wow this was before i was born sad that i missed this

Why are the boats passing you on the right ?

the blue and white fishing boat is called wonder it use to be ferry boat from Fleetwood to Knot end, years ago and its still going

Magnificent

What kind of engine do you have? How fast were you going?

Excellent stuff. That must have been so far out of most of those people's comfort zone that they will remember it for life. A testament to the preparation and knowledge involved that it went without incident.

Lovely spot

No fear in the wide waters!

I was worried about Minnie Mo, there didn't seem many of you in the final lock.

Thank you for this wonderful film, it brought back memories of a journey I made in 1988. Unfortunately this was before modern camera technology. I had a 50ft narrow boat built in Coventry and needed to bring it to our home near Bath. They were building the big bridge and I had an uneventful journey with a pilot to a barge anchored below the construction. The pilot left me here with instructions to wait for the tide to turn and then head for that white structure. Few hours later the tide turned, I cast off and accelerated. I could not see the Avon for mud flats but my speed soon brought me to the entrance. Here the river was a mass of small muddy whirlpools which tended to pull the boat off course. I was quite relieved to see the lock but then the most exciting part of the journey occurred. The boat was up against the lock and after a few minutes of calling hello a face appeared above and bluntly stated "you can't stay there, there's a tanker coming up behind you". I had to get close to the weir on the right which meant tying onto a foot rung in the wall and keep the boat in reverse as the tanker went in. My turn now and I had to really gun in reverse then the relief of being in next the huge tanker.

A great video Andrew. We were supposed to be doing this next month but in the opposite direction. It's been cancelled now due to the Coronavirus but we hope to do it at a later date. We did the Ribble Link last year but this looks much more challenging. These days every boat has to have a pilot on board even if in a convoy.

Fair play I wouldn't want to do that in rough weather how did you find the crossing ??

13.4 mph, are you sure it was that fast?

Your sound is shit

I was in this no joke I was one of the dancers.

That was lovely to watch.

Hi That was handy having Freeflow at that lock.

Fabulous video. We used to live in Ellesmere Port, frequently visited the Boat Museum and have been to the African restaurant. We moved to live on the seafront in a small town in North Wales. When we go to Liverpool we always stay in a hotel on Albert Docks. I need to be within a few hundred yards of water, if not in it up to my neck in it. Thanks for sharing. Happy travels.

how deep is that whater

Also nice to see Liverpool, spent many years working there to 😁

Nice to see the River Mersey and Eastham from the boat, I work in Eastham Village and spend a lot of time on the river front 😁

Looks a bit choppy. Has any one ever tried using inflatable outriggers, when taking a narrow boat onto big water?. Just an idea.

Excellent! Savick Brook looked like a scene from 'African Queen'

Fascinating; I also enjoyed watching you Sharpness to Bristol footage recently. Here's Liverpool and Manchester the easy way: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2auepJ4mK6noa8 . It was part of an out and back trip from Preston Brook on a hired boat. Liverpool from around 17:25. Couldn’t take the boat any further to Liverpool due to canal blocked due to an embankment collapse.

At about 6.30 mins, why would you walk along the gunnels on a ship canal, go through the boat would be safer.

how does it work on Savick brook if you have a boat coming the opposite way..?? ..looks well narrow in places..??

Thank you for your enjoyable video, I'd love to walk this canal. I've just added this year's Angel canal festival in 4k along with an hour's meander along the Regents canal, taking in the atmosphere. It's good to share. Perhaps we could subscribe to each other and share more canal video's to come?

wow what a trip across the mersey, excellent

i did not think canal narrow boats were built or able to go on tidal rivers

its a great shame that the MSC is not as busy as it was back in the 1970s my granddad always got caught out by the swing bring opening at Stockton heath on our way to the caravan in wales on a Friday tea time every week without fail this would happen, also its fantastic to see the mighty R Mersey nice and clean and ive heard that fish have return to the Mersey and breeding very well along with others further up the Mersey towards widnes

I live in Ellesmere Port and I don't think I've seen such a beautiful day since 1976. That looked like great fun.

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYqnq4Kdf6h0aLM

Really fascinating! (Narrowboat at Sea?) did you go on from there ? North maybe?(is it possible) or just a day out at sea? rather you than me, journey across the Mersy

portishead first then up the river to bristol probalby because of tide times, a narrow boat can only go with run of the tide. cause the tide runs very fast. excellent video, rather you than me, must have been bit traumatic, got to have confidence in your engine !

My wife is bossy also.

That was a true pleasure to watch for me, i spent years as a teenager up near the Port Boat Museum having lived there for 19 years. To see you all leave the top Basin as we use to call it then go into the Canal and up Past Mount Monastery too was a treat, and such a lovely peaceful day as you say. Thanks - Ian H.

OMG

I would have been a nervous wreck on the Mersey. Well done :)

Great video, definitely a trip for my bucket list! Can I please ask, why did you go into Portishead first and not straight into the Avon?

Good video, we have yet to do that run.

Very nice, this part of the Mersey river is like an inner sea, as we can see. Wouldn't be nicer to have these engine muffled ? soundproof or absorbing cladding in the engine room, a taller exhaust pipe (folding for bridges and tunnels), in order to put all the fumes above your nose - so bad for your health with fine particles and sulfurs-, and a generous muffler in the external part of the exhaust, this would be a luxury to me, as silence is made of gold like the Romans said…

Thank you for allowing me to "virtually" join your journey.

Why did you pass the other craft on the left when on the Ribble?

Fantastic little film, Looks like you had a great day! Thanks for sharing.

interesting - it's very rare to see canal narrowboats putting out to sea - presumably you would have to be very careful to choose a day with a certainty of calm weather.

nice

A shame we couldn't hear you over the wind halfway through the video, but still an enjoyable and interesting video nonetheless.

That's a pretty buckby can, I'm learning to paint those

Hello Andrew, My name is Ollie and I work for a UK TV company making a show for Channel 4. We love your footage of your canal boat holiday and are interested in using it. Could you drop me an e-mail on [email protected] and I could give you some more information. Many Thanks

Thanks that was great.