canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat February 2018 59
LIVEABOARD
for the evening meal. I couldn’t do that
when I lived in a house you know, the
gas-fired radiator central heating
system – lovely though it was – just wasn’t
the same.
The downside of dear Batman (the
neighbour’s cat) coming to visit are that
he’s entirely unconcerned by the trail of
muddy pawprints he leaves in his wake.
They’re on my floor; my chairs; my
kitchen worktops. “Love me!” he miaows
rubbing his little head against my hand.
“Grrr,” I respond, trying to wipe his feet
with paper towel and getting a swipe of
his claws for my trouble.
Occasionally in winter I like to follow his
lead though and get my own paws muddy
on a nice trek out into the countryside,
sometimes along the canal, sometimes
veering away and back again. We truly do
have a wonderful country of stunning
picturesque views and landscapes
especially up in the East Midlands where
I’m moored for winter. I’m not much of a
walker on my own so have taken to joining
groups such as the Ramblers and various
others, the company of whom makes for a
doubly enjoyable time.
Many of my companions are normal
people who live in normal houses with
normal jobs and for them the walk along a
canal is a weekend treat, their delight
reminding me frequently not to take my
privileged circumstances for granted
(many’s the day when moored that,
despite its narrow dimensions and the
view from the windows, I genuinely seem
to forget that I’m living on a boat and am
surprised on exiting through the rear
doors to find a tiller staring me in the face)
So, what a splendid thing narrowboating
is. I doubt I’d be walking along the canals
if I wasn’t afloat which means boating has
brought an entirely new world of
friendships, something I didn’t anticipate
when this adventure began. This is not
just happening in the perambulationdepartment either. I’ve said before how
friendly boat-folk tend to be – not always
but mostly – and this perception has been
enhanced by my penchant for making
videos about the canals.
From going up to film at Aintree Boats- and just down the road, saying hello to
Bickerstaffe Boats too while I was there - to visiting the many, many
narrowboaters who’ve invited me into
their water homes to show off their
layouts, their engines and so on, everyone
has been, without exception, utterly
delightful and welcoming. What a
delightful world to live within.
I hope I haven’t just jinxed things.
Let’s move on and consider the ‘looking
forward’ part of the new year. What will
2018 bring? The obvious start is to
consider cruising plans but I spent a week
in a large shed at Yelvertoft in October,
blacking my boat with three full coats of
Intertuf and now, after all that effort, am
slightly reluctant to actually move the
boat lest the immaculate coating sustain
any damage. Yes, I’ve joined the shiny
boat brigade, at least up to the gunwales
(the less said about the rest of the
paintwork, the better).
It was bad enough bringing the boat
back to the mooring; lock after lock took
its toll and no sooner had I returned than I
borrowed a neighbour’s dinghy to touch
up all the dings in the bitumen on the
offside (it was easier than turning the boat
around to bring that side to the bank)
My engine also troubles me. It’s always
leaked a little oil for as long as I’ve owned
the boat (over two years already, where
Batman’s robbing my chair
Highland cattle shrug off the icy blastsBlacking from my dinghy