We’ve been on the cut now for two weeks, and so far, we love it. It is a complete lifestyle change, and there is a lot to learn about and come to terms with. You have to ensure that you plan for food and water facilities. The power to run everything is strange to get used to, and we found that out the hard way. We set off from Rugeley and headed to our next stop, Great Haywood.
I had decided to do the washing and also make us a sausage sandwich to eat as we were cruising. All seemed beautiful the weather was good, the scenery was beautiful, and the washing machine was whirling away. I switched on the air fryer and went to chat with Steve & Mexi. I found out you can not run anything else when doing the washing. Then disaster, the air fryer had stopped and even worse the washing machine had too. We were fortunate, and Andy came out and changed the fuse once we arrived at Great Haywood. It had even slightly melted the casing around the fuse. It did scare us both, and I know that we will never overload the system again in the future. The actual journey to Great Haywood was a blur because neither of us knew exactly the extent of the damage done to the electrics.
We went straight to the pub once Andy had left as we needed a stiff drink, and to be honest, I was scared to switch anything on. The pub in the village was friendly, and the food was ok; it was a busy place, most likely because its the only pub in the village.
The next day we reevaluated everything and said we would be cautious in future. We went up the lock, filled it up with water, and emptied the rubbish. I was pleased as I spotted the Canal-side Café & farm shop. This was a place I had seen on a vlog and was looking forward to popping in.
We found a lovely mooring and set everything up for the week. We wandered up to the farm shop, and we were not disappointed. They had an array of tasty treats, fresh veg galore and some excellent looking meat from all different animals. The bread was delicious, and the bacon I bought on the first visit was tasty the following morning with the duck eggs. The village is quite large and has a post office, a spa shop and a chemist. You have the Trent & Mersey canal and the river Trent going around the outskirts. We found a lovely circular walk by chatting to the local people. Shugborough Hall is also here and well worth a visit.
My favourite part of this visit has been meeting all the lovely people. There has been an array of different characters stopping to chat with us. The stay was made even better by a floating market being here over the Easter weekend, which we are looking forward to visiting and sampling the wares from a couple of the boats. Also, my parents and brother are coming to visit us, which will make it even more memorable for us. Mexi is slowly getting used to the life on the boat. I think it has been more difficult for her than for us. It’s a shame our four-legged friends can’t talk to us. It would make life so much easier.
We will be leaving here next week and continuing our journey along the waterways. Pop back soon to see where we end up.
Wow, wind, snow and a rescue:
Well, the day arrived, and we left the marina. The sun was out, and we both were excited and nervous too. Steve took up the helm and did a grand job of navigating out of Stenson marina, now to go under the bridge that had kept us waiting for three weeks.
Just as we came under the bridge, the snow started coming down, and still, the sun shone. It was definitely testing us. Waterproofs were found and quickly put on. We did, however, still have smiles on our faces. I was pretty emotional as we were starting our new life. It was actually happening. Our dream had become a reality.
The weather continued to change on that very first journey; one minute dry and sunshine, the next blizzards. Mexi was not impressed, so I took her down below. Steve soldiered through; to be honest, I think he was enjoying it because, on that cruise, nothing could dampen his spirits.
We only travelled about 7 miles on that day, but it was full of testing times. We arrived at the first lock, and it was my first one for many years. I donned my gloves, grabbed the shinny windlass and jumped off once we were close to the bank. We were lucky a boat was coming out. Three chaps had emerged as I went off the boat. I walked up to the lock as Steve took charge of the rope I had jumped off with and got the camera ready to film Steve coming through the bridge. He started to wave to me; I waved back. His wave became more pronounced; I heard him shout a man had fallen in. I quickly put the camera away and sprinted, which was not a usual pastime for me. As I got there promptly for me, the poor man sat in the water, trying to get to his feet. Th either chap that was on the side, and I pulled like mad, but I wasn’t strong enough. LUCKILY Steve flagged down a passer-by, and this young chap and the other one eventually managed to help him out. He still had a sense of humour as he said his new walking shoes were obviously not waterproof. It shows how easily accidents happen, he just lost his footing, and that was it.
I went back to the lock, and Steve manoeuvred his way into the lock, and we went on our way. We then continued along the Trent & Mersey towards Shobnall, where we decided to call it a day.
We hunkered down for the evening and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate our first journey.
I thought we were ready for everything as we had been planning this for so long. The biggest thing that has hit me is the lack of information you are verbally given when moving onto a boat. Yes, we were handed two large A4 folders full of technical information regarding all the onboard instruments and gadgets. Still, I genuinely feel that if the person was to give the boat keys to the new owner spent at least an hour going through the essential things like the engine and what you need to do daily. Then the solar panels, explaining how the app worked and what you should be looking out for, and the central heating life would be more straightforward. Anyhow, we are learning to live in a very narrow tube with each other all day, every day, and I am sure by the end of the month, we will have cracked most things to do with boat life.
Tune in a couple of weeks to see how the story unfolds as we cruise the waterways.
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.
Its all getting real now!
Wow, it is getting so real now that we only have three weeks left in our house. It’s taken a lot of getting rid of all the furniture, especially special bits that we thought about keeping, but we know we have to get rid of everything. We’ve both been through our wardrobes numerous times trying to reduce everything down because we know we won’t be wearing a lot of the clothes that we’ve bought over the years but me being me, I like to I have plenty so I can change my mind if I feel like it. Going through the shoes, I think we’re both got a fetish with shoes and boots. I’ve reduced it down as far as I can now. I’m just going to have to find space probably after a year living on the boat, I’ll change my mind, and they will go to a charity shop. Still, for now, I want to be able to have that choice. Our lounge now has nothing apart from boat stuff. It’s just full of boxes in which we’re trying to remember what we’ve put everything in a few of them we were sensible. We wrote on them, but there are quite a few that we’re not sure what’s there. It’ll be like Christmas once we get onboard, opening all these boxes and putting them into the unique places we find. So, we should be moving out of the house at the end of January. We’re renting a property until the 25th of February when we move on to our new home. This is such an exciting time for us, and the last couple of nights, we’ve been plotting to see where we’re going to go first. It will be scary daunting, and we will wonder what we’ve done, but we both are ready for this next adventure.
We look forward to meeting all the people on our way and hearing all the different stories from people that are already doing what we’re about to do. You can follow our journey Vara YouTube channel Never Two Late Our Journey, and also I will be posting blogs to keep you updated on what we’re doing on a fairly regular basis.
Never Two Late Our Journey 