31. Trip to Welford on my narrowboat: part 2 (Grand Union canal, Welford Arm) 

well my hubby has watched all your canals trip up to date so now its my turn to start from beginning and will catch up 2020 soon. gotta love the canals thou.

"Gnarled tree branches reaching out to snatch you from the boat" a poet

I live on the edge to the Brecon Beacons national park. During lockdown it was amazing how loud the wildlife was without the traffic. Only thing I miss about lockdown.

"The Seaquel." It's almost too much to handle, but I love it. Well done, good sir.

I love how you care so much for animals, that horse DID look SO sad.

Being profoundly deaf, everywhere is blissfully quiet to me, so I wouldn’t be troubled by the dawn chorus. Nevertheless, my wife and I intend to retire to be live aboards. David, you have convinced us!

On the subject of noisy birds, I've noticed yours are quite pleasant. Where I live it's all crows, ravens, blue Jay's and hawks. They are horrible squawkers. With respect to the shy horse 0:29, I'd swear he was wearing boots. Probably what he's thinking is, "great, a camera. and me in my shoddy boots."

The luxureous solution for the shower thing is to get one of those fancy thermostatic taps. They are absolutly lovely, specialy if the water presure fluctuates as it sometimes can be fast enough to even that out too. I wouldnt want to live without one anymore. :)

Love the into on this one. I love it, very funny. 🙂🐿🌈❤️

Glad to see you in good spirits on a chilly day cruise.

Two solo locks and two successes. I'm sure that raises your confidence level. Congratulations on taking a small voyage to practice before the grand event. The idea of a solo lock still terrifies me. The best part is that now I am sure I will see more videos of cruising to follow. Just two more days until they toss you out of the marina. And the hat, well you don't have to see yourself, but you do have to feel whether your head is cold or not. Not cold is better.

Looking at your photo under the title , I think Lord Admiral Nelson has been reborn.Love your vlogs.

Impressed you managed the lock by yourself! Looks like the weather is going to be good for the weekend when you set off. Good luck.

I am truly jealous. Been binge watching from your beginnings and I could so stand a retired lifestyle such as this. You're a lucky fellow.

Re watching while I am waiting for the next vlog. I know you say don't laugh at the hat, but still I snicker every time I watch this vlog, sorry David.

what a lovely seaquel ;) a little on the short side, but then I'd watch your videos if they were hours long. glad your first lock went off without a hitch! looking forward to the weekend!! also, the comment earlier about the fan blocking out noise; I use this technique too. when I can't sleep, I blink rapidly for 60 slow counted seconds and then focus entirely on the noise of the fan. works wonders with me.

Still catching up on your videos since subscribing. Every time I have to be in a deep natural setting through the night the sounds of nature keep me awake. Put me next to an active train line and I sleep like a baby. Train, what? 25 went by during the night? Crickets, whippoorwills, and every tiny crack of branch or grass keeps me awake. My primitive brain just waiting for something to to eat me. Nice hat. Rather be warm than have perfect hair any day.

Good Morning David. Hope the weather on your side of the pond is lovely today!

Earplugs at night. I lived in the country for years. It blocks animal noises & rain, but you can still hear commotion, if need be;)

First I must say how cute you look in you hat and glad you remembered all your supplies this time. 👍🏼 now on to this lack of filming on the locks you are forgiven this time but hope next time you can set up a tripod or something to help. Can't wait for more adventures to come.

As always, very entertaining! And quite informative. I look forward to your next production.

Perfect cruise. What a shame we haven't waterways like that in my country. Or I'd do the same thing.

The best sleep I ever had was when i was sleeping on my boat. Storms ,drunks, nothing woke me up!

Great stuff David. Looked like a wonderful time. You’re so much more experienced now compered to your earlier videos 😀

Always enjoyable, especially with your excellent narration edited to perfection. Looking forward (in a nice way), to your first encounter with a deep lock where you will have to act like Fred Dibnah and climb up or down a sometimes long and "will it hod me" ladder. One of things I took perverse enjoyment from was passing hire boaters who thought they knew it all and was delighted when they did not realise that in passing, the bows of the boat are pulled to the centre of the canal! many times passed a haughty hirer who was perhaps a bit too fast and quite arrogant, only to look back and see them nose in to the left bank!! Oh, happy days!

I find these videos far more interesting than much of the output on TV these days. As your life on the cut unfolds, you cover lots of interesting topics. The relative trivia (or is that trauma) of re-upolstering furniture, dealing with the ups and downs of wifi aboard and getting a decent shower with a limited water supply resonates as I am a caravanner and many of the same rules and restrictions apply. As someone who has also considered buying a narrowboat but hasn't (yet) taken the plunge it's akin to living that particular dream by proxy. So, thanks very much for posting these excellent videos. I have many yet to see and am enjoying the journey with you.

Very exciting..your first lock

So lovely.

good to see you lots your lock virginity! looked like a very pleasant trip out.

Looks like Houston is reading green on all those indicators. Now if only a first mate would turn up, it would make for a truly epic journey :-)

I've lived on the canals so long I forgot just how new and novel everything is for a newcomer. Great video, and very professionally made. Just one piece of advice... It's a good idea to remove your chimney when moving. Also set your solar panels to level. You never know when you will encounter a very low bridge, or overhanging branch. That meeting could be rather expensive. As you approach an unfamiliar bridge, have a quick look at the brickwork of the arch. If there are chunks of brick missing, or paint scrapes where boats have hit, be careful. Such things are very common in places on the canal network. All the best.

Must have missed this one somehow so found it a nice watch....always enjoyable David, keep them going, ☺ xx

Solution for background sound, is a white noise generator. I have one that can be set to plain white noise, waves and surf, rain, trucking water, and thunderstorm. I use the trickling water.

I'm so happy i jumped into your channel...i'm just two step from makeing a similar choice and your videos fill me with courage! Thankyou very mutch and keep on with the great work!

Nice to see you visiting my home village.

Great video as always! so quiet still there, we've got the holiday boats in full swing already here :)

Regarding the shower head shut off valve,here in the US we have a Company that caters to RV's by the name Camping world . You might try their site for a new shower head with a built in shut off valve,that way it minimises the cold shot and keeps the head in proper alignment. Really enjoy the Vlog,Actually look forward to each one.

the horse was just stunned to find out that the red head sold his royal oats

Hope you don't mind but I've been binge watching your channel 😊 it's great I've seen you buy the boat survey Black it and make it your own & finally take to the water of course because you didn't film the locks did it actually happen 🤔😁 I am hooked great work captain ⚓

City slicker. :)

Not sure if you see comments to your older videos, but here goes. In regard to the shower valve, I have a similar condition with the one in our RV travel trailer (caravan). When shutting off the water while soaping up, mine seems to allow more hot water than cold when resuming the rinse. Can be quite a shock. Not sure what the cure is for either of us. Enjoying your videos and going through the older ones to catch up. Many thanks.

Nice to see you out and about Captain.....keep warm.

Lovely stuff.

Just a "non return valve" ( on the hot water side ) would do the job, just nicely!!!

What fun. Our very first night on the canal was spent at Welford. We had a wonderful meal at the pub and I remember the chocolate-on-chocolate desert as well. We had left Market Harbourough early afternoon after our "new boater" orientation; queed up for Foxton locks, which was our first locks ever and made it to Welford as it was getting dark. I do believe I remember the sad-looking horse, but it could have been an imposter. Oregon reporting.

You can buy a shower head for about £5-10 from Amazon that has a switch on it to turn on and off button, saves many litres and the water remains the same temp as it's already mixed.

Sorry if this comment is now irrelevant as I’ve only started to watch your vlog. About your shower, I might be out of line but do you not, in the UK, have lever faucets for showers. I haven’t seen double faucet appliances in such a long time I forgot they existed. A level valve allows you to turn the water on or off by pulling or pushing the lever. You adjust the temperature by either rotating left or right. Once you’ve found the right spot, you just pull of push the lever to always get the same mix of hot or cold. You can also get a pressure equalizing valve that will compensate for pressure fluctuations between hot and cold to maintain the same temperature. I’m sure your local hardware or plumbing store has them. Forget the doohickies, just change the valves to a single level faucet. Good videos. I’m curious as to what was your profession before this because your videos and narration have very high production value. Sets them apart from amateur videos. You would have been a great radio announcer. Take care.

You pointed out the white horse hiding behind the trees. I bet that horse is only a little jealous that he doesn't have a narrow boat, just like me; although, I don't know if I would or wouldn't be cut out for the boating life. The would guess the horse would probably decide that he isn't really cut out for the boating life if he got the chance.

here's a simple trick you might try... get a paint stick, and once you find your chosen 'sweet spot' with the water temp, simply put a dot on the top center of each of the hand valves. This way you won't have to try to find your correct temperature again. All you'll need to do is turn the valves until the dots are back at the top, and 'wa-la'! Perfect water temp without the fuss! Another very enjoyable video. Keep 'em coming!

Hey. Place a one valve on the hot water line. It stops the cold over pressure. Place the cut off on the bottom of you mixer instead of your head. Hope this helps

That's a bit cheeky to say this is how you do it, when you've not gone up the locks yourself. But, thanks for 'noisy' wildlife news, very funny. Of course, i don't even own a narrowboat myself !

For those noisy angry birds nights, a fan mounted on or near your head board creates a white noise like background to drown out most of the sounds. Choose one that don't require too much power draw or add another battery or two to your bank. I live near a road and the fan works smashingly

i can see this in the future, fans will send you ice cream, and New York Strip steak on dry ice. cheers, and thanks for the videos,completely and utterly fascinating.

Just rewatched after a long gap and I know you said "don't laugh" at the head gear but I couldn't help it sorry.

Correct,I was addressing the point you made about its causing a misdirection of the showerhead

Ref: Shower valve. Sorry I was correct after all. Just let us know what you are about to buy, and I can advise (ha ha).Very enjoyable Vids. Best of luck. John

Has anyone suggested that you get the shower to the perfect sweet spot and mark it with a dab of paint? You can then just turn it on to the perfect temperature by lining up the marks on the handles and the wall. Cost nothing but maybe a q-tip for a paint brush.

Great video! Lively narrative! I will definitely follow your narrowboat adventures as you go! Look after yourself!

I'm enjoying your series just started watching yesterday so it will be several weeks till I catch up. In any case perhaps already recommended but you can find the sort of cut off for the shower you need to achieve your goal with the shower. The best for the purose to avoid the cold water overwhelming the warm, is one that does not stop the flow completely but greatly reduces it. Doing so prevents the issue you encountered. By the way that is caused by the cold water being denser than the hot. The slight difference in density permits it force the warm back and this is accelerated by it cooling it making it contract and make more room.

Good job

An expected journey There and back again lol, very enjoyable. I remember a few years ago I watched a youtube vid of a guy boating solo invented and sells a simple remote control gadget to help at locks, might be of interest to you.

That's quite a lovely hat. You don't look ridiculous at all; in fact? It suits you! 😊

I have just discovered your videos and love them. Brilliant quirky style. I live aboard a sailing boat based in a small Somerset harbour, but a boat is a boat and I totally understand the appeal of being a water gypsy whether sea, canal or river.

i had these kinda valves before and i think mine when shut off allowed the hot water to get cold waiting. i had planned to get one of those small electric hot water heaters to act as a buffer during the hot and cold spells. but after some thought a few seconds of cold water was not worth the trouble and costs to add it.

i know im a little late but a 360 camera would be really cool i look foword to seeing that in future

reat video I really enjoyed both part 1 and 2

Who wants to watch another covid-19 vlog? Gimme some vintage David and lets cheer up a bit. Yae Dave

You're a bloody good narrator, You should get a job in TV. Or a story teller, You should do some audio books :) Also.. As a very keen fisherman, I'd love for you to one day do a fishing video from your boat catching some very nice Canal Perch.

They sell shower phones with a slide-open/closed rod in the handle...very helpful for "navy showers"/water saver.😇

What a lovely trip. I really enjoyed it. Slept well did you? Excellent. Where are we off to next?

The shut off valve would work better if placed on shower hose on the faucet side of the hose. Turning the valve down to a slower flow would save water and not back flush the system

Great video again. Look forward to the next one. I'm sure you can talk for longer..6 minutes simply isn't enough for your avid viewers. :) Oh and Someone should adopt that horse..

I was rather hoping you would show us you winding the boat :-)

(3:33) - What you need is a proper shower mixer tap but you'll no doubt know that by now. But yes, the pressure will never be perfectly balanced when you've got two separate pumps, one for the hot, another for the cold. Just be grateful that you got chilled rather than scalded. It could have turned out so much worse. >

Paused the video on the start of the return trip to make a cuppa, and was just taking a sip as you said "don't laugh"... well you wasn't to know so I can not really blame you.

Brilliant once again....

Very nice! Thank you.

You learnt very quickly to be prepared for your voyage, maybe the horse is dreaming of cruising the cut 🐴🚤 as well: After finding your vlog I watched a few random ones then back to the beginning so you may have filmed solo locks in more detail by now. If you have what number is it please ? If not would your latest camera that you purchased that you wore walking the cut help with one or two fixed on the boat ? 🚤 We need a Narrowboat emoji

Great part two

I couldn't help thinking about JFK, what with the stalking horse and the grassy knoll.

(3:00) - I'm sorry Dave but owls don't hoot while they hunt. They are stealth hunters. They absolutely don't do any hooting when they are hungry and scanning the vista for tiny mammal movements. They hoot to each other for various reasons. But most certainly not when they are hunting. I'm a townie too, but I have seen the odd wildlife documentary which, it seems must have been the one that you missed. >

I am very much enjoying your vlogs, plus the wonderfully tranquil scenery you share with us. They are such a pleasure to watch. But poor sad horse - it looks as if his front hooves are chained (or should that be "hobbled") together.

A very nice canal trip. Keep that camera firmly secured to the boat lest some sagging branch knock into the canal. Don't want to be missing those good videos.

That poor horse did look rather sad. :-( He looked like he wished he could get out of the pasture and go on a little cruise with you.

get a continental style shower mixer tap, heat and water on/offf taps are seperate once the heat level is set it stays that way till you change it irrespectivevas to how many times you turn off the water......

Great

love the hat! glad you managed the locks by yourself. with regards the shower, perhaps when you have the water the right temperature you could use a permanent marker to draw a line (and a reference point) on the taps and then you would know exactly where to turn them to in order get the right temperature? especially handy when mid shower/soaped up?

Yes a thermostatic mixer valve might be better.

there is a way around the water issue of yours though not sure how easy it might be. one-way valves one the pipes between the hot/cold turn valves should help. also putting the water shunt valve at the point where the hole connects to the hot/cold junction at the wall should help with the angle issue.

Oooh! Foreshadowing.

.. the grassy knoll, beware Lee Oswald might be about ...

On taking another, much longer look, pausing the video and viewing full-screen (instead of Theater Mode... I believe the "chains" are actually a bit of reflection from the uneven ground, churned up by those large hooves. Sorry for my error. As you mentioned, the blankets (and, the horses' well-fed appearance) suggest that they do indeed have a caring owner. Perhaps Sad Horse works on that lugubrious expression, in hope of getting a few tasty apples from narrow boaters who drift past his field! :)

I adore hearing birds all night long. The only thing that bothers me at night are crickets. Do they really have a purpose? I think not.

The things we do for you to keep the wolf from your door. All the way through an advert for ladder resistant tights....

After the first minute or so I was expecting you confess to be originating from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse :-)

I was wondering if the pubs are close enough that having a bicycle on board isn't necessary? Maybe a folding one for emergencies or exploring?

The little water turnoff device: Instead of turning it completely off, have you tried closing it 90% of the way so just a dribble continues to come out? A dribble might be sufficient to not allow the cold water to backup the hot water pipe. I think I saw this as a trick someone in an RV in the USA did to their shower. Or maybe I dreamed it all up. It might however be worth a try?

Could you get one of those mixer showers with separate temp control? That way you could leave the temp set at the correct level all the time and just turn the shower on/off as needed (might not be the cheapest solution!)

Great vid

i love that hat hahaha