Episode 4 - In which we buy a narrowboat.

[@clionamm]

And there I was with plans to have a productive day, until Sean James mentioned you today (19th Mar 2024) and here I am, binge watching, starting right from the beginning. 🙂

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Oh no, sorry about that 😂. Thank you for joining us on our travels. We hope you enjoy the videos x

[@clionamm]

@@FloatingOurBoat I'm loving them. Just finished ep11! You're both lovely. I haven't looked ahead at all so will be interested to see how things go in the coming, for me/past for you both, years! 🙂 I did manage to at least get to the paint shop in between eps!😂

[@RaewynHamilton]

I also found you via Sean

[@luciesmom3111]

No more lawns to mow!! How lovely. Best of luck....You are living a life a good bit of us are green with envy.

[@borderreiver3288]

just found your vlog...been watching canal videos all through this lockdown...we have just gone into our second lockdown as no one believes the warnings...and these vlogs of the canals keep me happy....

[@davidf2703]

Great video, folks. Thanks for letting us share your journey. Delightful adventure.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Our pleasure!

[@LifeistooshortCK]

There is always someone prepared to bore you to death but it always feels good to ignore them. Your excitement is clear to see. No point wasting time good to see you bought the boat and got on with the next chapter 👍

[@andrewnorris1]

Love the name change. I’m so glad you didn’t let other’s negativity spoil your vision.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

No Andrew. We make our own decisions. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but we try not to let it bother us.

[@worddunlap]

I hope you love your new life. My wife and I moved out of the rat race with our children 25 years ago. Not to a boat but to small town America. We did have our moments but for the most part never regretted it.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

We do love it, we haven't looked back for one moment. Thank you for watching. X

[@ldirk58601]

And what a beautiful boat she turns into in your care!

[@bobbing_along]

Great video! We met a captain of the canal not so long ago who gave us much bad advice!

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Oh no!!

[@marianjacobs5597]

WOW you two certainly don't waste any time... look forward to a tour of your boat. thank you for posting.

[@sylviapage8572]

Lucky you. I love that boat and 50 foot is a great length, mine is a 45 foot cruiser and I love it. You will meet lots of experts on the cut and they will be very happy to give you helpful advice. I was told recently that my poles on the roof were the wrong way round, even though I like them like that, so he kindly moved them for me and my husband was told he was winding the locks wrong. We thanked him very much indeed for this helpful advice. Then continued as we always do when he was gone! You are going to have a wonderful time. Congratulations.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Hi Sylvia thanks for watching. There’s non so strange as folk. X

[@barrynix6346]

You two are like a couple of kids at Christmas, wonderful. Looking forward to meeting you on the cut. Enjoy.

[@CruisingTheCut]

Fantastic. Well done!

[@nevillemignot1681]

Apart from 'Cruising the Cut' another narrowboat vlog i am going to subscribe too!!!

[@tonyp011]

you cant beat making your own bread the smell of it cooking in the oven is enough to make you want to eat it before its cooked and eating warm bread with butter YUMMY

[@mauricepower]

Well done, chaps. Bon voyage!

[@mightywhiteyuk]

So sad to see the Smuggler go, but so glad she's gone to such a lovely couple! Smuggler was like an extension of my big brother! Wishing many happy moments with her! I cant wait to see what's next in yours the boats new chapter. All the best! Paul (Boatman Benjamin's little brother).

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Cheers Paul. We’re so happy with Smugggglaarrrghh! Thanks for watching and your bro is a real star.

[@megcallea3986]

Glad to see Fran tillering. I see some boats where the OH has no idea how to motor the boat, which is fine if nothing goes wrong... but flu, bad backs almost anything can happen and everyone living on the boat needs to know how to run it. Good on ya!!

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Fran’s been at the tiller through locks today. X

[@lynnrixson3013]

We love your boat and hope that you love Mozart’s clarinet concerto as much as we do! 😊

[@FloatingOurBoat]

We do indeed, and his Symphony no.29 x

[@stuartroyle1402]

i have recently discovered your story and adventure,,,its wonderful and you are such a down to earth couple.i look forward to trawling through the collection of videos and will follow your journey.i almost built my own boat but circumstances changed so i have just built a campervan.happy traveling.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Welcome to our channel stuart. How amazing to build your own campervan. We watch a lot of van travelling vlogs and it is on our list to do one day.

[@stuartroyle1402]

@@FloatingOurBoat thank you,perhaps when you are on the shroppie in shropshire(norbory area) or the trent n mersey near the potteries i will seek you out and say hello.

[@MrJasperooney]

Love the story of how she came to be called Constanze. We have started binge watching from the beginning of your story after watching so many episodes out of order! So much great information as we plan our new live aboard life 😊

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Funny coming across this comment now we are officially boat owners and living the dream! How much can change in such a short time! Here’s to new friends ❤️😊

[@NL04180]

So good to see that you've found your luck on the water. Enjoy for may years to come!

[@mikeormston7715]

Good to see you have your new boat, now the new adventure begins, Safe travels.

[@Terry-xf5pt]

What a nice couple you are.Good luck to both of you

[@llessibm]

Congratulations - hope your narrowboat future gives you plenty of happy memories

[@live2skide1]

Came across your channel after watching your meet-up with the Well Deck Diaries (Debbie and Mark) recently. Now I am going back to the "beginning" of your adventures to life on your narrowboat. LOVE that kitchen tile, speaks to the quilter in me.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thank you Mary and welcome aboard x

[@pondus5002]

And what a lovely video this is, well done you two !!!

[@1beakin]

Ihavebeen to Mozart's house also love your sweater, i have been in Arctic circle

[@michaelwhite8031]

Great things have worked out so well for you both .

[@jamesshanks2614]

First thing for tunnels, buy three LEDs lights of 100 watts each mount one on the bow ( front ) of the boat facing slightly down so as not to blind oncoming boaters, the other two are mounted mid ships pointing at the tunnel sides. This allows you to see where you are and avoid slamming into the tunnel walls. Rain Gear! Get the rain gear out and put it on as most tunnels drops water from all over. Much easier to takeoff the rain gear after exiting the tunnel instead of wanting to change clothes. You are living my dream but I'm on the wrong side of the pond!! Yes all keys should be on floats so you don't wind up magnetic fishing to try and retrieve keys that decided they want to go fishing. A folding table for two plus two folding chairs with a nice tablecloth and a canopy to block the sun will allow you two to use the right spot for breakfast, lunch or dinner. One of the seldom used possibilities of narrowboat life. As you two are discovering life on a narrowboat means life slows down to usually today 3 mph so you need to teach each other to also slow down. It will take a couple of months but when you realize you have life will get better. One thing I always enjoy from my days of driving an 18 wheeler over the road was waking up to the sound of rain on the roof, particularly when I didn't need to get up was just grab a book and enjoy the quiet and patter of the rain. Cheers! I will be watching. 🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧🌧

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks James. Yes we still need to slow down. Fran x

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Capt. Know-it-all. That made me laugh. Thanks!

[@TheArizonaSkies]

I did the same thing 15 years ago, but I t was a 30’ RV. All by myself and loving every second of the great adventure. You are both such fun. I am already a fan!

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks for watching. We are so excited on this ‘journey ‘ 👍

[@SuperChrisholloway]

Really pleased for you guys, Constanze is a great name,

[@1safariman]

SuperChrisholloway I

[@shirty252]

Just come across your channel...brilliant! My wife & I have been following boaters? For a couple months..time for retirement & live the dream..

[@ROY-COLLEY]

Nice to know you love Mozart. Thank God we don't have to say his full name 😄. You know if you change the name of a boat,you have to do it when its out of water . Hope you have a great time on it.

[@dazr123]

Congratulations and happy cruising from Australia,give the dogs a pat from me .

[@merryannmac8096]

I've been with you since the beginning. What a nice thought. Merry Ann from Minnesota

[@robertlampman9853]

Love the dogs.

[@Rachael-Victora-from-Bywater]

Wow nice one, good luck on your adventures!

[@SuperChrisholloway]

Glad the 1st officer has got to grips with the boat, the Captain seams to be having a few problems steering his way around the boat.... he he

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Ha ha. I’m now spending my life bent double. Thanks for watching 👍

[@dicantria]

Good luck on your new adventure. It's a year on since I purchased my 50ft cruiser narrowboat and I am still loving it. I have absolutely no regrets, well, apart from not being able to do more cruising around the network. I think most boaters will admit to making the same mistake in having the stove on too high & then having to open every door & window, done it a few times myself. I'm sure you will still be buzzing a year from now, happy cruising :-)

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks for watching. We can’t believe how lucky we are x

[@manwithapan9481]

LOL after the third time banging my head I'd have been swinging off that shelf screaming at it lol

[@graceygrumble]

Whoop, whoop - Happy travels! Great stuff!

[@garrystacey7018]

Good luck and all the best will look out for you on the cut

[@andyrbush]

Just grinning here all the way through he vlog, really nice.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Glad you enjoyed

[@markbutton3886]

Loving your vlogs looking forward to your adventures. Have been watching from here in Cayman islands where I also have a boat but as a fellow Brit I miss the English country side and have hired a couple of narrow boats over last couple of years. Life is all about adventures and memories good for you making your dreams a reality. Hedgewick my dog likes watching too. :)

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks Mark. It’s amazing how people all over the world are watching 👍

[@maxboonkittypoison]

a proper adventure there with your new boat congrats. Greetings from Holland,, Kitty.

[@stevelong6358]

well done all the best..

[@chunkyleejones3831]

.....voyage of new discovery "Two lovely people :) 👍 "

[@Alan07881]

congratulation, i love it.... so happy for you both

[@yalebrozen1349]

Here's to leaping! Congratulations on your purchase.

[@justinehayward2553]

No ships past you . ‘Mr Knowitall’, they’re ubiquitous. He probably wears a captain’s hat in the bath and has a few models- ‘aye aye skipper!’. Best of luck. I myself am originally from Norwich and now keep a boat near Birmingham.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

justin e Hayward maybe we’ll barge into one another someday. You share a famous name.

[@HenrysAdventures]

Very good!

[@JISJ1964]

Going up the Ashby you´ll find your first tunnel.

[@andrewpenwright2266]

Captain "Know-It-All",....hahaha,please remind us as to how much experience YOU have of the canal's of the U.K !!

[@paulayala4816]

Never realized you had bought your boat used. The previous owner was a character but it looks like he kept the boat up well.

[@andykayll1414]

Good luck in your Adventures

[@davidbell2056]

Well done enjoy your boat 😁

[@FloatingOurBoat]

david bell are you Geoff’s mate Dave?

[@davidbell2056]

Floating Our Boat don’t think so ,Geoff who? 😊

[@robertcallander1065]

Nice to see you so happy stay safe and enjoy 🛥🛥

[@PaulBaird]

How do you bake your bread onboard - I'm interested in a solid fuel fire with some oven functionality for my boat (when I get around to buying one next year).

[@jennifermillardX]

Congratulations X Safe Journeys on your travels X Take Care X

[@therevster9828]

Good luck Enjoye.

[@stevecooney1361]

Well done

[@badfairy9554]

I am so happy for you.

[@tinplategeek1058]

Congratulations or commiserations depend whether you've crash down from your high into the depths of "what have we done?" yet. You looked like you had drank a case of Red Bull in one sitting :)

[@WeaverBird64]

Congratulations to you both. I hope you'll be very happy onboard and I'm looking forward to following your adventures. I'd love to see a guided tour inside the boat, if you don't find that too intrusive. Are you going to have a naming ceremony for her or does superstition not bother you? I think I'd hold one; It's a good excuse for a party anyway. :)

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks for watching weaverbird. We’re not superstitious but we will probably have a renaming ceremony as a nod to tradition x

[@voodoo2882]

catching up on your old vids.......he could have fallen in.....that would have been a sight

[@CampervanTales]

Just got home from a weekend away. Our latest ep is published, and watched your video. You two look totally at home and relaxed. So pleased for you. If you make it to Nottingham we will visit you for a cuppa and we'll bring cake. Happy cruising..x

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Campervan Tales no doubt we’ll be near you at some point. Look forward to it. X

[@jeffbrewster6658]

Campervan Tales iiiiiiiib

[@jeffbrewster6658]

Floating Our Boat 5**a

[@jeffbrewster6658]

Floating Our Boat v*6

[@jeffbrewster6658]

Campervan Tales iii

[@tomreid7]

My wife and I have loved watching your adventures so far, you both look so happy... Any thoughts on coming to Langley Mill at the end of May?, there's a narrow boat gala on the Erewash canal.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

tomreid7 thanks for your nice comments. Unfortunately we’ve got commitments near Oxford then.

[@TheChrysler56]

It’s great when both parties are in agreement to sell up and go for a new lifestyle aboard a narrowboat.....I wish “She Who Cracks The Whip” namely my lovely O.H. Lynne would spread her wings and just sell up and do it. We have hired a narrowboat on two separate occasions and we absolutely loved it. We only went and bought a brand new motorhome in 2012 then swapped it for a caravan in 2016. I suppose there’s know’it’alls with every leisure adventures, there are when it comes to Caravanning and motor homing. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with the purchase of Constanze. Her full name Maria Constanze Cacilla Josepha Johanna Aloysia Mozart. A trained singer. The wanders of google eh?

[@d.j.h6021]

Congratulations. I envy you.

[@klausbrechmann2241]

I love you guys.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks Klaus.

[@2Sugarbears]

Are the two of you in contact with other narrow-boaters and their channels? I am fond of many of them.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Diana B yes we’re subscribed to lots of them. We actually helped Journey With Jono through a lick this morning 😀

[@ukstrummer]

Well chuffed for you two, me and the missus have been toying with selling up for the life afloat the canals. Do you mind me asking if either of your work or have you just gone for it. Look forward to the next video

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Hi thanks for watching. We’ve taken early retirement but are buying cottage in Herefordshire to let as holiday home giving us an income.

[@robertleigh559]

So when do we get to see the layout inside. That was the whole point of hanging around this blog. Anyway, happy travels.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

?

[@leedavies3629]

Yo I cud not believe it when I saw you were buying the boat off Ben I follow him hes fecking mental .you shud get him to play some Mozart for for the naming ceremony lol nice one

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Good idea. Thanks for watching 😀

[@wombatone5577]

The boat should be named" Fran" to honour your dear wife and also easy to say and less work to paint on sides of boat. Have fun!

[@MrJimbaloid]

Mozart Ohh THE GLOURIOUS 9TH.

[@jeffdougherty1878]

At first I thought you were oking about the name, I thought I heard Can'tStandHer. I thought, that's odd.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Ha Ha, so funny x

[@ianmason8713]

Mozart's Constanze, that's a good Handel for a boat. Go make good Water Music.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Thanks for watching Ian. Nice play on words 👍

[@chriscross9505]

er . . he may of been a bit Brahms and Liszt when he typed that :)

[@lilisanchez3517]

Has anyone asked how you 2 met? I ask because you seem sooo together... A potted history would be good :-)

[@FloatingOurBoat]

We met on our own respective allotments about 15 years ago when we were both in different lives and eventually got together 5 years ago after Rich's wife died. We bough a house in Norfolk and tried living the good life then sold up and bought the boat 2 years ago. We are so happy and feel as if we have always been together.

[@lilisanchez3517]

@@FloatingOurBoat Thank you for that :-)

[@MartyLJ57]

I was 17 when I toured Mozart home.

[@philipcull8297]

well done!!! I'll miss boatman Benjamin (what a character!!!) But that said I'm looking forward to your vlogs and how you get on.

[@FloatingOurBoat]

He’s such a nice bloke. Thanks for watching 👍

[@tonyp011]

I thought you weren't suppose to rename a boat as its bad luck, just asking as I heard another vlogger on a narrow boat channel say it was

[@stewartrogers494]

Cool boat ......... so enviouse .......... great purchase .......... how many foot, size of engine, what kind of toilet and how many watts of solar with number of batteries .............S

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Stewart Rogers 50ft , barrus 35, pump out, god knows about watts and solar but 3 leisure batteries 👍

[@stewartrogers494]

the great thing about buy a boat that someone is living abord is its all a working floating boat ..........really loving your guys Blog...........looking forward too your happenings and life how it unfolds on your journy .........S

[@geoffpike7954]

And where's the other half of your tiller?

[@FloatingOurBoat]

geoff pike it needs cutting shorter so we can add a brass bit with a pin. X

[@jamielescot]

Renaming a boat is considered unlucky.......

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Hi Jamie. Only if you believe in superstition, we don't. Thanks for watching 👍

[@jamielescot]

@@FloatingOurBoat haha fair dos! Best of luck!

[@alanjackson4646]

Need some ‘lagging’ on your head, like me. AJ

[@laki74]

Isn't it bad luck to rename a boat?

[@FloatingOurBoat]

We don't believe in superstitions. Thanks for watching 😀

[@NeilTaylor]

Very, very bad luck to re-name a boat...

[@FloatingOurBoat]

Hi Neil. We make our own luck 👍

[@dalejones4184]

There is a process to keep the bad spirits away.

[@darrenslater1913]

you two wanna stop dilly dally about and get on with it.

[@stanstores5241]

Time for a bread making vlog?

[@geoffpike7954]

Do you mind not putting that crap hole triumph on your v log please Thankyou. 😊

[@andypatt1971]

Good luck with your adventures