appearances:
https://www.youtube.com/@joemacaulay6420

More on rain… I guess:
https://youtu.be/jdqiA71Q8KU]

More on winter

It was the end of June and I had finished my first journey. I had made it to Watford for the hull blacking. And it was finally time to head back to London. Except… I didn’t. The canal had kept getting prettier and I wasn’t ready for that to end yet… so I just… kept going. Things seemed to be going well… for the time being. In July, Summer took a sudden decline and my mood with it. I don’t know if bad weather affects you more in a boat. The lack of sunshine hours and therefore solar meant I had to start each day by running my engine for electricity. I’d get wet each time I went to collect drinking water. I’d get filthy trekking along the muddy towpath. The visible splashing of the rain on the surface of the water would hijack my attention and make the bad weather impossible to move on from. I didn’t mind this bit though. I like the glistening harmony of the droplets breaking the still water and the rumbling on the roof as the rain pelts the metal. It’s cosy. I did miss the sunshine though. The grey days dragged, but the sun eventually shone again and I spent the latter half of summer in the best company all the while exploring some beautiful places. The sun then pissed off again and I experienced a new fear for the first time – that my home might literally blow away. And it did. Luckily, myself and a total of four helpers I acquired from the towpath were able to reel her back in again. Wind aside, I enjoyed what remained of the summer and spent my spare hours on sunny days exploring the English countryside by bicycle. This newly found passion somewhat ended on 3rd October “It’s October 3rd” when my front wheel managed to slip on muddy ground, toppling me over the handle bars and head first into the canal. “I still visit this spot occasionally.” “It’s Autumn” Summer came to a gentle close and I spent my Autumn on the Aylesbury Arm. This felt rather different to the motorway of a canal I had spent my time on so far. For starters, the locks were single width, the towpath was narrow with untended hedges and the banks overgrown with reeds. With so few other boats around, I truly felt in the arse end of nowhere, but as always, my weekends were filled with great company as friends and family came to join me on my voyages. As winter set in, I prepared myself for the cold. Having bought Poohsticks on 21st December, the winter solstice, I had once told myself on the first few chilly mornings that the only way was up. But now the only way was down again, so I decided to use this last period before the frosts preparing myself for what was to come. I had new solar panels installed, tripling the energy I can harness from the sun. I serviced my engine and had my diesel tank cleaned in preparation for plenty of engine running when the sun says goodbye for a bit. I finally got round to getting my diesel heater fixed – powering my radiators. And I stocked up on fuel ready to heat my home in the cold months ahead. It’s a funny sort of life. I work a lot less than I did before. But my day to day life requires more labour now. My home doesn’t just magically get warm by the flick of a switch. If I need hot water for a shower, I need to think of it an hour in advance. I have to fill my water tank every 3 weeks and sometimes cycle several miles in order to dispose of my waste. I enjoy this intimate relationship between my needs and my actions. Nothing is for free with this life style and I have learned to stop taking things for granted and be more resourceful. And nothing keeps you grounded like tipping away 100 litres of your own excrement every couple of weeks. The last time I experienced anything like this was when I spent the summer of 2016 in the Amazon. Isolated from society, we had to keep things running ourselves. The sense of community this forged is something that I have always looked back on fondly. It provided me with a special kind of peace that I am feeling for the first time again now. The canal dwellers form a similar team. We look out for each other. We give tips and tricks on how to handle boaty challenges, as well sharing our thoughts on the prettiest places to moor. I have gained independence from so many of the soul crippling aspects of modern life. I find myself frequently surrounded by good people. And above all, I am right in the heart of nature. I have finally started loving the world around me again. And not just seeing it, but feeling it and experiencing it. I am taking the time to pause and be thankful to be a part of this world. It’s 2024 now. Poohsticks and I have shared our first anniversary and it has been over a year since I rented. The day after our anniversary, I took Poohsticks into a marina for 100 nights. This has been for peace of mind as I travel over winter. Many folks have warned me that the first full winter on the boat is when the adventure ends and your spirit dies. And I’m not ready for that yet. So I ran from the cold. It is 26th March and right now, I am waiting for a flight. It’s RyanAir. I could be waiting a long time. Winter officially ended 6 days ago and I am on my way home. Back to Poohsticks. There is a permanent sadness I endure in that mum will never get to see her. But her spirit is an important part of Poohsticks for me. It is a space in which I feel comfortable talking to her. A space that I knew she would have enjoyed. But above all, this is the only place I have ever felt genuinely safe since mum found us a home 18 years ago. When I say that I suffered the raw end of London’s rental market, I make no exaggeration. The situation my flatmate and I were put in was inhumane and left me having to move all my possessions whilst my mum was in hospital during the final weeks of her life. I could not have done it without the help of amazing friends. And I am grateful to be in a position now where I can finally let go of the fear of being shat all over by a crooked landlord. A luxury that I experience as part of a minority. It is a privilege to have found myself here and there is not a single day that goes by where I am not incredibly thankful. I’ll be honest. I have no idea where I’m going with my life, but what I do know is that right now, in this moment, I am exactly where I am meant to be. I’m the doctor and this is my ship. She runs off the energy of a burning star. The panelling is the bluest blue ever. She’s bigger on the inside and although I don’t have all of time and space, I do have 2,000 miles of canal and river and all the time in the world.