Canal Boat — February 2018

60 February 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

has the time gone?) but ever since taking
the entire thing out so as to treat a
disturbingly rusty and otherwise
inaccessible corner of the bilge, the Lister
seems to have decided to spit even more
goop out as I go along.
Describing this to a friend, he mocked
my concern about what amount to fairly
small dribbles and said that he puts a litre
in every few days so until I get to that
point I have nothing to moan about.
On the upside, the bilge is looking a lot
better; dare I say shiny? The many slim
layers of rust had been holding water like
a sponge despite my best attempts to dry
it out so I’m hoping the Vactan and
numerous paint layers will hold it off from
regaining hold for at least a while.
Perhaps then – and it’s just a speculative
thought – I’ll chicken out of (ahem; surely

‘take a strategic decision about’) moving

this year and become a moored boater.

There is an upside to this which is that I’ll

be able to get along to the many, many

boaty events that take place throughout

the country that I missed last year

because I was miles away, chugging down

a canal.

I remember reading the Canal Boat

Directory of Interesting Things That Are

Coming Up Soon and being somewhat

peeved that, though I was certainly

enjoying my cruising, it would require a

secure place to stop, a train and maybe a

bus or even a taxi or two to get to these

events. If I simply stay put, I can keep my

car to hand, rejoin the landlubbers and

gongoozlers and go for some sightseeing

all over the place.

Either that or someone needs to clone

me so I can be out on the boat and going

to the summertime canal events at the

same time. Since most people find one of

me quite enough to deal with already, the

cloning option might not be so popular.

In short, I’ve truly no real firm idea of

what’s coming up this year. Maybe a jaunt

down the Grand Union, up the Thames

and north from Oxford, a loop that I’ve

been promising myself to do since I

bought the boat. Isn’t the idle planning all

part of the winter fun though? Especially

when done next to that roaring fire with a

cup of hot chocolate to hand and the

Nicholson’s guides spread out all around?

Maybe by next month’s Canal Boat

there’ll be a decision. In the meantime you

can follow my liveaboard life at http://www.

CruisingTheCut.co.uk or on Twitter: @

CruisingTheCut CB

LIVEABOARD

Walking along the North Oxford canal

Building narrowboats at Aintree

A perfect rural retreat