Pictures of life on 'The Cut'

Since there were no pictures in my last entry, I thought I'd make up for it in this one. The first is me with the boat at Alrewas - a lovely little village near here. The second is a picture of Don't Panic moored at Great Hayward -a lovely peaceful place on the edge of Cannock Chase.

The third is a picture of the bridge at Great Hayward - a much photographed scene!

The last is of some visitors I had earlier this year.

If anyone wants a set of cards made with photos I have taken over the last 8 months do let me know. They are blank inside and I can do sets of 5 or 10 for a very reasonable price!

narrowboating as a lifestyle

I first considered living on a boat for purely practical purposes. I couldn't afford even a deposit on a home of my own and I really didn't fancy renting a flat somewhere, finding a job and then giving my landlord most of my wages. Getting a loan for the boat was so much easier than trying to get a mortgage (and a lot less money involved) and so it seemed a good way to put a roof over my head. Had I not been a sailor in my youth, I doubt I would have thought of this possibility, but almost all my holidays growing up were on boats of various shapes and I loved life on the water. Well, I loved most of it; having up to 6 brothers and sisters, all crammed together for a couple of weeks with no escape does hold its challenges! I remember when one of us misbehaved, Dad used to put us in the dinghy and tow us behind the boat on our own!

So the seeds were there, but I didn't realise when I set out on this adventure that living on a narrowboat is so much more than a shelter from the storm. It is like stepping into a whole different universe; one that reminds me what it must have been like in a past, more civilised age.

The pace of life is the first major difference. Somehow, the fact of only travelling at 4mph affects life even when I'm not out on the canal. It's strange, but when I travel at a slower pace, I seem to have more time. On the cut, people are passing slowly and so have time to call out a greeting or pass on some news. If someone gets into a bit of trouble, others seem much happier to stop and lend a hand, or at least they don't seem to get impatient if they have to wait while you sort yourself out. After all, if it takes an hour to travel under 4 miles, how is another few minutes going to matter? I wonder if it was like this before the advent of the metal isolation box or speedy killing machine otherwise known as the car?

Off the canal, I am not trying to fit 25 hours worth of things into 24 hours. This is partly because I am working less hours, but also because I am not buying stuff like I used to, and if I'm not filling time buying and using things, there is time instead to cloud gaze or read or write a blog or learn a new craft. I am finally working out that life is more than work and more than consuming or being consumed by our consumer culture.

The second value I am discovering is that of generosity. I had not realised that I had become quite miserly and a bit of a horder once the money started to run out. But now I am surrounded by people who also don't have very much, but what they do have, they share. A couple of examples: I am struggling with a hot water problem and so far two different boaters have given up significant amounts of time helping me sort the problem out whilst asking for nothing in return. When I got Bonny, I mentioned that I would need anyone's spare newspaper - for obvious toilet reasons - and so far I haven't had to get one paper myself as people are visiting my boat on a daily basis to drop off their Mirrors, Mails and Telegraphs. Another couple dropped off a lovely pair of dog bowls - sadly not needed by them any more - because they thought Bonny would like them. In return I gave them a hand painted tea pot I no longer use.
I started making cards with the idea of making some money, but I am finding it much more satisfying to give them away or send them to friends and relatives. The general idea here seems to be that if you've got something you don't need, don't throw it away or sell it, but give it away to your neighbours and they will do the same. If you have a skill to offer, then offer it and others will offer their talents to you. I believe that given enough like minded people, it would be possible to live on a barter system and do away with money almost entirely!

The last value I'll write about today (or this entry will become impossibly long) is what I will call a closer connection with life. By life I mean nature, the weather, the seasons and all that is natural - even my own rhythms of being. When it's windy I feel it through the souls of my feet as the boat rocks gently. I go to sleep when I'm tired and wake when I'm ready to, rather than to the shriek of the alarm clock and find this way that I need less sleep, not more (mind you, these days it's more about Bonny's rhythm than mine!). I have different birds visiting my boat at different but set times of day and recently my boat has served as a launching pad for baby swallows learning to fly. I love this connection and realisation of my dependance on the natural world. I even celebrate rain as the canals wouldn't exist without it; just as well during this summer!

I know all these things are there for people who don't live on boats, but for me, I had to be here, living in this way, to recognise and appreciate it.

Bonny the boat dog!

Bonny had her first trip out on the boat today. It wasn't a long trip - we pumped out at the dock and then went as far as the winding hole at Wychnor. She rode in her crate on the roof. She was very alert and interested in everything around her, but no sign of distress at all. We were out for just over an hour and she only whined a little bit when we re-entered the marina. I am so pleased with her! As soon as I receive her doggy life jacket, we will be out again and I'll see how she copes riding on the roof without her crate! It was so nice to be out - even for a short time. As soon as holidays are over and there is room to breathe on the canal, I will go out for a few days. I've already checked with my very helpful and kind workmate and he is happy to swap the odd day off to allow me 4 days in a row. Of course I wish he wanted two days off together all the time and then I could have my 3 working days together - at present I work each the weekend and on Wednesdays, which means I only have 2 days off in a row. That means I can only really go as far as Fradley or Willington on the boat. But I'm not complaining - I am very well aware how fortunate I am to be able to be on this boat and take her out whenever I feel like it!

I haven't had any bookings for my venture yet, which is a shame, both financially but also because I just love showing people how wonderful it is on the canals! However, it has given me time to familiarise Bonny with the boat (not to mention making great strides in house training - 6 dry nights in a row!) I am also pretty busy sorting out my finances, trying to sell my car and trying to ensure that I don't stuff every day full of things to do. So I'm happy to have bookings and content at present not to have any. Thanks to my very good friends Maggie and David, I have some rather smart brochures which I am circulating around - if anybody reading this wants one, or a lot, let me know. Some people have said it is difficult to leave a message; if clicking on the comment tab after each entry doesn't work, then feel free to email me at dontpanic1@live.co.uk

Marina Fever

Why is it that when you think things are perfect, the perfection only lasts a very short time and then you are wanting something else? Or perhaps I should say I rather than you - is it just me? I have my wonderful life afloat, I have Bonny and I'm well on my way to managing to live within my means, but now I yearn to be out on the canal!
I have not been out for nearly a month - the longest since I got the boat. August isn't a particularly good month for cruising anyway as the world and his wife are out there at present which makes finding moorings, queuing for locks and avoiding wildly controlled hire boats that much more challenging.
But life has a whole different flavour when I'm out on the cut. I feel free, relaxed and fulfilled. I also can't wait to introduce Bonny to the pleasures of the canal, although I need to address some safety issues first.
I would like to become the sort of person who is content with what they have, where they are and who they are, but, so far in my life, I have always been driven to look for more, have more, be more. If anybody out there knows the secret of being content, then do share it with us all!

A Bonny Life

Bonny update:

It is now the 6th day of life with Bonny and as Michael Buble is currently singing: 'I'm feeling good'! She recovered very quickly from her bad tummy and is now eating and drinking (and pooing) fine!

She is a complete joy. She is so bright and completely unafraid of anything. She has so far met swans, Boxer dogs and people and hasn't turned a hair. I have started the engine briefly on the boat as I thought the noise and vibration might be a bit of a fright for her - no, she cocked her head for a bit and then carried on playing. She came to work with me on the weekend and I was rather worried, especially for the Sunday when the boss was in, but I needn't have fretted. She bounced about the shop while there was no one around and when I needed to shut her in her crate, she promptly fell asleep. She has charmed my co-worker - so much so, that he looked after her yesterday when I needed to go out! The shop is quickly becoming a second home to her. Last night we managed our first uninterrupted night's sleep - thank goodness! House training, or should I say boat training is going to take a while, but she is already confining herself to two patches of newspaper at either end of the boat.

Fearlessness:

It made me think again about fear; is it natural and inborn or is it learnt? My other two dogs were both rescue adults and had already a whole set of fears each. But Bonny has been loved and safe from birth. Since nothing has yet hurt her, she doesn't seem to feel fear. Will she continue to be unafraid? What if then something happens to her (like falling in the cut!) will she then be fearful of other things? Once a creature has known fear, can it go back to being unafraid?

And what about us human beings? Can we choose to put aside old fears and decide to live unafraid lives? People will say that a certain amount of fear is good; it helps in our survival, but I wonder? I don't have to be afraid of standing on a railway line as a train approaches to know it's dangerous. Now I am an adult I know what will hurt me and what won't, so is it possible to live without fear?

Think of the freedom we would enjoy if it were so. No fears for the future, no fear of death, no fear of rejection, of strangers, of crime or of illness. Yes, we will suffer some or all of these things but the suffering will be limited to the time of it's arrival; we would no longer be suffering in advance of any struggle. After all, most of us waste vast amounts of useless emotion on 'what if's'; on fear of things that don't actually come to pass.

Another question - if we lost all fear, would that turn us into 'bad' people? 'Fear of The Lord', the Bible says 'is the beginning of wisdom'. If we no longer feared God or feared punishment for our sins, would we then sin more? I'm not so sure. After all, we may be afraid of punishment as we are now, but it still doesn't stop us doing things wrong, so not having fear probably wouldn't make that much difference to our level of 'badness'. Of course what we wouldn't any longer be able to do is frighten people into faith. No more - believe what I believe or be damned / rejected by God / cast out of our community etc etc. No more 'turn or burn'!

So what would we look like without fear? How would we live differently, believe differently? What would happen to our society if we could look strangers in the eye and be unafraid. How would the government govern without being able to use fear to manipulate us. What sort of people of faith would we be if we followed our God out of love and a lust for life, rather than fear of the alternative? Would we treat our planet and the poorest on it any better if we did not fear that someone else might be getting a bigger slice of the cake than we have? What would happen if instead of living safely by avoiding what frightens us, we threw ourselves into life, sucking the marrow out of it and valuing it as the miraculous gift it is?

One downside I can immediately think of - those two fear masters, Health and Safety, might be out of a job!

the first 24 hours

Well, I've had Bonny for just over 24 hours now and it's been fairly traumatic! She was a little bundle of energy yesterday and I probably let her do too much. Also, every time I took her out to do a wee, she managed to find and eat rabbit poo. Then last night, she had to spend her first night without her mum and siblings and she was a very sad little pup. All of which probably explains why she has been going from both ends since 5am! She won't eat or drink - although I have managed to get a little water into her - dehydration in puppies can be very serious. She is sleeping now and the breeder (who I rang early this morning) said to try her with an ice cube when she wakes up as she might lick that.
I have had about 3 hours sleep and tomorrow I have to take her into work with me!
She really didn't sleep much at all yesterday, so I'm hoping if she sleeps a lot today, it might help.
I just hope she feels better very soon. How on earth to mothers cope with human babies? It must be terrifying - especially with the first!
I'm sorry, I started this blog to write about living on a narrowboat and all I can write about at the moment is puppies!

Puppies and Penury

This is Bonny... all together now, "aaah, isn't she sweet!" I am due to become her mother on Thursday. I am full of excitement, but also nerves - what if she falls in the water? What if I can't train her? What if she is impossible at work? But then, as I have written elsewhere, 'what if's' are no reason not to do something!

The last of my savings are going to pay for her (and for vet's insurance!). Once that cheque is cashed, then I shall be writing to my bank to 're-negotiate' my loan payments. The CAB have been really helpful in showing me how to write to the bank in such a way that they will have no choice but to reduce my boat loan payments by a whacking amount. Yes, it means I'll be in hock to the powers that be forever, but it also means that I will be able to (just) live within my means, while only working 3 days a week!

I refuse to feel even an iota of guilt over shrinking my loan payments to the bank. All banks are evil! Up to the end of the Middle Ages, usurers (people who take interest on money loaned) were regarded as sinners who were destined for hell. Merchants on their death bed would regularly pay back all the interest they had taken in a lifetime, to save their souls. But the Church's attitude changed through the centuries until it seems to have become regarded as a sign of God's favour to be rich and somehow the sin of usury disappeared from the Christian conscience - probably replaced by an increased interest in sex! (Or should I say sexual sins?)

These days the banks charge obscene interest for money borrowed and then whack massive charges on top if you dare to risk missing a payment. They have brought the world's economies to their knees in one year and yet, just the other night, two banks posted massive half yearly profits - profits obtained from the pain of those poorer than them. Bank bonuses are still being paid out in their millions to people who have gambled the savings and pensions of ordinary folk.

So if you are in debt, don't lose sleep over it. The banks certainly won't. In fact they love us being in debt because then they can really make money from us. I have known people driven into depression or worse because of debt. But debt doesn't really exist. It is just a number on a computer screen. The same as my savings were when they disappeared from Kaupthing Edge (see previous post). They are not worth losing our happiness for. They are not worth anything in fact! I will endevour to eventually pay back what I owe, because that is what my own conscience tells me is right. But I refuse to let the bank bully me over it. I refuse to let it darken my life and I will make sure I have enough to live on before paying money to an organisation that is destined for hell!

Meanwhile the next 'freedom' that I will experience, will be the 'freedom' of having no savings. I suspect I shall learn some hard lessons, but worthwhile ones. "Blessed are the poor" said Jesus. Maybe he had a point.