Tag: weather

Back on the boat but is there any water?

We have been back on Narrowboat Thuis for over a week now and as always it has been very relaxing. There is something about this boat that makes us say “aaaaah” when we get back here. This time, after six weeks of weddings, anniversaries, doctors, dentists, visitors, visits and people, people, people, it has been especially special to be back in our tin can. Mandy has been watching Midsomer Murders and doing her craft. I have been finding jobs to do and walking the dog. The big question we knew we would face was whether there would be enough water in the canals to travel.

It has been a summer of drought, and we have seen more and more canals and rivers closing to boat traffic. From where we are in Stone the Northern routes are largely blocked. The Caldon is closed. Heartbreak hill on the Trent & Mersey is closed. Bosley locks on the Macclesfield are closed (yet again). We can go South, but the Atherstone lock flight on the Coventry is closed, and the Trent looks challenging beyond Alrewas.

We decided to go out for a recce trip just down to one of our favourite moorings near Weston. It was lovely, very peaceful with few boats on the canal. On the return journey we needed to wind (turn around) just below Weston lock and that is where the reality of low water became obvious. The levels were really low and boat after boat was getting stuck leaving the lock. We made it out and Mandy did a great job of winding without getting caught in the mud. But it was tricky.

The irony now is that we have come back to the marina because there is too much rain. As I write this, the skies are completely dark, the rain is rattling across the roof, and there are huge crashes of thunder and lightning. It is certainly more exciting being in a boat in a storm than in a house, but it is not great for travelling.

Will it fill up the canals? Probably not. We need weeks of weather like this to recover properly. But maybe it will top us up enough to allow us to go on a slightly longer trip next week. I hope so.

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Is it summer already?

What a great time to be on a Narrowboat. The week with some pretty rough weather, and narrowboats do not like wind. The wind blows the boat sideways and we had to moor up to avoid getting stuck. But by Tuesday we had wall to wall sunshine.

It has been like summer. But better. We wake up to cool crisp mornings. The sun builds through the day and if we moor up at lunchtime, we have a relaxed afternoon in the warmth before the temperature drops again in the evening. In the summer it stays hot all the time and sleeping can be a challenge.

The forecast for the weekend is back to typical April temperatures, but I have enjoyed this week. There are not too many positive sides to climate change but on the canals this is one of them. Spring is the new Summer.

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Does March have the biggest temperature differences?

Living in a house, it is easy to ignore the weather. Central heating and good insulation literally insulate us from it. On a Narrowboat things are somewhat different. This week has given us a good example of that. We have had the most beautiful blue sky days. Great weather for Spring boating.

On Wednesday the temperature on the boat got up to 26°C, even with all the windows open. But overnight the clear skies dropped the temperature to 1°C. I think this must be the greatest daily difference I have seen. In Winter the temperatures stay cold. In Summer they are hot. And in the Autumn they tend to be mild.

It is a special time. I have loved starting the daily cruise with ice on the roof and wrapped in layers and a coat. I have loved shedding the layers as the day goes on. I have loved mooring up early afternoon and taking Lulu Dog for a walk to see fields full of lambs.

It’s a good time of year.

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Is it too cold to go boating?

We have had our first couple of trips out on Narrowboat Thuis this week. Dodging the hail and rain we found a couple of days of sunshine and pootled along the Trent & Mersey.

It was very beautiful and brought home to me why we love boating. But as you can see from the photo, it was very chilly and after a couple of hours at the tiller, I felt so very cold. Fortunately, inside the boat it is not cold. We get heating from the engine, heating from our Webasto central heating, and when needed, heating from our “bubble stove”. So one of the things I have enjoyed most this week has been watching Yellowstone of an evening, in my T Shirt, while the sleet fell outside.

But I have concluded that maybe February is just a little too early to be boating. It is too wet, too windy or too cold. So we are heading back to the house for a couple more weeks, catching up with a few appointments and then heading out properly in early March for our first big trip, down to Oxford. The good news is that we have proved over the past fortnight that everything is working well. Our newly serviced engine is chugging along nicely. Nothing serious has broken inside the boat during the winter. I have even sprayed the algae that had grown on my gunwhales. It is all going well.

You can of course expect a post from me in a couple of months complaining that it is too dry and too hot. Narrowboaters like to complain. But we also really love it, and seeing the countryside at 3mph this week has reminded me of that. There were a few early lambs in the fields, geese and swans giving me evils for disturbing their canal, even a few crocuses edging out of the ground.

Just a bit cold.

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It’s looking like it’s going to be a wonderful new year

We are staying for a few days with our eldest son Robbie, and his partner Alessa, in their swanky house on the South Downs. I woke up this morning to the most beautiful sunrise.

We really are blessed to live in such a stunning country. Whether we are living on Narrowboat Thuis, or in bricks & mortar houses, there are few countries like the UK. I spent much of 2025 grumbling about the weather. When we were on the boat in the summer, it was sometimes so very hot. The canals dried up and became unnavigable. From September to December it felt like the rain never let up. The ground in some areas became like a marsh.

But on crisp, cold, clear mornings like today I could not wish for a better place to live. And having Christmas with one son and New year with the other, both with their wonderful girlfriends has been such a privilege. I am a very lucky chap.

I think it is a sign for me in 2026. My New Year’s resolution is not to complain about the weather or other challenges and what they are stopping me doing. Instead I will enjoy the moment and what it allows me to do.

A very very happy new year to you and your family.

Pete

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It’s autumn on the Shropshire Union

It really feels that as we have entered September, we have entered autumn. I am waking up in the dark for the first time since March. It rains every day. I am wearing a top as well as a t shirt. I have even started wearing jeans instead of shorts.

So what is good about narrowboating in autumn?

Well one thing is the light. The sunrises and sunsets are just so beautiful. We are currently traveling in the middle of the Shropshire countryside and I look forward to walking the dogs each morning.

Another thing I love is my fellow boaters on the canal. I enjoy boating with the novices during the summer. But it is great at this time of year when my fellow boaters have a little more experience and knowledge. I spent an evening in a proper boaters pub yesterday, geeking out about the life with people who have lived on board since childhood.

And finally, best of all in autumn the insects start to die off. The sunny days have been nice this summer, but the horse flies and wasps less so. I have a boat full of spiders, which helps, but a few frosts will help even more.

But as we head towards winter, there is one thing I am not looking forward to, and that is muddy towpaths. Narrowboats are easy to clean, because they are small, but it is an uphill battle when the dogs bring in their dirty footprints every time they go out.

So what is in like in the “real” world? Are you enjoying autumn too, or missing the sun?

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It’s Cold!

After a month travelling through Europe in largely sunny warm weather, it has been a shock to return to the cold of Britain. This morning it was -6°C when I took the dogs for their walk. Winter has certainly arrived.

We have a bit more of a challenge on the narrowboat because our “bubble” diesel stove is not working properly, It is not getting to temperature and so sooting up. I need to find an engineer in Staffordshire who can fix it. We still have the “Webasto” diesel boiler so all is not lost and we can get a pretty cozy boat during the day. Overnight we turn the heating off so it does get pretty chilly but underneath the duvet and blanket it still feels safe and warm.

People often ask me how we live on a narrowboat in cold weather. It is after all a single skinned steel tube. But the reality is that the airspace is so small that it warms up pretty quickly. Hot weather in the summer is much more of a problem, when it can get like an oven. Not something we need to worry about this week!

It is a simple life on a boat. You soon realise what really matters. Staying warm in the cold. Staying cool in the heat. Making sure there is water. Making sure you can use a toilet. Getting food in the cupboard. In return we get a lot for free. Beautiful mornings and evenings. A kingfisher sitting on the back of our neighbour’s boat yesterday. A peaceful life.

We are in the process of buying a house. New complexities will arrive such as council tax, sorting out utilities, broadband. We even have to pay the council for a set of wheely bins. When we move in, we will get the benefits of not having to worry about filling up water, pumping out the toilet or replacing bottles of gas. But I know I will very soon want to be back on the boat. Even when it is cold.

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Is this the best time of the year to go narrowboating?

The weather right now is just about perfect for being on a narrowboat. We are waking up to cold crisp mornings with mist rising off the canal. We are getting really beautiful sunrises, sunsets and dramatic moons. During the day the temperature is rising to low twenties – warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.

Narrowboaters are notorious for complaining about the weather. It is either too hot because we live in a tin can, or too cold, because our fingers are going numb driving the boat. It is either too wet, so we don’t want to move the boat, or it is too dry, with water levels falling. It is either too windy, making turning impossible, or too still , encouraging biting insects. We are never happy.

But this week we are. So many smiling faces as we have passed fellow boaters on the Llangollen and Shropshire Union Canals this week. In truth, while I complain, I love living on a narrowboat in all weathers. But this is a very special time of year. Peaceful and very very beautiful.

Thinking back to pre-retirement, I would have been busy in an air conditioned office, missing the weather completely. I loved working but this is so much better.

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Should I take a Scottish Ferry in a storm?

As I write this, storm Babet is arriving in Scotland where I live. It is forecast to bring unprecedented levels of rain, falling onto already saturated ground. When the last storm came, two weeks ago, it broke through part of our roof and through the kitchen ceiling. That has not been fixed yet and so we have buckets at the ready. This time, we are on the edge of an amber warning for rain and wind, and just a few miles away is a red warning, meaning likely loss of life. It would be tempting to hunker down and wait, but on Saturday morning we are planning to drive up to the Isle of Skye to get a ferry across to the Outer Hebrides where we will be living for the next month.

The big question is whether we should postpone for a few days till the weather calms down. The Outer Hebrides are off the Northwest coast of Scotland, and while they have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, they are also famously wild and windy, exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. The crossing is likely to be pretty bumpy.

There are three reasons I think we should go ahead. We are fairly seasoned travellers. A few years ago we took a ferry across the Bay of Biscay in a storm. Pretty much everyone took to their cabins as the ship rocked from side to side, bow to stern. Even many of the staff were feeling unwell. But my son and I stayed up, had a couple of drinks and watched a Fast and Furious film.

Secondly the ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne has not yet issued a warning on this crossing. Many of the ferries on the east coast of Scotland have already been cancelled but so far, the west is looking rough but passable.

And thirdly it will be an adventure. We spent a month in Orkney a couple of years ago, and one of the things I enjoyed most was watching the weather change from sunshine to storm in the blink of an eye. When we finally get to our cottage this Saturday night, we can light a fire, cook something warming and hunker down.

One thing I am nervous about is whether there will be a storm during our return trip towards the end of November. The port of Uig in Skye will be closed at that point, so instead of a two hour ferry, it will be five hours across the open sea to Ullapool. I am hoping for sunshine.

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Dodging the storms

This week has seen the birthday of one of our sons – Tin (Martin). So we have been away for a few days in a lodge (fancy static caravan) near Newton Stewart, on the Scottish Borders. There is some fine walking around here which we have been enjoying with the dogs, but we have also been trying to dodge the big storms, bringing torrential rain and very strong winds.

Galloway Forest, looking down on Murray’s Monument

Tin says I am lazy because I am not keen on walking in rain. I have also been told by innumerable hikers that “there is no such thing as bad weather – just bad clothing”. Personally I think this is hogwash. For me it is just not fun to be out in a hooley, with the rain lashing, or worse still, hail battering my face. When we were in Orkney before Christmas, there were at least three occasions when I came back from a walk utterly soaked. No fun.

There is however, something primitive and very satisfying about being inside in the warm during a storm. Perhaps it goes back to cave dwellers, huddled around an open fire, cooking whatever they had just hunted. I am hoping that in the next few days there will be snow, because I really love to see it falling when I am inside in the warm.

So that is what we are doing. Playing cards. Watching films. Cooking comfort food. Drinking whisky.

Not a bad life.

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