Category: Travels

Vlog 379A: And Mondays

Posted on September 20, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

We return to the journey of narrowboat Gentian in this episode, documenting the trip from Mercia Marina down to the village of Alrewas – and it rained, a lot, on the way.

Vlog 376b: Mercia Me!

Posted on August 20, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

At the end of the last video, I came to the end of the River Trent at Derwent mouth where it joins the start of the Trent & Mersey canal. In this video, I take the boat onto the canal and up to Mercia marina, where I’d be leaving the boat for a week until I could move it again.

Vlog 376A: The Endless River

Posted on August 10, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

Having left my narrowboat at Beeston marina for four weeks, I now returned for a weekend to move it onto the canals and stash it at Mercia Marina temporarily (until the next move!) This is part 1 of that move.

Vlog 375B: Nottingham Forests

Posted on July 30, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

Day 2 of my weekend spent moving narrowboat Gentian from Newark-on-Trent to Beeston Marina. In this episode, I take the boat from Stoke Lock on the River Trent, onto the Nottingham & Beeston canal.

Vlog 375a: Rush Hour

Posted on July 20, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

Part 2 of my trip to bring the narrowboat Gentian down from Lincoln to the East Midlands, here I move it from Newark-upon-Trent to Stoke Lock which is not a million miles away from Nottingham. It was a bank holiday weekend (first weekend in May) and there was a lot of traffic on the river, all of which overtook me with ease!

Vlog 374: Tide Up

Posted on July 9, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

Back in April, I began the slow process of moving my recently-purchased narrowboat from Burton Waters marina near Lincoln, down to the East Midlands. This video is Step 1 of that journey.

Vlog 373: Bon Voyage

Posted on June 30, 2025 by David Johns

In this final part of our Canal du Midi press trip, organised for us by Le Boat, we move from Roubia up to Trebes where we handed the boat back and went for a day trip to Carcassonne, to look around the historic medieval city.

Vlog 372: L’eau Rider

Posted on June 20, 2025 by David Johns

This is Part 2 of my trip along the Canal du Midi courtesy of Le Boat, travelling from Port Cassafieres to Trebes, near Carcassonne. I was joined by my friend Sally – and in this episode, another, familiar, face too.

Vlog 371: Cruising Le Cut

Posted on June 10, 2025June 11, 2025 by David Johns

Who could resist an offer to try canal boating in the South of France in May? Certainly not me, so with a friend along to help out at the locks, we jetted down to Beziers…

A narrowboat moored at Torksey visitor moorings.

Vlog 366: Tork Steer

Posted on April 20, 2025October 19, 2025 by David Johns

For the second cruise on my ‘new’ tiny narrowboat, Gentian, I turned right out of the marina and headed about 7 miles west along the Fossdyke Navigation until I got to Torksey lock where I stopped for the night before heading back. In this video I also reveal the mystery of how to change the lightbulbs!

Canal Life