Category: Video

Posts including videos

Vlog 352: Asking Price

Posted on November 30, 2024November 30, 2024 by David Johns

I asked a well-known narrowboat broker what used boats fetch these days, who’s buying and what the trends in the market are. Hopefully useful info if you’re thinking of buying or selling a canal boat in 2025!

Vlog 351: Resins to be Cheerful

Posted on November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by David Johns

This is part 4 of my complete transom rebuild. In this thrilling episode, I place reinforcing glass fibre into the inner skin of the transom using vinylester resin. And I get buzzed by a hornet (maybe).

Vlog 350: Glue Monday

Posted on November 10, 2024November 10, 2024 by David Johns

Having removed all the rotten transom wood (see the prior videos in my ‘Twiggy transom’ playlist, link below), I now needed to patch a couple of holes on the inner fibreglass skin. This video documents that process.

Vlog 349: A Soggy Bottom

Posted on October 30, 2024 by David Johns

Ignoring, for the moment, the vast gashes I have carved into the back of the boat which will need fixing later, in this episode I tear into the transom and start removing the – extremely soggy – wooden core.

Vlog 348: All aboard the Skylark!

Posted on October 20, 2024October 21, 2024 by David Johns

Although traditional steel narrowboats cost many thousands of pounds, even second-hand, there is a cheaper and easier way to get a foot on the water and that’s with a fibreglass cabin cruiser. In this video, I visit a woman who’s chosen exactly that as her first boat.

Vlog 347: Fjord Fiesta

Posted on October 10, 2024October 21, 2024 by David Johns

After enjoying my first cruise last December, I decided to go on another this year and the place that was on my ‘must go’ list was Norway. So I booked a week with P&O and this video is my review of the trip.

Vlog 346: Cutting Corners

Posted on October 1, 2024October 1, 2024 by David Johns

As described in the prior videos about the refurbishment of Twiggy, my 48-year-old fibreglass cabin cruiser, I needed to cut the back off the boat in order to replace the rotten wood in the transom. Unfortunately, things didn’t go entirely to plan.

Vlog 345: Gifts of the Gabs

Posted on September 22, 2024 by David Johns

About three months ago I visited Gabs Heneghan who’d bought a widebeam boat and was about to refurbish it. Mid-way through the process, I’ve been back to see how she’s getting on.

Vlog 344: Otterly Delightful!

Posted on September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by David Johns

There are a small number of aluminium canal boats which are a hybrid of traditional narrowboat style mixed with river cruiser design. I went to see two of these and chat with their owners.

Vlog 343: The Missing Link

Posted on August 30, 2024September 10, 2024 by David Johns

Despite the name of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal, it doesn’t actually go through the county town of Stafford so a group of volunteers are now trying to make that happen.

Canal Life