28/05/2026
The nomadic Narrowboat - Tales of a Roving Trader Blog 18
Narrowboat Life: The Art of Going Backwards to Move Forwards 🚤💨
Well, what a proper grand day out on the cut! David and I are officially on the move, heading towards the next floating market. But because narrowboat life likes to keep us on our toes, the day started with a classic: we woke up facing completely the wrong way for our journey. 🙃
Now, for the non-boaters among us, you can't exactly do a three-point turn in a ditch that’s barely wider than your boat. You have to find a winding hole (pronounced wind-ing, like the breeze, not like winding up a clock!). These are clever little widened sections of the canal specifically dug out so you can nose the front of your boat in and swing the back end round.
To save precious time, we decided to reverse back to the nearest one. Simple, right? Wrong. Waratah has many wonderful qualities, but reversing is absolutely not one of them. She doesn't do straight lines backward; she prefers a dramatic, drunken zig-zag from one bank to the other. 🦆🫣
Enter our lovely fellow traders and savior of the morning, Mike and Helen. Mike kindly stepped in, lashed Waratah to his own boat and towed us to the winding hole in double-quick time. Teamwork makes the dream work.
From there, we hit the Grand Union Canal double locks together. Now, these massive locks can be a right handful for a single boat. When you open those paddles, the fierce water comes gushing in from four different inlets at absolutely terrifying speeds, threatening to bash your pride and joy against the brick walls if you haven't secured it to a bollard properly. But stick two boats in together? Game changer. They wedge in perfectly and keep each other steady.
The division of labour was flawless: Helen and I took the tillers and did the driving, while David and Mike did the heavy lifting at the locks. Naturally, Helen and I spent the entire time having a brilliant catch-up. I even had chocolate cake on offer. In fact, Helen is such a multitasking maestro that she actually managed to crochet three day-glow octopi for her business, Over the Yarn Arm, right from the back of the boat.🐙✨
Thanks to the crew effort, we whizzed through the locks in record time and moored up late in the afternoon, feeling thoroughly accomplished. Time to put the kettle on (or crack open a bottle of chardonnay).
Over to you: What’s the most chaotic start to a journey you’ve ever had?
Let us know in the comments below! 👇💬
