September 30, 2026

Welcome to the inland waterways!

Hello! My name’s David Johns. In 2015, I quit my job in local television news, sold my house and went to live on a narrowboat, cruising around the canals of England. I documented my time aboard in video and now make films about canal life. On this website I have the complete collection of those videos plus pages of information to help you in your canal journey whether for holiday or living aboard. Welcome along!

Click below for my latest videos or use the menus above to find what you’re after.

  • Vlog 413: Go with the flow
    After months of painstaking procrastination, the time finally came to paint some gelcoat (and then flowcoat) onto my rebuilt transom on the project boat, Twiggy. However, it appears Twiggy has cellulite.
  • Vlog 412: Tork of the town
    I was kindly invited aboard DB1, an all-electric prototype day boat for part of its journey along the length of the Thames, powered purely by the sun.
  • Vlog 411: There and back again
    After the summer canal carnage shown in vlog 410, here’s my return journey when things got even busier! But can you guess how many boats will have gone past me in just over two hours?