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The earwig chat will be something to look forward to when we finally meet up again! 🤣

Thanks Ms B- I'm over it now thankfully, but it was a nasty one all right! Rugeley is a lovely little town, its always busy with lots of boaters but usually you'll find a spot, and there wasn't the slightest hint of any hassle or trouble the whole time.

Hi there Leigh, its lovely to hear from you! I am over that horrible lergy now, but it was a persistent bugger. Thank you very much for your concern and your kind words, and I do hope all is well with you and yours.

I'm happy to report that the dreaded lergy has finally gone! I think I tried rum and coke when I was a youngster. Anything that tastes of both coke and alcohol can't be that bad, right?

I'm surprised it took you that long to see there was going to be strife! 🤣 Any video of mine with the word 'reverse' in it is never going to go smoothly!

@theamateurboater5892 i shouldn't be so smug. Currently in Bugsworth basin and blundered into left hand arm thinking it had a winding hole at the end. It doesn't. So its a lengthy reverse back out tomorrow. Oh well.🤐

My dear Norman, that is most unfortunate. I think we have a fairly strong NE wind tomorrow, and that means you'll be blown onto the south bank of the arm. My normal ploy in that kind of a fix is to knock on the boats and warn them in advance of my intended reverse manoeuvre, which greatly lessens their ire when I start bumping along their sides shortly afterwards! You could perhaps station Mrs Norman in the bow, ready to deploy her foot as a fender when needed?

The lawn care is absolutely vital Mr C, and especially from Spring to Autumn. Just a month ago I moored up against a bank like that one in the video, but I neglected my lawn care work, leaving lots of foliage and tall grass laying against the boat.. About half an hour later I went to take a look, and it turned out there were a couple of ants nests along the bank. And there were already dozens of ants swarming around the side of the boat and the gunnels. I despatched these intruders immediately of course, but it's happened many times. And if one of your mooring ropes is next to a nest, it is certain some of them will come aboard and start scouting around the boat. Many boaters just ignore this peril, but I find that insect powder on the rope is an easy way to repel these tiny boarders.

Cheers Sean! Its a shame I'm so far away now - you might have been able to show me some tips with the heater.

I fear it may be too late for me. The slime has already started eating my brain. How else do you explain that I can't steer a boat in a straight line? 🤣 Fortunately I managed to adapt to a constant drip whilst cruising with Dave last winter. (See what I did there?) 🤣

By Jove sir, I think you're onto something. I've never been the same since I was slapped in the face by the poison slime plants hanging from the tunnel roof. But there are psychological scars. A human being, even a brave one like myself, can only take so much horror in one tunnel.

Rubbish- just give it maximum welly and barge past the thing. What a pair of wimps 🤣

Yes, and it was me who was being accused of not giving it enough welly!

I think I did a remarkably good job considering the poor quality of the participants 🤣

I must say I do miss Dave's company and his gung-ho attitude, since we parted ways at Fradley junction. He was always great company. But ultimately all boaters have different approaches to this lifestyle, and all will eventually go their separate ways- even Dave and Di. My own preference is to take the lifestyle at a slower pace, and with a less strict approach to managing the cruising. I.e. lazy boating!

The answer to your question, Ms B, is yes. He was indeed about to jump in wearing his trousers - and I am very grateful that he chose to keep the trousers on. I can only see so much of a chap before it starts to feel a bit unpleasant, to be brutally frank. But he was all set to jump- in fact it did take some doing to talk him down from his suicidal intention to jump in.

@@theamateurboater5892 thank goodness for magnets :-)

Haha yes, I should have charged a consultancy fee and done a brainstorming session! 🤣

@@theamateurboater5892 you forgot risk assessment and diversity training

🤣

Thanks Mr C. Getting a beer from those scoundrels is harder than getting blood from the proverbial stone. In 4 years I think I've only had to fish things out maybe half a dozen times, so its not my area of expertise. But common sense tells you that it's going to be much easier to find an object and pull it out of the canal from above, rather than throwing a 30ft rope and dragging it along the bottom from the other side of the cut. And in fact Di found the chimneys within a few minutes of starting to fish from the boat. But its not as simple as people think- a dropped object can often twirl and drift on its way down, so its resting place might be a yard or more from where it went in- especially things like phones. If its a small object, it can be really hard to find, and people often spend an hour or more searching for lost things. All good fun, of course!

Absolutely, yes. It's an incredible feat of engineering and construction. And its a great experience going through it for the first time too!

Thanks very much for that lovely and supportive comment, I genuinely appreciate it. I do think the tunnel is a doddle for anyone who's not too awful at steering - and yes, I am aware of the irony of me saying that! But yes, what an unusual experience it is to go through. But for me, the greatest thrill was the Pontcycyllte aqueduct. What a ride!

I know, right? The canals can be so random sometimes. But here I am, filming and risking my life! Well risking my coffee, on this occasion...

It's my phrase of the month! 🤣

I will say that Dave is normally fearless - he was always the first into any dodgy waterway stetch. But for some reason that day his spider sense must have been tingling!

Well thanks very much Kathryn, its very kind of you to say so. If I hadn't been obsessed with filming it would have been a lot less stressful! But I try to present a real picture of what its like to cruise these places, because I want to remember the reality of it all, when I look back at these videos in future years. So I guess I have a selfish interest in making them as accurate as possible!

Stay safe though! 😅

Cheers Dave, and thanks for subscribing. If I remember right, the CRT guy advised me to switch on my interior lights, but I have net curtains as well as the normal curtains, and they block a fair bit of light. Plus the windows are smallish anyway. So even with the lights on, there was very little light to see the walls. For longer tunnel I normally use two portable work lights with magnetic bases, and I stand one on either side of the stern pointing forward- those do a much better job than my interior lights, but I hadn't used them for months and one was flat! Another lesson learned...

@theamateurboater5892 I think u did really well on your own...when I did it years ago there was 6 of us...safety in numbers 😄

Thanks for your comment, and for that tip! I have heard boaters mention the interior lights a few times, and the tunnel staff advised me to keep my interior lights on, but I was a bit rushed and I didnt really pull all of the curtains fully wide- so I didn't get the full benefit from the interior lights, although they were on the whole time. As for Standedge- maybe next year, when I get over my fear of tunnel goblins! 🤣

Thanks PK, and to be fair you do make a good point that I was too obsessed with filming the tunnel, compared to watching my safety. Its not a good idea to be so determined about filming when you're on a boat, as things can go very wrong when you get distracted. That said, on the couple of occasions I stepped up to fix the forward looking camera, I made sure the roof was at or near its full height, so the worst consequences would have been the boat bumping the side wall (at less than 2mph). You'll notice that when the roof height dropped, I did not dare to touch a camera, and I kept my eyes looking forward. I think I probably gave the impression I was physically up on the roof at times, but that was not really the case. The camera was placed about 2 or 3 feet in front of me, so I could reach it by stepping onto a folding step that is above the gas locker. So I wasn't on the roof, but rather leaning over it. And I had a couple of feet headroom in those sections, so my head was never in any danger of injury. With the camera swinging around in my hand as I prepared to step up, it probably looked much worse than it was. But my attempts to fix the camera were limited to just a few seconds each time, and then I stepped down again to steer the boat. But all that said, I do still think you make a fair point, and I was pushing my luck a little too hard in there, in my sheer desperation to get some decent footage. And that's something I will bear in mind in the future.

Thanks for that suggestion Peter! I have actually thought about making a short before, but I have a snag in that shorts must be filmed in portrait mode, whereas 95% of my filming is done in landscape mode. But I'll tell you what- I'll have a think and see if I've got any footage that might fit into a short, and if I can find anything I'll have a go at re-editing the footage into portrait mode for a short. Should be fun!

Well thank you for your very kind comment Mr C, and despite your modesty I can assure you that with even a day's experience, you would pilot a narrowboat through there with little problem- in fact I half remember the guy saying that for most of its length it is more than 12 or 13 feet wide. I will confess that I'm probably the worst boat driver of all those I've met personally, but I dont know why that is. I am able to explain some complex ideas to people, and did so for many years in my job- but give me a physical task with the slightest complexity and I am all over the place! PS- just o add that the filming really made it hard work in there, but I know it will give me something to look back on in future years, and also for the viewers who enjoy these videos, I just got into a mindset where I was going to keep filming in that damn tunnel no matter what happened! I was so determined, think if Godzilla had risen from the waters, I would have asked him to pose for a selfie.

You talk a good game Claire. But when the slimy dangling subterranean growth hits you in the chops in the pitch dark, I reckon your scream would be heard from space, let alone the CRT office. Anyway, I think its a positive thing that I'm in touch with my screaming side.

@@theamateurboater5892 😂😂😂

Nooooo Ms B, you'd be fine honestl! I only had hassle because of the camera problems and the panels, but if you were just cruising (and you checked your panels) it would be fine. Its yet another case of me having a major snag because of laziness and/or inattention!

@@theamateurboater5892 well, it all made for entertaining viewing, so don't go getting too organized 😅

🤣

Well thank you very much indeed for your kind comment Mr Gladys, and I must stress that I only had a hassle inside because I was so desperate to get some good video footage. You'll be fine through there, honestly. I don't believe I'm a stupid person, but I am very poor at complex physical tasks and actions- which is exactly what's needed every time you cruise a boat! If you are anywhere near normal at these sorts of tasks, you'll be absolutely fine. PS- the vlogger lesson from this episode is to always have a handy backup filming option (including a mount). The backup option must be fully tested in various lighting conditions and weathers, and it must be instantly available. An old phone is ideal for that, as long as the camera is ok. I think the Pixel 8 is really good for filming- but not as waterproof as a dedicated action camera. But since I've had this issue before, I was able to set up my phone as soon as I thought of doing it, and so I got some decent rear facing video, which I think adds a bit of variety to the final film.

@@theamateurboater5892 A very helpful reply - thanks very much! Though I suspect I'm just as likely to have problems as you are. - Harecastle looks quite a challenge... but at least I'd be better informed now after seeing you! Still unsure if I'll go there. Nice idea of utilising an old phone as an extra camera - once again, many thanks! Jeff (aka Gladys)

Thanks Sean- I keep the bolts lubricated after that incident! I was just lucky it was a quiet day and there was no queue, or I might have been sent packing by the staff. I was convinced they'd fit through no problem, but I really should have checked they were ok the day before the tunnel. No excuses for that one.

Thanks very much for your kind comment Ms B, and I actually returned the favour for Di. A couple of weeks after this we tried to get through to Froghall again, and I got some video of Di's boat with the steam train in the background. As a heads up, I'm going to post a video of the Harecastle tunnel as it is a place of general interest (and it didnt go well), and then I'll be moving on to more recent video footage, which is what a good few viewers have said they prefer.

@@theamateurboater5892 sounds good 🙂

Thanks ♥️

I think this would have been a far better video if you and Dave had ended up in the river! 🤣

oh, yeah. hehehe.

Well it breaks my heart to disappoint you Mr C, but no-one fell into the river that day! The problem that a group of boats have there is that you can't securely moor in that spot for long. That's because (apart from that red boat I was next to) there is only one proper mooring spot, and even that has only one mooring ring and no armco. So we knew sitting in the pub garden that since we couldn't get through to Froghall, we would have make a four hour cruise and 6 locks to get back on the canal, and reach somewhere near our starting point that morning. But for the next few weeks that will be the last of the footage from the winter cruises. In an attempt to try to stop falling viewer numbers, I'm going to focus on more recent footage for a few weeks, and every 6-8 weeks I'll go back and edit a video from the winter.

Very sadly no-one fell in- although the jack russell Maggie did go for a swim in pursuit of some ducks!

Thanks very much for taking the time to comment Ms B! That was on a bank holiday Sunday I think, which I think meant that the nearest CRT staff couldn't have got to me that day. So if we couldn't get the boat off ourselves, I was going to be marooned on that sandbank until the next day. Also, we had the additional motivation of there being a pub at the end of that river section! I''m editing a video covering the second part of that river trip, and after that I'll jump forwards to June I think, and take it from there.

A pub at the end is always good incentive 😊 Look forward to seeing you with your summer hat on soon 🤠

Yes, and my apologies for calling you the 'Three Stooges'. Somehow it just came to mind! 🤣

Ah- so you spotted the little time jump to the Caldon... It's all most regrettable (and you guessed right btw- the Harecastle did not go well at all!). The thing is that I've had a few comments recently that people enjoy watching videos more when the footage is more recent, and my small viewer numbers have been reducing in the last few months. So I've decided to temporarily pause the winter footage, and focus on editing footage from within the last month or so. But about once per month I will go back to the winter footage and create a video, so that all those shenanigans will eventually be published. I'd really rather not jump forwards, but I'm slightly worried that if the viewer numbers carry on falling, youtube will stop offering my videos to people, and the subscriber numbers will also fall. I'd like to maintain a few hundred subscribers if possible, so lets see if this approach helps!

@theamateurboater5892 thanks for reply. Would hate to see your channel go, it is honest and am not constantly being reminded to " buy me a coffee" etc. Poss too many vlogs in one area. I think also if they were all in chronological order rather than skipping back and forth like a timelord it may keep viewers. But thats poss me. Still...if all else fails you can make a career in recruitment...how do you get so many innocent bystanders roped in?

@@normanjones1640 , thanks for that feedback Norman, and yes I think maybe there are sometimes too many videos set in each area. It's because I have so much footage and it's tempting to use as much of it as I can. But maybe the time has come to be a bit more ruthless in cutting out the slower-paced footage. I can still use that sort of footage in the longer form videos, which I'll post on a separate channel.

I hope you wrote that in a cockney accent 🤣

Yes, I see what you mean. '"I'll gun it a bit" is about as sensible as "I'll shoot him a bit". But the whole business was very heroic of course, and I probably deserve some sort of waterways medal of valour. But I was never in danger as such. The ace up my exquisitely tailored sleeve was the CRT itself, who would have (eventually) sent a crew to pull the boat free.

Thanks for your comment- the panniers were made by Ortlieb, and I think they are called Front Roller Classic (made as a front pannier)- although they look similar to the model called Sport Roller. The word 'classic' does appear on the front of the panniers, so the most likely thing is they are the Front Roller Classic model. But as long as the dimensions of both models are the same, either one might fit. Because the brompton rack is so low, a normal pannier drags on the ground too often. And because your heels tend to catch on most panniers, you need smaller panniers such as those designed for a front rack, like my Ortliebs.

@@theamateurboater5892 thank you very much!

@@willg8920 , just another thought- I used an angle grinder to cut out the flat triangle on the top surface at the back end of the rack. That allowed me to push the panniers a few cm further back, so they now sit at the very back of the rack, and that helps to keep my heels from bumping the pannier. Before I cut out that metal triangle, my heels did sometimes bump the front of the pannier. So even these Ortliebs are not a perfect fit. Also, there is almost no tolerance available- for example, the bottom of the pannier is only a couple of inches above the ground, so when you lean the bike over, they do sometimes drag on the ground. Or when you put a heavy item in the bottom, the fabric of the base will sag, and sometimes that is enough for the panniers to touch the ground. To help deal with sagging, I cut a flat piece of plastic that fits in the base of the pannier, and holds it rigid. So there are a number of variables, and there is a risk that even a small pannier will not work well for you personally. E.g. if you have very large feet, you might bump your heels into the panniers more often than I do. Because of these risks, I would strongly recommend trying out any pannier before you are committed to buying it. And be prepared for the possibility that you might need to cut out that metal triangle on the rear rack, to improve the fit of the panniers.

@@theamateurboater5892 quite a debacle! Thank you very much for the info, I’ve been looking at getting some custom bags made by cobag - the bikezac bags in particular. They can also fold up easily when not in use which will be perfect for me.

Thanks for your comment Scott. And may I ask- have we met? If we already know each other and I haven't realised, I can only apologise - I am a tad slow on the uptake at times!

@@theamateurboater5892 it's Scotty you were kind enough to give me a solar controller box in Chester,I hope your well,I'm on Popeye the boat with the shed on it

@@nasascott4439 , hiya mate, I hope all's well, and great to hear Popeye is still going as strong as ever. I'm currently heading south towards Rugby, but very slowly as usual!

@@theamateurboater5892 barely,my engine was smashed into by a narrow boater,then run off,my insurance refused to pay for it to be repaired or replaced,12 years no claims down the tubes,stuck here now waiting to save up for a new outboard engine

@@nasascott4439 , I'm really sorry to hear that mate. A broken engine is one of a boater's biggest nightmares. I've been thinking about swapping to a 32ft GRP in maybe 5 years or so, but I do have this worry about being hit by steel narrowboats who fly around like nutters during the summer.

Well thanks for watching Ms B, and for your kind comment. I did ask on my community page about how best to deal with the 6 month lag in editing videos, and the general feeling seemed to be to carry on with the older footage (but try to catch up)- which is what I'm doing at the moment. But fewer people seem to be watching the videos in recent months, and now I'm wondering if those people are being put off by the footage being 6 months old. The other option was to temporarily drop 3 months of my old footage, and try to go back and edit that later this year. I would then start posting videos from about April of this year. So perhaps check back in a few weeks, and see what the more recent footage looks like.

@@theamateurboater5892 I think that may be the case. It just seems more enjoyable to watch up to date vlogs, but I understand that it must take a lot of time to do all that editing. Do you really want to sleep?! 😅

I'm sorry the older footage is not as interesting as more up to date videos would be, and I can understand your frustration being over 6 months behind the current date. I posted a question about this in my community page, and the general feeling seemed to be that it's better to carry on with the older footage and try to catch up gradually. If start editing some more recent footage, I'll only fall further behind with the older footage- and some of that older footage is quite interesting. But anyway, I must thank you for having taken an interest in the videos, and I hope one day you'll take a peek and see if I've gotten more up to date with the editing.

Absolutely the pub! Ian and Jeannie were intent on following the wassailers through the town to see the rest of the show, but for me there was only one sensible course of action after 40 minutes watching this bizarre medieval performance. And fortunately Dave agreed with me!