single handed cruising

I had two priorities in these first months -to learn how to handle my boat single handed and to find a job. Economically, these priorities should be reversed, but the boat came first for me. My first tentative trips out were pretty scary! I knew how to operate locks (grew up on boats and have also done a narrowboat helmsman course), but I was always with others and so the jobs got shared out. Now I had to moor the boat, prepare the lock, bring her in, operate the lock, take her out and then go back and close the gates. To begin with, the complication of it all nearly defeated me. For instance, how do you get the boat to stay in one place once you are in the lock? With two people, one stays at the tiller and uses the engine to keep her still while the other operates the paddles of the lock. I had to do both. Initially I tried to hold her with a rope whilst winding, but all that happened was that I was constantly tripping over the rope, or, because it was a centre rope, catching it up in my boat hook or pole, depositing both in the water more than once!

Then I learnt not to use any ropes in the lock. Instead I bring her in, leave the engine on tickover, with my tiller held in a central position with tiller strings. That holds her up against the front gate, and as long as I'm careful how quickly the water comes in, she will pretty much stay there. Going downhill, I leave her in neutral, because the water flowing out keeps her at the front gate. When the water levels equalise, she magically backs off the gate all on her own! Of course this works in narrow locks, I haven't braved wide locks as yet.

Learning to moor, particularly in windy conditions, was another challenge. But gradually, as I kept going out for a day or two at a time, my confidence increased. each journey brought new challenges and new skills learnt. By June, I was confident enough to take her out for a whole week and explore places that were new to me. I loved it! Somehow the boat only really makes sense when she's out of the marina, on the canal. I still find it amazing that, in order to move my home, I just disconnect the line to the electricity, undo 2 ropes and I'm free!

I also find myself in a new spiritual place when I'm cruising. It's hard to explain but I feel connected to my boat, to the water, to the wildlife - in fact connected to everything. I feel God is in all and is all - a Spirit which flows through and energises everything. I also find it possible to truly live in the present moment. I still need to concentrate when I'm steering and so my mind focuses on that and on the experience of the moment, rather than dwelling constantly on either the past or the future. And once I truly exist in the present moment, then all the worries, all the needs, all the should's and ought's disappear and I am content.

This experience has also released a creative spirit in me. I experiment with crafts, with writing and with photography. But again, it only flows when I am out with the boat. Somehow, when I connect back into the marina, I feel disconnected from the flow. If I could do anything, it would be to go on a long voyage - perhaps a forever voyage and not call anywhere other than my boat home. However, everyday life intrudes and the need to reverse the flow of money out of my account was becoming really pressing - the subject of my next blog!