I use the Google Earth program occasionally, to follow the route of a canal and find out where other boats tend to moor. I recently zoomed in on Packet Boat marina (on the Grand Union canal, near Uxbridge) and was surprised to see Bristol Fashion moored on the pontoon. That dates the satellite image to […]
On the Grand Union Canal
Cost of pumpout has doubled
Last time I bought a pumpout card it was six pounds. This week I went into the floating cafe at Little Venice and bought a card, for which they charged me twelve pounds. That’s right, British Waterways have doubled the cost. How can anyone justify doubling the cost of anything? Nothing suddenly becomes twice as […]
Power to the boaters
For months I’ve had battery problems. They would charge up really fast but couldn’t retain the charge for long. I had to run the engine for ages each day to make enough electricity to power my laptop and tv for just a few hours. And running the engine uses up diesel. I bought a new […]
Night drive to Paddington
Under the footbridge at Paddington Basin I’d never driven far in the dark but I always wanted to try it. All the way from Cowley to Paddington there are no locks to work so it’s perfect for an early evening autumn cruise. I didn’t want to have to stop along the way so I made […]
Wardriving
Internet access can be a problem for the continuous cruiser. This weekend I have to do some research, write a couple of articles and design a website and for that I need to be online. So today I travelled slowly along the Grand Union from Kensal Green towards Paddington with my computer on the seat […]
Wet wet wet
I’ve often boasted that in a year of living on a boat I’ve never fallen in the water. So inevitably, yesterday I fell in. After a pleasant afternoon’s drive from Uxbridge to Black Jack’s Lock, I tried to moor Bristol Fashion but the canal was so silted up that I couldn’t get close to the […]
Idiot drivers
Coming up to Cowley lock and about to pass under the fairly narrow white bridge next to it, with boats moored wither side, a narrowboat tried to speed up and overtake me. There obviously wasn’t room for both of us so I increased speed and he dropped back behind me. Then as soon as I […]
Moor in the breach than in the observance
Congratulations to British Waterways (and their chap called Matthew) for being especially busy the last few weekends putting notices on boats for licence evasion and mooring offences. I, like many boaters, applaud that you’re policing the canal system so vigorously. Having said that, I have to admit you got me twice this month. Once outside […]
Hanwell Flight
Travelled from Brentford to Cowley. It was an exhausting trip to do alone on such a hot day and the worst part was climbing the flight of six locks at Hanwell. Half way through I had to stop for a couple of hours’ rest. Stretches of the canal were full of debris washed in by […]
Bristol Fashion—narrowboat’s journey from Whilton Marina to London
Here’s some video clips of Bristol Fashion on her journey from Whilton Marina to London, made in the first few weeks after I’d bought the boat. Highlights include getting stuck in the shallows and operating the swing bridge at Hemel.
The urban myth of Swan Bake
I moored Bristol Fashion near the Horse and Barge pub in Denham, overlooking Harefield Marina. Because I was having trouble mooring in shallow water, a chap helped me pull the boat in. We chatted and he told me a story I’d heard somewhere before. He said that there were fewer swans around these days because […]
Brentford
I’m now living in Brentford in what has become a rather fashionable place to be. Brand new apartments costing half a million overlook the canal. The new pontoon moorings beneath the apartments are starting to fill up with boats and there are decent BW facilities for passing boaters.