Five types of narrowboaters who travel at this time of year.

We have set off on our first big Narrowboat trip of the year. For the next eight weeks we will be travelling the Trent & Mersey, Coventry and Oxford canals (plus a bit of Birmingham & Fazeley, Staffs & Worcester and Grand Union,). Our aim is to get to Oxford and back. We wanted to go there last year but had to bail out at Fenny Compton because the drought was causing more and more canals to be closed. Right now we have had a winter of rain and the canals and reservoirs are overflowing, so we should be fine.

It is a lovely time of year. The navigations (canals and rivers) are quiet. Moorings are easy to find. Fellow boaters are as excited to be out and about.

So who are these fellow boaters who brave the canals in early March? I have identified five types:

The genuine continuous cruisers. These people live all year round on their boats. During the winter, when there are many maintenance closures, they tend to stay in an area they like, just travelling a mile or so every two weeks, to comply with the regulations.
The lazy continuous cruisers. Like us, these boaters live in a house or in a marina over winter. It avoids the worst of the mud, and makes us very excited for our long cruises March to October.
The brave hire boaters. Most of the hire boats are sitting safely in their bases at this time of year. Business begins to pick up at Easter and peaks in the summer. But there are always a few brave souls willing to take a boat out early at a lower cost. We find that often these are very experienced boaters. Perhaps they once owned a boat, or have just hired for years.
The unlucky share boaters. Many narrow boats are owned by a syndicate of people, who each own a thirteenth share, and in return get four weeks a year on the boat, usually one week in each season. The winter week is usually spent in a marina but for Spring, Summer and Autumn they want to take advantage of their investment. Spring weeks are the most varied, from March to May, and the unlucky ones get a week at the beginning of Spring.
The working boaters. There are always trees to be cleared, fish to be surveyed, locks to be mended. Canal & River Trust are out and about helping to keep us moving. We even called them out this week to pull a dead sheep from a lock. Not a pleasant job.

And what connects all these boaters is our love of being out on the cut. We pass each other with a cheery wave and a word of advice – “The Fazeley has reopened early!”, or “You don’t expect to meet under a bridge at this time of year” or “Watch out for the dead sheep In Weston lock”.

We are so happy to be narrowboating again.

March 13, 2026 0

Why I love March

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about why I hate January. It was a pretty miserable post, not really like me. So this week I want to celebrate what a wonderful change I feel, now that it is March.

Spring has sprung, and as the sun has come out this week, my whole mood has lifted. I have been on a lovely walk along the coast from Morecambe to Carnforth, I have wandered amongst the trees on the edge of the Trough of Bowland and as you can see, have even found time for breakfast in the sunshine.

In general I hate gardening but the good weather has even encouraged me to repair a hedge, mow the lawns, plant a tree I found lying in the woods, and mulch the flowerbeds around my house.

As I write this morning the rain has returned, but it is still relatively warm. The daylight hours are getting longer and longer. Soon the clocks will go forward and the evenings will be lighter. All I need for even more positivity is to go on an adventure on Narrowboat Thuis. And guess what, that is where we are heading tomorrow.

I am not sure whether March is my favourite month. I do love May, and September, and December. But is is such a turnaround from January and February that I will absolutely take it.

Simply lovely.

March 6, 2026 0

When do ducklings arrive on the canal?

Our TV on the narrowboat uses old photographs as a screen saver. It shows photos from similar dates in previous years. For two weeks I have been looking at ducklings, goslings and signets. But this year we have seen nothing – till yesterday.

First we saw a new family of red headed ducks. I didn’t get a picture sadly. And then we passed three individual ducklings, including this one. Based on previous years I now expect to see more and more over the next few weeks.

So I have two questions. 1. Why do ducklings all arrive at once? 2. Why are they later this year when the weather is really warm this year?

I am guessing the answer to the first is that being born in Spring gives them the best chance of survival. It is late enough to avoid the worst cold weather, and early enough to keep numbers of predators low. The second is more tricky. Mallards have a 28 day incubation period, so perhaps the current warm weather is irrelevant. The blog I wrote a month ago was entitled “Is it too cold to live on a narrowboat?”. So did the ducks just wait another week to incubate their eggs?

Things that make you say “hmmm”.

April 11, 2025 0

And the ducklings have arrived!

One of our delights when narrowboating is to see the many baby birds on the canals and rivers. Ducklings, Cygnets, Goslings, Cooties (baby Coots), and other chicks all arrive during our Spring travels. One thing I have never understood is why they all arrive at the same time. Two weeks ago we had seen none – just a few birds on nests. Then last week we began to see cooties and this week the canal is full of ducklings.

I understand the benefits to the birds of young growing up as the weather warms up, but why do they all arrive in such a short space of time? In three weeks time there will be no more new ducklings, but lots of goslings and cygnets.

When I lived in a house, I was largely oblivious to seasons. Apart from it being cold in winter and hot in summer, I did not notice the changes. On the boat we see so much more. As well as ducklings, this has been the week for bluebells and wild garlic. The sides of the canals that were bare when we headed into Liverpool are now festooned with the flowers.

And May will bring a big seasonal change for me, when the jeans go back into the wardrobe, and the shorts come out. Those first few weeks with the pale white legs will be scarier than any wild birds.

April 26, 2024 0

Hatching week

We have been travelling the Peak Forest Canal this week, a sidearm off the Macclesfield, that was used originally for transporting limestone from the Peak District quarries. These days the industry has gone and it is very beautiful as it clings to the sides of steep hills, with far views across the national park. As we travelled towards the end at Bugsworth Basin, we noticed a number of ducks and geese sitting on their nests. We also saw one goose with four new baby goslings, which were cute.

Just a few days later we returned along the canal and were astonished to find maybe fifty families of geese and ducks with goslings and ducklings. It made me wonder how they all hatch at once. I understand the principle that hatching in late spring gives the best chance of survival, but for so many to arrive within a few days is pretty incredible.

It reminds me of a holiday we once had at a house in Islay, an island off the West Coast of Scotland. When we arrived we asked if there would be many midges, the infamous biting insects of that part of the world. The property owner said that they would come the following Thursday, which we guessed was a random date, plucked from the air. But no, we had no insects till the Thursday, when clouds of them suddenly arrived.

Nature is a wonderful thing.

Not a bad way to spend our retirement.

May 5, 2023 0