You can follow our journey via our YouTube Channel.
This video shows the day we launched Never Two Late. She had only ballast in and was boarded out. It was very exciting but quite nerve-racking as we had nothing on the boat and travelled for about 6 hours. It was Mexi’s first time on a boat, and we also had to go on the river. It went well. The river was kind to us, and the near-disaster at the end going through Stenson lock had been averted with quick thinking.
We have moved on board
We’ve now moved onto the boat and are living in the marina for a couple of weeks. It has taken some getting used to, but we are enjoying the new way of life so far. We have electricity and water on tap. We’ve had many trips back to our hometown of Redford where we have a lock-up, we’ve bought boxes down, and we’ve taken boxes back we thought we’d done quite well with what we’ve got already got rid of. Still, it’s incredible how little you need. The charity shops around us have been fortunate as they have had some nice things gifted to them; I’m looking forward to setting off because marine life isn’t what we’re looking for; we are just waiting for a CRT to complete the repairs on the bridge near us.
I’m still trying to get used to the gas cooker; it’s completely different to what I’m used to. Still, I’m managing to cook some nice meals. My parents gifted us a Ninja, which is good, and obviously, we’ll use that mostly when travelling as it is electric, but we’re taking advantage of being on hook-up at present.
My father has altered the steps at the front, making them wider, which is much better. He also made us some lovely shelves in the galley area. He and Steve put pictures up, making the boat into our home. My parents made the curtains and the bungs for us which is fantastic, and we absolutely love them and are grateful for their support.
Mexi, our boat dog, took some time to get used to the boat. Still, now that we have the back steps also changed by Andy, who has done the fit-out for us, she can run up and down on his thoroughly enjoying life on the boat
so far. I can recommend this lifestyle. It has been very stressful getting everything sorted, but you have to think about why you are doing this and what you want to achieve and block everybody else out if they’re giving any negativity.
The one thing is I can say everybody we’ve met so far on the water is friendly. We’re looking forward to meeting lots and lots more once we’re out on the cut, so here’s for CRT getting the bridge fixed as soon as possible and so we can actually start making the journey around the waterways, and I will do another blog once we’re out and about.
You can watch our videos too on YouTube.
Thank you for reading love from Never Two Late Crew.
Blog 4 Hopwas to Polestone
After a lovely Easter, it was time to start travelling again. We left Great Haywood and travelled back to Fradley Junction. This time we did it one day. We saw lots more boats this time and the weather was lovely and sunny. We even had a couple of the locks with us, which changed. I am starting to feel better at the locks now, and I have begun to take Mexi with me each time, which has calmed her down. She is getting a dab hand at walking across the locks, and her new long lead is definitely an improvement. We popped to The Swan pub at Fradley junction for tea. It was OK. They had been very busy, not much left on the menu, don’t go for the loaded fries though you visit not the best. The following day after mine and Mexi’s walk around kingfisher wood, it was time to start travelling down the Coventry canal.
The Coventry canal is beautiful and quite windy. Also, there are many reeds, but luckily, it is the spring you can see through most. It’s an excellent job as it seemed that every time we came to a bend, there was a bridge and another boat coming. There were some beautiful gardens along the way. We had a nosey at them as we passed. We saw lots of ducklings and sitting swans waiting for their eggs to hatch. Spring was definitely in the air. We popped into kings Orchard marina. It wasn’t the easiest of places to get to, especially as we wanted fuel. We slotted n to one of the spare moorings whilst waiting our turn. The gentleman at the marina assisted us in leaving as it was a bit of a struggle even using the bow thrusters. We continued on our way, and eventually, we came to a village called Hopwas, a pretty village with a lovely pub that we stopped at for a pint on our way back from exploring. It was a busy stretch, and boats were going past late into the night.
The next day we decided to move to Polesworth. There were only two locks to do. It was pretty busy, but I didn’t mind as it enabled us to chat to other boaters whilst waiting to go through them. We were told about a good Indian in this village above a pub, so we defiantly decided that it was tonight’s tea. The mooring was good next to a lovely park. This had the river Anker going through it. We found beautiful old butchers and old-fashioned greengrocers. The greengrocer had some goose eggs, and we bought them for breakfast the next day. We also bought some other bits to have fresh veg and meat for our travels. The curry was from The Yard spice, and it was excellent and the best thing you could have a drink whilst it was being prepared, then a quick walk back to the boat. We had an array of geese and ducks wandering past, which was lovely to see, and there were plenty of other boaters passing. After a couple of days here, it was time to move on to our next adventure again.
Thank you for reading love from Never Two Late Crew.
Living on Never Two Late for four months.
Wow, I can’t believe where the time has gone. Four months today, we moved aboard Never two late. It has taken some adjusting; I can’t lie. The most significant learning is getting used to the lack of power. However, that is being rectified in a couple of weeks. We are having a lithium battery added to our bank as what we had put in isn’t working for us, and as we will be living through the winter, we need reliable power. The other one is the cooker. I love to cook, and the Thetford gas cooker is very different from a house appliance. I’m getting the hang of it now and have produced some tasty offerings over the last four months.
I think the two best parts are the community. We have met some wonderful people who have now become friends. We’ve enjoyed the company and the chats along the towpath and on board. The information you find from fellow boaters who live on board is invaluable. They have given so much advice and support. For instance, we couldn’t work out why our water wasn’t staying hot even though we had been told it was insulated, so we now have a jacket on the clarifier, which has helped tremendously. The other part I absolutely love is being out on the cut in the middle of nowhere and then exploring the countryside and finding beautiful little villages we would have never seen from land as we were always rushing around and not taking our time to explore. Which I suppose brings up another wonderful thing about being on the waterways. The pace of life slows you right down. You can’t rush when cruising ( well, you shouldn’t). The speed limit is 4 miles per hour, but we’ve found we rarely make that. The fresh air knocks you out, and you sleep so much better. It could be the combination of doing the locks and the fresh air.
It’s lovely finding farm shops that have excellent food too, and in some of the small towns, there have been some excellent bakeries, butchers and greengrocers. We have been disappointed with most of the pubs we’ve stopped at for Sunday dinners which is a shame. I think many of them get away with dishing up substandard meals due to where they are situated and guaranteed customers due to the area. We have found some great curry restaurants, though.
When we moved aboard, I had minimal experience of steering a narrowboat. Because Steve was confident and enjoyed it, we got into the routine of me doing the locks with Mexi and Steve doing all the steering. Well, this had to change, I thought. I had to be more confident and take the tiller. They were doing an introductory handling course at the Crick boat show, so I booked myself on. There were six of us and the instructor, we had about half an hour each, and the instructor explained exactly what we needed to do in different situations. She was so calm, her instructions were bleat, and I found them extremely helpful. It has given me the confidence to allow Steve time to go to the loo, which hadn’t happened before; I’ve even tackled some locks and a very small tunnel. I would highly recommend doing some basic training if you are a bit nervous because if you need to take the tiller one day, it will give you confidence.
Now, we have to decide what we will do for the winter. We have plans until the beginning of September, so we need to decide after that. We were looking to go north, but after reading all the CRT emails about the lack of water and problems on the northern canals, this likely won’t happen. As soon as we decide, we will let you all know.
Thank you for all the support on our social media and YouTube channels and all the people who bought The adventures of Mexi the boat dog book from Amazon or that I’ve posted. I’m working on my recipe book and hoping to get that finished by the end of July.
Enjoy the summer and stay safe and have fun.
The crew of Never Two Late – Steve, Maxine and Mexi, the boat dog.
nevertwolateourjourney.com 