A little down time
Dear Narrowboating for Beginners readers,
I thought I’d take an opportunity to wish one and all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. I’m also taking a little down time while I recover from the surgery I underwent Dec. 14. I’m in great shape, considering I had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction because of a cancer diagnosis in October. It came out of the blue and has interrupted my plans to promote my latest book, Cycling the Canals of Britain. Of course I wanted the book to be the hit of the holidays, but life happens.
I hope to get back to updating Narrowboating for Beginners for 2018 after the first of the year. Although most of the book remains relevant, I plan to update it with more examples of different sorts of locks and bridges, techniques for dealing with a canal that’s gone dry, more safety advice and updates on the general state of the waterways.
Until then, however, I plan to take it easy and start the planning for our 2018 cruise of the Mon & Brec.
Jennifer Petkus
Water is held in a tank on-board and needs topping up every few days (depending on your usage). This will be done by your host. In the winter months heating is by the solid fuel stove which burns a combination of smokeless coal and logs which are provided. The stove can be controlled and kept going 24 hours but you need to allow for this in your daily loading stove before going out and a little attention on your return. It keeps the boat warm and cosy. An eco fan assists circulation. Living on board is not quite like a conventional house and needs an understanding and patience- it may therefore not be for everyone. Power is supplied from batteries which means appliances that we take for granted such a hair dryers can run the power supply down very quickly. Essentially, power isn t on tap as we re used to in our homes. If the power runs down the engine will need to be started to charge up the batteries. If there are any problems the host will be on call to assist.