84. Travelling by narrowboat from Braunston to Crick on the Grand Union canal 

Hello. Your channel has really helped me get through a tough time. I am a heroin addict and I have been clean for 8 days now. I made the decision to get clean, (which isn't an easy thing to do) and to help me keep my mind off of drugs, have been watching all of your videos. I love the outdoors and dream one-day of owning a narrowboat to go up and down the country. Thank you very much for your help getting me through this tough time :)

Hi there David, Andy here from ACT Boat Moving Services. Lovely video as always, we were chuffed to meet our star of the silver screen on Braunston Locks and even more chuffed to view the advert you so kindly put out there for us on this latest video. Thank you most kindly from us and a big lick and waggy tail from Bosun. Looking forward to bumping into you again. (Not literally of course!) keep up the good work.

This is so much fun.........with you doing all the work.

So lovely I watched it twice. You are looking fit, healthy and happy and might I say younger. Narrow boating agrees with you.

If it weren't for your channel this American would never even know this existed! been watching for sometime but rarely comment, keep up the great work.

Just a quick tip that you probably don't need on this occasion, but you may find of use in the future, it's the 'Sheep shank' knot, it's a way of bypassing a piece of damaged rope without untying it, plus it doesn't lose much strength. One day you may find this handy. Thank you for the video :)

Don't forget to secure the anchor chain to the boat before you throw it in the river😬😀

I loved the cruising scenery in this video, so beautiful and relaxing and devoid of spray paint. The time lapse locks were also fun to see. I like the fact that you say where you are for that allows me to follow along on my maps of the English canals, waterexplorer and the CRT site. I guess you could say that I can lock-ate your position. Speaking of which, your chandlery visit to replace the port line begs me to say that I, too, would have been afraid of the frayed line. Enough.

Sped-up lock sequences were great. Hooray for teeny waterfalls whilst the locks were filling.

I love your little lock montage it was really cool to watch them all fill up and empty out. Please do more of those if it's not inconvenient.

We Aussie’s call those Sand Anchors . The bigger and wider they are the more the anchor can hold . A tip is to use plumbers Teflon tape in the threads of the bow shackles you will use to anchor the chain and recovery ring to it . This will prevent the threads locking up with grit so you can remove the shackles if needed .

We had a scary moment in a tunnel - about halfway through a fairly long one, pitch black & there was a massive bang from the prop. The engine spluttered but kept going thank goodness. We limped the rest of the way through & as soon as we’d come out, we stopped to check the prop. There was an old rubber fender & rope wrapped around it, which could have easily stopped the engine. We were never so pleased to see daylight, it’s scary enough with two folk let alone being on your own!

I've been watching your series and this episode is the best overview of narrowboating so far. Great job! I have many happy memories of narrowboating holiday style between Falkirk and Edinburgh with my family.

So great to follow your channel :-)

Came across you're channel 3 weeks ago from watching " Country House Gent". I've been binge watching ever since. Keep up the great work.

Great video as always. I love the sped up lock footage.

Loved the music with the sped-up locks segment, thanks David.👍👏👏👏

David that danforth anchor is something I would use in a sailing yacht I did not think you would need one that big for a narrowboat but then again in an emergency with all that weight best to be cautious. I do love your vlogs when your on the move fantastic.

Great video! Keep up the great work!

Ahh! Through 84 of your Vlogs, this ancient American has been allowed a vicarious view of life on the UK canals. Thank you so much….. As for the leakage you mentioned, as long as your knees are still dry, there’s always tomorrow to address the situation.

The True Meaning of Tunnel Vision?? beautiful scenery and waterways

Thanks very much for your Vlogs. I find them so informative, and am sure this is as close as you can get to being out there, in here! I'm in the process of selling my house, and with the equity purchasing a narrowboat. I lost my heart to narrow boating when I was about 10, when I went on board one at Braunston back in the 70s - it belonged to my brother's friend's family. My kids have both grown and left home, and my mother will shortly be going into a care home as I can't provide the care she now needs - so this is the beginning of the rest of my life! Your vlogs have helped with all the homework I've been doing and I've watched them several times over just to make notes! Please keep up the good work (and information vlogs). Maybe one day we might pass each other, I'd like to thank you in person for imparting all your experiences!

Thank you for the most enjoyable No.84 It has brightened our Easter significantly - especially seeing daffodils so late on in the year. My Dorset ones died about six weeks ago. No wonder your solar panels were not as lively as mine were at that time.It's surprising what a little latitude an longitude can do. Your picture quality always amazes me - as does your superb access to broadband.

Great video as usual. I was the cyclist that wouldn't stop talking to you today! Keep up the good work!

You've bought back fond memories of the time we collected our boat from Crick and took it on to the K&A.

Ran into this channel now I'm hooked started to binge-watching now superman speed is awesome

Three cheers for Locke Keepers! Hooray, Hip Hip, Hazzar!! Making life a bit easier! Ultimately drier and a whole lot less sore😋😋

I wanted to thank you for your series of videos. Informative and presented with humour and a complete absence of pomposity. I recall walking this route when a couple of years ago I walked the canal network from London to Lancaster for charity. I am now looking into getting a narrowboat and this vlog is incredibly useful. Many thanks.

i loved how you speeded up the video on the locks. dont know if i would enjoy seeing that every time, but it does give you some idea on how many locks you are going thru. nice!!

Tip of the day. Always remember to tie the anchors' rope to the boat before you sling it over the side. There will be more top tips like this to follow 😎

Loved the timelapse bits!

Nice work, good to be out on the canals with you again. Enjoyed it 👍

going thru the locks at triple speed is kind of neat to watch

Glad to see you finally figured out adding a valve at the business end of your potable water hose.

You made my Friday, which unlike many is my Monday... off to the airport to fly to start my work week... Thanks again!!!

Another great video and as usual, very informative.

I like the way you went past Braunston marina entrance then past the stop house, a truly remarkable feat considering you were going towards the locks. :-) At 3 mins 55 secs in.

Very enjoyable as usual. However, your commentary is what brings me back. Cheers to you!!

That was so pretty. Even the 20 minute tunnel was cool.

It is LAVISHLY beautiful along that canal! Spring certainly puts on quite a splashy show for you. Coming out of those tunnels must be a relief. Happy Easter to you, I hope you have a nice dinner planned.

Quite the adventure. Thanks for taking us along. Cheers

I love tunnels,i could go in and out of them all day long😊

Thanks for posting. I never miss one of your vlogs. Very enjoyable to watch.

Your videos always get Full Screen privilege on my pc.

Grappling anchors are for Rocky bottoms . The diamond shaped as you call it is a danford style . Used for mud, sand and such. Always great watching your videos. Cheers.

We are excited to see you crusing again. We'll stay tuned. Haven't watched this episode yet but will this evening. Thanks for posting. Mike

Good to see you moving again and it seems a nice way to see the countryside. Might be a bit slow to my taste but when your home travells with you who cares. The time-lapse parts were a welcome novelty. Keep it up please.

When you do the speeded up sequences, and especially when there are people in shot running around really fast you should have the "Benny Hill" music playing ! Another great video, well done again.

Lovely as always. I can't wait to do my first tunnel. You've made me paranoid about my own weed hatch too. I'll have to take a look at it now

The high speed bit is really good. should do more often.

Next April you really need to go through the tunnels with a suit of armor and a joust as boats pass by.

Love the new well deck camera. :D

Another classic CTC. Watched a couple of times and noticed many interesting boats your passing.

From my sofa at home in Alicante and with an awful flu' I have enjoyed your vídeo very much! Gracias!

i find these videos to be quite relaxing! i'm fascinated by living on canals, the coast is too expensive but canals are with in reach and your doing a good job of documenting it, in a tree surgeon and gamekeeper, if your ever in the wiltshire area and need wood for fuel, or some venison steaks for supper, let me know! keep up the cut!!

David Johns is to narrowboating what James Bond is to international espionage. Each rivetting adventure leaves me dying to give up my boring sedentary life of motorcycle touring southern Europe's topless beaches in pursuit of the ultimate adventure that is rural England bordering the canal. I aspire to one day follow his exemplary lead.

3:28 Very pretty bridge. Reminds me slightly of a bridge where my mother grew up, popularly called the "wavy bridge" for obvious reasons.

Loved the speeded up footage - can you do all your videos like that?!! 8;^D

Very cool to see how the locks work from the inside, at Superman speed. Haha.

Another very good and interesting video thanks

Another enjoyable vlog very educational, the tunnels are a bit of a shock I had no idea some were so long

Great episode! Love the fast views of the locks! We want more of these! Keep it up!

13:55 ... That is a spooky moment! She's judging you! This was a great video.

thank you David, I enjoy your videos immensely

Good to see how much more confident you are with the boat, excellent vid as usual.

lovely vlog thanks David

Great video I enjoyed it well worth watching loved the locks and all so love the fact that you take your time to reply to every one so good of you .

Great video! Have a happy Easter, and I hope you get your weed hatch sorted out.

Brilliant video. Only subscribed last week and i'm loving your vid's. I've never made it off the tow paths, but I'm developing a bit of an obsession with the canel's.

Another interesting video.,,love the superman speed up of the lock passage....and the daffodils of spring. It;s going to be a good year for Cruising the Cut.

Hi David, Thought you might want to consider this as an idea for an inboard vlog sometime this winter when you've hunkered down for a bit. Could you do a top ten list of say one week canal trips for people who are complete novices and have never driven a canal boat before and may be doing the trip solo. Your previous pencil and paper vlogs worked out very well like the one where you sketched out a map of your cruising plans for the year. I've noticed that there's one canal that passes Bosworth that doesn't have any locks at all but I'm sure there may be other routes that do have locks which could still be managed by someone with little knowledge of sailing a narrowboat. Many thanks.

the quality of your reports is improving all the times. this one I really enjoyed especially the "high speed" locks because gave me the feeling of what is a sequence of locks one behind the other. many thanks !

So far so good, you've now had your boat a year, well done, really enjoying the vlogs and keeping up with your adventures.

Another fine production, very much appreciated :-) Wishing You a Happy Easter and may You have many more miles of enjoyable navigation. Take it steady. :-)

I always enjoy watching you travel the cut cheers

Hi David. Glad to see you started your Grand Tour. I must say that tunnel looked kind of spooky. I'm looking forward to your upcoming videos. Good work.

I so enjoy your adventures...superman speed lock portage and music was fun and meeting the other boat in the Crick tunnel was my first!! I live very near Lake Ontario in New York State, USA, so narrow boating is not something I can do here but thanks for taking me along with you...

Watching your vlogs is getting me really excited for crick and my own narrowboat journey! I'm 6'2 so hoping I can stand up in one!

Perfect, thanks for this and all previous vids which I have watched and enjoyed.

What a beautiful episode with all of the blossoms. You are getting really good at steering around those bends!

So pretty when you come out of the tunnels.

Enjoying your travels , thank you for posting , and do be careful.

Hi, I've been binge watching your vlogs, and I have found them very interesting and very watchable, Look forward to your travels around the cut. Can't wait to buy a narrow boat of our own but we are about 2 years away, looking forward to your travels. Happy boating x

I love the contrasting lock music. Lovely video!

Very good to see you on the move again! Great vid as usual. I look forward to viewing more of them. Cheers!!

Another great video with lots of helpful information. We're hiring a boat last week in April and now I can't wait!

:) Great to see U under way again, best wishes for a wonderful season.......... :)

Nice to have you back on the river.

Great Vlog Dave,enjoyed that and that camera is great mate

I really do enjoy your blog, thank you for posting.

Hi David, many thanks for your very good vlogs. Good point regarding the weed hatch - also having spent many years working at sea I agree with you regarding the danforth anchor - better safe than sorry!!! Looking forward to your next volgs.

absolutely gutted we missed you! we just bought our boat from braunston a few weeks ago and did the locks and tunnel too!

That grey triangular shaped boat looked intriguing and also taller than a lot of others.

A very enjoyable vlog Sir. Some super canal spring like scenery you passed. Hope you get your weed hatch leak sorted soon. Keep up the good work .. Cheers Steve

Great video. That trip through the locks was fun although I preferred the music in the first series! Thanks for keeping us posted.

Late as ever, just catching up with things but super fabbo to see you on the way :) :) :)

David, that was fun. I really enjoyed the locking through parts. A word of caution about Danforth anchors. If you're moving when trying to set them, they tend to skip over the bottom. A plow type or a delta set better when moving. If you have to use the Danforth on the run, pay out a good bit of road before you snub the anchor. You should practice this before needing to do it in an emergency. Happy boating.

Nice camera positioning for those time lapse shots. Another pleasurable watch.

Safe sailing for your journey.

I now know why I didn't see you on my clockwise Leicestershire Ring. I was having breakfast in Gongoozlers Rest. However, when I was there, the Stop House was before the Marina (well, not for me as I was going the other way). That's twice that Longpod has appeared while I've been watching one of your videos.