Well I have completed my first week boating, and survived. We had some lovely guests who knew more about canals and locks than me and Lauren put together, which was handy as we have been learning the job on the go.
During the week I have cooked, cleaned, washed, steered, run, leaped and climbed. I go to bed about 10pm every night absolutely shattered and crash out.
My brain is in overload, I have had so much information pumped in, hopefully it will all stay, here are some of the things I have learnt (that I can remember! Lol)
The boats are 70 foot long by 7 foot wide. We have a traditional set up which is two boats, one with a motor and one which is pulled along, this is called a butty. The boats are called Kerala and Kanataka which are areas of India where John and Hanna went on holiday, and to tie in with this, the dog is called India! India is a Bedlington terrior/whippet cross and is 10 weeks old.
We cruise on the canals and move up and down hills using locks. The body of water in between locks is called a Pound. The lock gates have the weight carved into them, most of them are between 1400 and 1500 kg (220 stone and 236 stone in old money).
We wind the locks using a windlass and pull the butty using a bow line. This is called bow hauling. The front of the boats is the bow and the back the stern. The kitchen is the Galley and the beds are referred to as bunks. We have very finite amount of water and electricity. The battery only charges while we are cruising and we have to fill up water at taps when we find them.
The canals are run and maintained by British Waterboard, who seem to think of them as a bit of a white elephant, so the canals have been put forward to be changed to National Trust status which should help improve them. A lot of gates and locks have dates in them, the dates are mostly 1900 ish, some are 1930s and then a lot of gates have been replaced in 1996.
The canals are all man made and the water is running unnaturally up and down. Every time the locks are used, water is released down hill. In theory this should mean that eventually there is no water at the top and the bottom is flooded. But somehow the water is pumped back up. I have yet to see a pumping station, but they must be there somewhere. Our big thing at the minute is to try and conserve water, we can do this by thinking ahead and filling a lock in front as the one behind is being emptied, therefore only using one lockfull of water in a flight of however many locks there are.
With the advent of better roads and faster cars the canals started to become redundant. After the second world war they fell into massive disrepair, got silted up and a lot of locks were damaged and rotting. Then someone had the bright idea of using them as a leisure pass time. Hotel boats have been running since the 1950s (but I’d never heard of them- had you?) Then the self hire business took off as well and the leisure industry basically saved the canals as all of a sudden there was demand to use them again.
The boats are traditionally decorated with Roses and castles. The rose is easy enough to explain, as they are easy to draw, brightly coloured and look pretty (remember- early boaters permanently lived on the boats)but no body knows why castles were used. To have a boats professionally painted can cost about £7000!
So there you go, you now know as much about canal boats as I do!
On busy lock days I am running about like an idiot, winding locks, jumping on and off the boats and running backwards and forwards, so i am eating like a horse but losing weight! I’m gonna be sooooo fit by October!
So far we have been on the Oxford Canal from Banbury, and then onto the Grand Union Canal to Warwick. Today we have travelled through Birmingham, and at the minute we are moored up just outside Birmingham next to a busy road. Birmingham was not a pleasant experience I’m sorry to say. This morning some kids threw a stone at the boats and it smashed a window. Luckily no one was hurt, but it made a lot of mess and now we have to replace the glass. The propeller on the motor boat kept getting clogged up with debris, at one point there was a metal coat hanger wrapped round it!
On a plus side, all the days before this had been beautiful! We have had the best weather, England is looking its best, all the trees are full of blossom, the fields are bright yellow or green and the canal is full of baby ducks and swans. Yesterday we saw a heron, he sat right by the side of the canal until the boat was level and then flew off in front of us. Stunning.
We are completing the Warwickshire ring at the minute nd have until next Friday to do it.
Untill next time, take care xxxxxxx
