197- Five Things We Should’ve Known before Buying a Narrowboat!

197- Five Things We Should’ve Known before Buying a Narrowboat!
Join us on Narrowboat Dunworkin as we continuously cruise the Inland Waterways of England and Wales.
We are currently moored at Grafton Regis on the Grand Union Canal outside the lovely St Mary the Virgin Church.
In this video we discuss five things we think we should’ve known before moving onto our Narrowboat. We are currently moored at Grafton Regis on the Grand Union Canal
After a lovely few days spent with Eileen’s sister and Brother in Law we leave our mooring at Blisworth and navigate the dark and wet Blisworth Tunnel. At 3057 yards long it’s the third longest navigable tunnel in Britain and opened on 25th March 1805 after an earlier failed attempt resulted in a tramway being built over Blisworth Hill.
Boats had to be unloaded onto horse drawn wagons, hauled over the hill and reloaded onto boats the other side.
We moor the other side of Blisworth Tunnel at Stoke Bruerne for a few days and enjoy this lovely canal side village, with 2 pubs, a nearby tunnel, locks, cafe and museum.
The National Waterways Museum is free to visit and is housed in a restored corn mill.
It holds a unique collection of canal memorabilia bringing to life a rich history of over 200 years of canals.
We took some pictures of the museum which were supposed to be in this video however the editing suite that Patrick uses processes them in a different way and they were not usable so hopefully we’ll show you the museum on our return journey.
Having maxed out our two days at the top of the Stoke Bruerne locks we descend the seven locks and spend a further 2 days at the bottom.
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Music by Epidemic Sounds
Honey Take My Hand - Cody Francis

[@caz-nbgalatea1528]

Hi guys, great vlog. Re condensation-we’ve put vents in all our cupboard doors and any storage areas which helps a lot plus the moisture traps around the boat. That seems to do it for us! Pat- I feel your pain and frustration with finding things. You’d think it was easier with a smaller area but no. Considering were not live aboards we have so much toot on the boat, this weekend I’ve had a clear out and yes, I’ve found things I couldn’t before so end up buying again! Now I have more storage containers. All labelled up on what’s in them and a written plans of what’s where! Maintenance! Yep… frustrated cos we’re not there long enough to do anything… and where we do have a week off work you want to enjoy the boat and not be working on it! lol.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Hi Caz, we have done the same re venting in cupboards and storage areas. With regards to finding things you’ve forgotten you had ( always happening to us! ) we need another clear out soon! Still working our way through the maintenance list!🤣🤣. Know what you mean about enjoying the boat while you’re there rather than do jobs. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@ChrisJames1973]

Webasto and Eberspacher really need to be run for an hour every month to keep them running. As for condensation moisture traps and leaving cupboards open and the bed lifted when leaving the boat Blisworth tunnel was used as a trail for the channel tunnel. That’s what the concrete rings in the middle are.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Hi Colin, when we were control board we didn’t have any problems with the Webasto, it wasn’t till we left it that problems occurred so i totally get that! Yep, we do all that to combat condensation, on the whole it appears under control. With regards to Blisworth that’s great information, thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@morrisonthemove7988]

Its so lovely to see you both again and you have made us laugh with regard to where things are, I know we have our BBQ tools but we have still got to find them.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

🤣🤣, exactly, you’ll find them when you don’t need them!! Glad you enjoyed it!😊

[@howardeastman311]

Hi. Lovely episode. I take photos with my phone. One of the items then another one in it's location. I also do the same if I'm leaving my boat or caravan to remember if I left towels, bedding and one of the food cupboards. I can then simply sit back with a cuppa and look through my boat or caravan photos to see where the item is or what I need to take or top up food wise. Hope that helps. Have a wonderful day! Regards Howard

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

That’s a good idea! Thank you👍😊

[@JCDiamond]

Lovely video. We love that area - it is very special to us. Stoke Bruerne was the FIRST place my husband took me when I first came to the UK - right off the plane! Since then we get back even if just to walk the locks just about every time we come to the UK. It was amazing when we actually did the tunnel and the locks in a boat! Thanks for taking us along.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Thanks JC, glad you enjoyed it. We loved Stoke Bruerne too, it’s such a special place. It’s a shame we didn’t get the chance to meet up while you were here. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@kerrysharpe40]

You sound just like Colin re labelling everything!! We seem to be breading boxes with labels lol😂 lots of love to you both. Kerry and Colun. NB Time to Pootle x

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

🤣🤣, it’s a constant battle (for Pat) as he’s always putting things away then forgetting where he’s put it!! 🤣. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@shirleylynch7529]

Lovely video as always. Dark tunnel you went through. Enjoyed your banter. You make us laugh. Thank you both. Most enjoyable. Take care.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

As always Shirley, many thanks for your lovely comments 😊

[@whiskymacable]

For damp areas you can get tubular heaters that start from (1 ft long to 8ft long) with the wattage being 60watts per foot), you wouldn't need a large heater for under your bed for instance as you only need warm air spread out.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Hey, thanks for the suggestion, but we would rather not use mains electricity, does it come in 12v ? Thanks for watching and commenting!😊

[@whiskymacable]

@@ournarrowboatquest4894 I thought you might have had a Powerbank.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

@@whiskymacable We do have an inverter but any type of heater will put a drain on the batteries and as the dampness under the bed isn’t too bad as we already have several condensation absorbers insitu it probably isn’t worth the extra power, as we are off grid all year round. We were considering small computer fans which will circulate the air and have less consumption.

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

good vid cranking it on the cut thanks lee

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Thanks Lee, glad you enjoyed it!😊

[@A-Nobody]

I think the boat builders incorrectly push the flexi solar panels onto unsuspecting new owners due to ease of fitting and cosmetic look. Traditional are always best. Run the Webasto on full blast at least once every month.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

We went for the flexible ones initially because you can walk on them and thought it would be easier to navigate the roof when required. However in reality as there is two of us we don’t actually use the roof to walk on so now it’s not such an issue! With regards to the Webasto as live aboard it was used fairly regularly, it went wrong when we stopped using it! So agree with that! Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@patrickstarnes2355]

The church background was good. I was thinking you were using a green screen for the background until you showed us inside.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

It was a lovely church in a very small village. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@patrickstarnes2355]

🤔 Condensation problems 🤔 Just off the top of my head..........Cat Litter! Maybe in a tray in damp storage spaces. Or put into small ventilated paper bags .

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Thanks Patrick, we do use condensation absorption tablets which tend to help. We change them about 3 times a year. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@robertweldon7909]

In some respect, living on your boat is like living in a small cabin out in some wild place. You have to minimize what you have. One way to do this is to determine if an item(s) are essential or not. If not, can we do without it or do we actually use the thing more than ,say twice a year. One person has said, if it is not an essential item, then it should have more than one use, even more than three. Now I know that that is not easy, so to start, figure out some sort of storage system (I'm sure you have), but keep a record of where it's stored (IE wood screws stored in box A in storage space 3) Some time, on your travels, check out those who are vagabonds, (perpetual travelers) they always have very little less used stuff. Great video, as always.

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

Thanks Robert😊. We do try to do this but sometimes a little difficult if there is sentimental value there. 🤷‍♀️. Definitely agree about dual or more usage! Maybe we’ll get round to making that elusive list one day🤣. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊

[@glennsunman9859]

I think that they had one concrete ring left over because they bought the tunnel from IKEA 😂

[@ournarrowboatquest4894]

🤣🤣, the rings were actually a trial run for the Channel Tunnel 😊. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊