I spent 12 years living in England on and off, up to 6 months out of the year. While there, I became enamored with Narrowboats. I walked miles and miles along the towpaths of the canals around London and walked over 100 miles along the Themes River on the Themes Path, admiring Narrow Boaters’ beautiful paint jobs and unique living styles.
Unlike cruisers and liveaboards in the US, Narrow Boaters face unique challenges. In the US, a “Slow Boat” cruises at 8 knots. A Narrow Boat’s typical cruise is right around a fast walk (around 2.5 knots, or 3 mph), dealing with locks single-handed and narrow (under 5 feet at times) channels.
While walking along the towpaths, it was a frequent occurrence that I would pass boats underway! It was also fun to help them with the locks, pretty much all of which are manually operated.
Cruising The Cut
There are many narrowboat channels on YouTube, but my favorite for years has been “Cruising The Cut.” David was a news presenter, and his quality of production and demeanor is excellent. Unfortunately, in 2022, he sold his Narrowboat and moved into a house. He still produces excellent documentary-type videos about narrow boating from time to time, but he is no longer a live-aboard continuous cruiser.
David lives alone and is a fan of “Cheese Sandwiches,” a recurring theme in his videos. He also has a second channel called “Vandemonium,” where he shares his adventures in his camper van.
Foxes Afloat
Another channel that I enjoyed was “Foxes Afloat.” They are an openly gay couple who lived aboard their narrowboat for several years. They were fun to watch as long as you can take gay innuendo with a grain of salt. Colin suffers from emotional issues and does a great job of being open and honest about his challenges. In early 2022, they sold their narrowboat and moved into a cottage in Scotland. Still interesting, but not much narrowboat content anymore.
Colin is famous for his “TRAIN!!!!” cry whenever a train passes nearby. Now that they are land-based, Colin has started a new channel to chronicle the building of a model railway in a barn at their new home in Scotland.
Lorna Jane Adventures
I follow a few narrow boat channels. Lorna, from Lorna Jane Adventures, produces some interesting content but is somewhat infrequent in posting as she, too, lives on land most of the time. She does some interesting profiles of narrow boaters and ventures out in her campervan.
Lorna has recently sold her larger narrowboat and purchased a new “short” narrowboat, a 25-foot Aintree Beetle! In her “spare time,” she has recently become a Certified Narrowboat Surveyor and a Boat Safety Inspector. Seeing her explore these new skills on her channel will be interesting.
You will also see her make frequent cameo appearances on the other narrowboat channels.
Minimal List
The final channel that I’ll mention is “Minimal List.” Michael, Jo, and their dog George are full-time cruisers. Their channel is unique in that they go to the “absolute end” of as many canals as they can. There is a thing in the narrow boating community called the “Silver Propeller,” where you get an award for cruising a canal from absolute end to end. Michael and Jo have gotten more of them than I think any other narrowboater!
They got REALLY behind in posting their videos, like close to a year, and it wasn’t interesting to see winter cruising in summer, so I stopped watching regularly. Also, Michael, while very entertaining, can be somewhat “political” at times (He’s either American or Canadian, go figure), so occasionally, I’d give one of the videos a miss.
Recently they have been rebuilding the interior of their narrowboat, pretty much a complete gut job, and have started cruising again. Worth a watch!
The Narrow Boat Pirate, My New Favorite!
Recently I came across Heidi on “The Narrow Boat Pirate,” and she has become my new favorite!
Hedi lives on her boat and cruises alone most of the time. She’s a real hoot! Her channel is full of sexual innuendo, but she keeps it mostly clean and has a great attitude! Always cheerful and upbeat!
Heidi not only lives on her boat but also makes her living from blogging, making badges, and composing music, all on her boat! She is also a “Canal Trader,” selling Pirate themed items from her boat on the side of the canal.
Narrowboating is not for everyone, but if you like boats and want to see a different side of boating as well as some amazing views of the English countryside. Check out all of these excellent channels!
