On May 29th this year, I was lucky enough to be invited to join Alan, Tina and Richard of NB Wobbly, to travel in convoy across The Wash with Jo, Michael and Lorna on NB Perseverance. This is quite an adventurous crossing for a narrowboat as they’re designed only for the flat calm waters of the canals or small rivers – and The Wash is pretty much open sea.
In this vlog I take the narrowboat through Newark-on-Trent and head to Cromwell lock, where the river becomes tidal. That would be my end point for this session of cruising videos before I stopped for winter. More videos will be forthcoming nonetheless.
In this vlog I continue down the River Trent, from Holme lock to Hazleford lock, giving the engine some rarely-used revs yet still being slower than another boat that was doing the same trip.
Just to be clear, and to avoid spurious accusations of “click bait”, I do believe it fairly obvious that there will be no actual travelling down any white water in my narrowboat in this video. “White water narrowboating” is very clearly an oxymoron. With that out of the way, this is my trip from Beeston through Nottingham (on the canal) and out to Holme lock (on the River Trent)
Continuing my journey east, I go onto the River Trent briefly again before hopping back off it at the Cranfleet Cut and then the Beeston Canal. It was very windy.
A short and sweet trip today as I took the boat off the end of the Trent & Mersey canal and moored at Sawley. During the trip, I played chicken with a swan, and tried to hold the boat still in a sideways wind.
I continue east along the Trent & Mersey canal from Willington, re-discovering that from that point it’s a wide canal and that means sharing (wide) locks with other narrowboaters. Video also features two dogs, a horse, some strange noises and a little bit of calm.
In another tense, nail-biting episode, I cruise further east along the Trent & Mersey canal on my narrowboat, through Burton-on-Trent and up to Willington. This involves the lockside purchase of some carrots.
Back cruising again, quickly before a) winter and b) another lockdown. I headed back up to Fradley Junction and turn east onto the Trent & Mersey canal, going through Alrewas and onto Barton Turns marina.
It’s not a vlog this week but instead one of my occasional “slow TV” real-time recordings from the bow camera, with super stereo audio from the microphone also on the bow. This is my trip from above Gailey down to Autherley with only one tiny edit where I had to change the camcorder battery.