how to wire a narrowboat – part 4

Next we can work out the fuse board needed and the size of the connection to the Domestic batteries.

It is back to those drawings to detail the fuse and the current the circuit is going to need

Example Lights 1 - Maximum current 9 3W lights = 27W / 12 = 2.25A

Smallest cable size (this is the maximum current that the circuit can take without multiple other fuses) as earlier there was found to be a need for 2mmsq it make economical sense to use 2mmsq everywhere 1.5mmsq is shown on the drawings. 2mmsq has a maximum current capacity of 25A. The current to be carried is 2.25A and the Maximum that can be carried 25A. Knowing what is available means a fuse of 5A to possibly 10A

Fuse Board List

Lighting 1 - 5A to 10A, current - 2.25A
Passageway Lights - 5A to 10A, current - 2.25A current
Lights 2 - 5A to 10A, current – 3A
USB Sockets - 10A to 15A, current - 8A
Drainage Pump - 15A to 20A, current – 15A(5A)
Water Pump -- 15A to 20A, current – 15A (5A)
12V Sockets 12VS1P - Fuse 10A to 20A, current -10A
12V Sockets 12VS3P - Fuse 10A to 20A, current - 10A
12V Sockets 12VS4P Fuse 10A to 20A, current - 10A
Fridge 10A to 15A, current - 5A
Cigar Lighter socket 10A to 15A, current - 10A
Headlight LED - 5A to 10A, current - 0.7A

Headlight Tungsten - 10A to 15A, current - 4.6A

So the fuse board needed is a 12 way (J assuming only one headlight). It is sometimes sensible to allow a few fuses for expansion in the future.

Cable selection from the batteries via the Domestic Isolator to the Fuse-board

The total current with everything on and running at maximum is nominally 76A. Now this is unlikely to happen but can/ought be prepared for. For example the cables from the Fuse board to the Domestic batteries is a 3-metre run; 25mmsq will give a volt-drop of 0.35V or 2.93%. If we worked on the basis that only 50% of items were going to be used at anyone time that would be 38A and 25mmsq would give a volt drop of 0.18V/1.46% which meets the target for a 2% or less volt-drop in normal operation at the Fuse-board.

Unfortunately, some fuse-board manufacturers are a bit slow in coming up to date with the increased electrical use on boats and the only connection to their fuse-boards is a 6.3mm male spade connector. The crimp connectors for these spades have a maximum cable size of 6mmsq. The current capacity of 6mmsq is 50A unlike the 25mmsq that has a current capacity of 170A; also the volt-drop of 6mmsq is at 38A 0.72V/5.97%. That is nearly 3 times our target of 2% volt-drop at the fuse-board.

The common 12-way 12 way circuit breaker switch panel (fuse-board) is conveniently set out as two columns of 6 fuses/breakers this give us the ability to feed each column from the top and bottom. So we could use four 6mmsq cables, which would give us a volt-drop of 0.18V/1.49% that is almost the same as the 25mmsq and gives a similar current carrying capacity overall using four 6mmsq.

This can be achieved in one of two ways, running 4 6mmsq cables from the domestic isolator fusing each 6mmsq at the Isolator at 30A. That tends to be a bit messy, my preferred way is to run 25mmsq, fused at 100A, from the Domestic Isolator using to a small busbar by the fuse-board. Then from busbar, using 6mmsq, to the fuse board to the top and bottom of each of the two columns. The 6mmsq being fuse as it leaves the busbar at 30A, This will give a volt-drop battery to fuse-board of about 1.5% allowing us to keep the volt-drop to any DC electrical item to less than 0.6V/5%.

Now we need to balance the two columns of the fuse-board, so that each pair of 6mmsq feed cables handles nearly the same current and one pair of 6mmsq is not handling considerable more than the other pair.

12V Sockets 12VS3P - Fuse 10A to 20A, current - 10A
12V Sockets 12VS4P Fuse 10A to 20A, current - 10A
Passageway Lights - 5A to 10A, current - 2.25A
USB Sockets - 10A to 15A, current - 8A
Drainage Pump - 15A to 20A, current – 15A(5A)
Headlight LED - 5A to 10A, current - 0.7A

Maximum current of fuses 1 to 6 - 35.95A

12V Sockets 12VS1P - Fuse 10A to 20A, current -10A
Lighting 1 - 5A to 10A, current - 2.25A
Lights 2 - 5A to 10A, current – 3A
Fridge 10A to 15A, current - 5A
Cigar Lighter socket 10A to 15A, current - 10A
Water Pump -- 15A to 20A, current – (15A) 5A

Maximum current of fuses 7 to 12 - 35.25A

So by moving fuses and their items from one column to the other one, one section will handle 35.95A and the other will handle 35.25A. This is the nearest in real life you are likely to get the two currents. This difference of 0.7A is acceptable and the two sections and their 6mmsq feed cables will not be over stressed and the volt-drops will be acceptable.

Hope that is helpful to you all and that it has enabled a bit more learning to go on.

In the Appendix you will find: the explanation of how the two-way switch operates, the complete one page drawing for the Lights, and the one page drawing for the sockets, copies are available from me.

heather wastie

about Heather

My links with canals began when I was a child, when my family bought a small cruiser and then an old working boat called Laurel, which my Dad converted (although he retained the traditional back cabin).

We were involved in campaigning for the restoration of canals from the 1960s onwards and Dad (Alan T Smith) was awarded an MBE for his services to Inland Waterways.

I am a writer, poet and singer/songwriter and have published 8 collections, two of which relate to the canals.

These two were published under the umbrella of Alarum Theatre / Alarum Productions:

I Dig Canals - How women helped save the waterways (pub 2020)
Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways - Heather Wastie & Kate Saffin (First published 2017, Second edition 2018)

alarum theatre company

Alarum is a theatre company which tours by canal boat (where possible), collecting and re-telling stories of ordinary women doing extraordinary things.

The company consists of myself, Kate Saffin (boater, writer, storyteller and actor) and a flexible team of freelancers.

The photo (above) is a recreation of an iconic image showing two of the so called 'idle women' who operated working boats during the Second World War.

We did a couple of performances in Cropredy which is how I came to write a book of poems about the people of Cropredy and met Louise, a boater and artist who created the illustrations.

to the future, love cropredy

I began to write this book in 2019. My initial idea was to talk to people, find out what they liked about Cropredy, and what they thought it would be like in fifty years time. From this came a whole range of poems. 'Naming Names' arose from the very unusual street names. My poem on the Fairport Festival came about through people writing their thoughts on post-its. Then there were the wonderful stories about romance through a garden gate in a wall, and a young couple whose disappearance remained a mystery until their skeletons were discovered 100 years later...

'To the future, Love Cropredy' is available from Lapal Productions. This delightful little book, beautifully illustrated by Louise Regan, has received an excellent review from Towpath Talk:

'...the timeless quality of the stories and descriptions of village events make it just as much a love letter to every village community in Britain.' (Towpath Talk, January 2021)

Heather Wastie talks about her book on Cropredy, reads some of her poems, and introduces us to the illustrator on You Tube.

weaving yarns

I was born in the Black Country and lived there until 2006 when I moved to Kidderminster and became fascinated by the carpet industry.

In 2013, I was Writer in Residence at the Museum of Carpet where I turned people's memories into poems, monologues and songs - which I now perform.

This work was published in November 2015 by Black Pear Press under the title Weaving Yarns. Black Pear Press described it as

a unique infectious cocktail of assorted snippets and stories about the carpet industry and the folk who helped to make Kidderminster the carpet town. It will sit nicely on the shelf alongside the more detailed history books.

In 2017 I was commissioned by Worcestershire Building Preservation Trust to compose a song cycle to celebrate the restoration of the Weavers’ Cottages in Kidderminster.

idle women of the wartime waterways

I have strong links with the history of canals. In summer 2016 I began touring a double bill of theatre, poetry and song, 'Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways' with Alarum Theatre.

The book, which includes a transcript of Kate Saffin's play as well as my own poems and songs, tells the story of young women who left their jobs and middle class backgrounds to learn to handle 72ft narrowboats and their cargoes.

In 2017 Alarum Theatre Company was awarded Arts Council funding to support a 15 week fifty show tour between April and August. After seven tours, the show is now available for one-off bookings.

the muck and shovel brigade

In 2018, I completed a poetry commission for The Ring project / Canal & River Trust in Worcestershire: The Muck and Shovel Brigade.

My task for The Ring project was to produce in book form a record of the derelict state the canal was in, the huge voluntary effort that went into restoring it and the important role played by Max Sinclair.

The book tells the story of the restoration of the Droitwich Canal and is now a 40-minute show which I perform as part of 'Acts of Abandon' with Alarum Theatre.

I dig canals

Alarum’s current project is 'I Dig Canals', researching women’s involvement in canal restoration and campaigning post-war to 1970s.

The accompanying book is edited by myself, and has a foreword by Carolyn Clark (author of East End Canal Tales). Of course it also includes some of my own poems!

The book is a journey in words and images, with childhood recollections by locals, stories of how women first got involved in canal restoration and first hand accounts of what they achieved.

Editor's note!

It is a fascinating read - a book you can pick up at any time on any page, and immediately become engrossed.

'I Dig Canals' is available from Alarum Books

additional information

Heather has published eight poetry collections, including the most recent, To the Future, Love Cropredy. (Lapal Publications, October 2020.) She has compiled and edited two books of Black Country reminiscences and completed commissions for the Canal & River Trust, Black Country Echoes, Birmingham LGBT choir Rainbow Voices, West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust, Apples and Snakes, Rights and Equality, Sandwell's "Where's Our Spake Gone?" project and BBC local radio (a national project for National Poetry Day 2016).

In 2016 she composed a series of songs for an English Touring Opera Turtle Song project in Wolverhampton with people who have dementia.

In 2019 Heather completed an extensive singing, song-writing and reminiscence project for people who have dementia with Arts Uplift near to her home in Worcestershire.

Other collaborations include Brewers’ Troupe performance poetry company with poet Emma Purshouse and spoken word / squeeze box duo Jiggery Spokery with the late Dave Reeves (who bellows).

Heather has also worked as a poet and actor for National Trust property Croome Court in Worcestershire.

emery owl

On a recent walk with my best friend, we were lucky enough to have an aerial display from a VERY confident Barn Owl.

It was only my best friend's second ever sighting of a Barn Owl.

Six or more fly overs and what seemed like hours following us.

She (just a feeling) ended the display with a low swoop no more than 6ft above our heads.

The entire time her gaze was locked on my friend.

Hence her name "Emery".

Emery can be seen regularly in the fields between Whitminster Church and "Swingers Corner".

She favours the marshy areas, easily seen by the Marsh Grass aka "Sturdy Chives" (its an inside joke).

Although when the water table is too high, she will hunt further afield - literally. Overcast days from 2pm onwards seem to be her favourite. She really isn't bothered by people or dogs.

horse versus engine

horse on canal towpath It is one of the most romanticised sights you can see on the canal, a patient boathorse quietly striding forward, its boat gliding silently behind.

In this age of ecological cares it’s not unreasonable to question whether the horse should make some sort of comeback, but what is the difference between a horse and an engine?

The horse and the modern combustion engine are in fact extremely similar. They both come in a variety of sizes and strengths and, while they can both theoretically be used by someone with no idea, they perform best when used by someone with more specialised knowledge.

The combustion engine is of course doesn’t think and is entirely predictable, While even the calmest, best trained horse in the world is quite capable of looking at a perfectly innocent hedge, deciding there is a gremlin in it and leaping 6 foot into the air. In 1930, a young man named James Morgan caught the horse he was walking past by surprise and was kicked into the water. In 1890 Thomas Carrington gave his horse a smack on the bum and received a hoof to the face for his trouble.

A small child riding on the back of her family’s horse in 1930 tugged the reins and, despite it being something she had done on regular basis since she was born, was thrown from the horses’ back into a brick wall with predictable result.

kerry dainty - horse v engine 1

An engine will tolerate being abused with resignation whereas a horse, naturally, will not, as demonstrated in 1906 on the Peak Forest canal, when Daniel Davies apparently decided to show off to the boatload of passengers they were towing and lashed the horse with his whip. The horse responded by lashing him with both iron-shod back hooves squarely in the chest, bowling him over the top of the embankment they were crossing and killing him.

Engine’s don’t have to be taught the job either, a task that needs to be carried out by professionals and even then it can be frankly dangerous, as seen in 1865; a pair of narrowboats, the “Elizabeth” and “Sarah” were working along the Bridgewater canal, drawn by a pair of horses working in tandem, that is, the two horses were hitched together, one in front of the other. The lead horse was an old hand at the job, which allowed 32 year old John Holt to concentrate his attention solely on the second horse, a leggy youngster learning the trade.

kerry dainty - horse v engine As they left Broadheath, Holt was walking by the young horse’s head on the water-side of the colt, probably because he felt it preferable to be shoved into the water then crushed against a wall if the colt took umbrage. As they came under Seamons Moss bridge, the youngster tried to quicken his pace and Holt held him back by the bridle. The inexperienced animal tried to turn, his back foot slipped off the coping stones, and he panicked.

As the youngster fell into the water, the lead horse was dragged in by the weight of his companion on the traces and Holt, still holding the bridle, was pushed beneath the water by the flailing animals. The approaching boats had no chance to stop and glided over the seething waters, while the two men on board ran forward to split the boats apart and try to unhitch the horses. Only the horses survived.

Horses can get sick, but so too can engines. The equine mechanic is a vet, and it is arguably only because of the reliance on horses that the veterinary field exists at all.

kerry dainty - horse v engine Of course in the hey-days of the horse, vets were limited in what they could do; in 1868 four French boat horses started frothing at the mouth and ultimately went mad after being bitten by a rabid dog, and in 1886 an English horse that had been seen by a vet twice for “lethargy” simply dropped dead in what could be described as catastrophic engine failure.

Perhaps the biggest point in the favour of the engine is how it’s unaffected by the ignorance of the general public. In 1936, a horse working through Rugby was hit by a golf ball struck from the nearby course and, quite naturally, turned tail, snapped the towrope and bolted away from the direction of the offending missile. Also dawdling about on the towpath at the time were some walkers, who leapt shrieking into the hedge to avoid being mown down, and some fisherman, who didn’t help the situation by screaming at the horse when they realised they’d abandoned a fishing rod on the towpath. The terrified horse kept running for another mile.

caraboat helter skelter

short history of the caraboat

The Caraboat was a clever invention of a Mr Tom Carr who made them for a short time between 1971 and 1973 in Sutton -in- Ashfield Notts.

The Cathedral Hull was designed by John Askham a Naval Architect and featured an internal jet drive and engine when in the water.

The internal towing frame includes a fold up hitch for connecting to the towing vehicle leaving only the wheels, hubs and Indespension units immersed in the water.

The original fitout included a galley, wardrobe, toilet compartment, four berths and a steering position on the front port side.

Priced at £1595 at the 1973 boat show, it looked like there was going to be a great future for the Caraboat.

caraboat's demise

It's said the demise of the Caraboat came about when Mr Carr took the local Mayor for a trip on the river Trent.

Unfortunately, they became stuck on a Weir and had to be helped ashore by the Fire Brigade.

Upset, Mr Carr went back to the factory and smashed the moulds with only 64 boats having been produced.

how we ended up with a caraboat

Having had a Creighton 20 called "White Cloud" on the Lancaster canal for some years we were keen to explore other canals, so when the Ribble link fully opened in Spring 2003 my ten year old son Ben and I set off to visit the Llangollen canal in Wales.

After a week of the Spring half term holiday we had got as far as Cheshire, so we left the boat at the Marina there and came home by train. We intended to carry out the rest of the journey during the Summer Holidays, but, to our horror, the Marina rang me a week later to say the boat had been stolen and, worse, set on fire.

The 20 is basically the front end of Inlander with an Outboard motor on the back. It is built so strong by Creighton Ball at Nelson Lancs., that even though it had been ablaze, it refused to sink.

So the staff at the Marina kindly towed it back and got it on the Slipway for disposal. I drove down there the next weekend to take some pictures for the Insurance.

When we received the insurance money, we bought another cruiser on the Lanky, a Freeman 22 mk2. But we were still keen to explore, so I thought maybe a Trailboat would be a good idea. With both school and work constraints, we would only be able to visit another canal or river for a week. With a trailboat we could explore and then return with the boat safe and sound.

I showed Ben an article on the Caraboat in the Canal and Riverboat magazine and he said he'd seen one of those when we were walking the dog past Lytham Boatyard.

Amazingly in Spring 2004, they were holding an Auction as the yard had been bought by a housing developer and was closing down.

As the only bidder, we quickly became the happy owners of a sorry looking craft with no interior and with its windows all smashed in.

Indeed a few days later when my wife Bev came to have a look at it she asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

I replaced all the broken glass to get it weathertight and realised the boat needed a new towing frame which had bowed causing a split in the hull.

I replaced the Braking system, wheel bearings and wheels, then towed it to Garstang where my Freeman was moored, for a test launch to check everything was watertight.

Tests completed and towing ok I carried on refitting the boat out with a new floor, hob and sink unit and 3 berths also 12v Fridge, staying pretty similar to the original layout.

Our first trip was to the 2006 Trailboat festival on the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster canal at Crooklands where we first met all the other Trailboaters who had come from all parts of the country to support the restoration of the Lancaster canal back to Kendal in the Lake district.

Gaining their encouragement to travel far and wide and happy how well the strange looking craft handled, the Cathedral hull and wheels under the water giving it good stability, I sold the Freeman.

helter skelter’s travels

We have used the Caraboat mainly as a boat, but have taken part in the Kendal Torchlight Parade to try to promote restoring the Lancaster canal back to Kendal for six years.

We have also entered the Cumbria Steam Gathering at Flookburgh for ten years or so as a Historic Caravan.

Our first trip in 2007 was to the Trailboat festival at Woolsthorpe on the Grantham canal and we have been to every Trailboat festival since which is held on a stretch of waterway somewhere in the UK to highlight its restoration.

Also in 2007 we sailed the Leeds &Liverpool from the Bingley five rise to Adlington near Chorley.

2008 saw the Festival on the Grand Western canal in Mid Devon which was abandoned by BW in the 1960’s but saved by local people and Devon County Council and a great example what can be achieved.

In October 2009 we finally made it to the Llangollen canal and have been back twice since.

Other highlights have been cruising the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh with a ride on the Falkirk wheel, and spending time on lake Windermere and the stunning Mon & Brec amongst many others.

making life better by water

This edition explores the intertidal zone between Boaters, Cyclists, Anglers, Walkers, Dog Walkers, Canoeists, and commercial boat trips, in, on, and around the canal network. Where required, I have used my home area as a micro-climate. However, your own areas can be substituted at your leisure.

I suspect that folks will wonder is there room for us all, who pays and what are the priorities of those in charge…

Why are our towpaths important?

The importance of towpaths as free, accessible places to re-charge or for exercise was highlighted during the first lockdown in the spring, when we saw a surge in usage in many urban communities where the canal provides vital green space, available to millions. Towpath counters around the country showed the biggest increases in visits in Burnley (+261%), Sandwell (+199%) and Blackburn (+187%). (Source: CRT News)

Extract from a recent Canal & River Trust Newsletter (Tue, Nov 17)

Your local canal is a lifeline

Around 8 million people regularly enjoy our canals
5 million like to take a healthy towpath walk
5 million jog or cycle
Many others visit just to relax by the water
2,000 miles of history, beauty and tranquillity are open to all [end]

I’ve estimated, very crudely, that we have roughly 20 miles of canals in my home metropolitan borough of Wigan. Again, approximately split half and half between the Leeds & Liverpool and the Leigh Branch (Wigan to Leigh) and then onto the Bridgewater in Salford.

Using Wigans ‘20 miles of history’ and comparing with the figures from the CRT, that would suggest Wigan has about 1% of the history of the ‘beauty and tranquillity open to all’ (20mls). Pro-rata, that might suggest Wigan numbers…

Around 8,000 people regularly enjoy our canals
50,000 like to take a healthy towpath walk
15,000 jog or cycle

Using an extrapolation from figures in a Guardian newspaper article last year (see below), suggests that Wigan could have 95 ‘live aboards’ on our 20-mile section of the water. Writers license on the maths to help visualise the amount of activity in these shared environs.

Some Money Spent on 2 Groups

6 December 2017 (Source CRT)

CANAL CHARITY LAUNCHES NEW PONTOON IN WIGAN

Boaters and canoeists are set to benefit from a new £80,000 pontoon at Wigan. This joint project between Canal & River Trust and the charity’s Desmond Family Canoe Trail programme is great news for boaters and canoeists exploring the historic Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

The 30-metre long pontoon is next to the Trust’s new office at Trencherfield Mill in a perfect spot for getting to the restaurants, bars and shops in Wigan town centre and to nearby transport links. Twenty metres of the pontoon have been designed for boaters to use, with 10 metres built at a lower level suitable for kayaks and canoes. The entire pontoon is DDA friendly.

Boaters will be able to moor on the pontoon for up to 24 hours. There is a water point available in the vicinity and in the coming months the Trust is aiming to install a waste facility and CCTV. [end]

For Info: On the two occasions that I have visited this pontoon, both gates or one gate was chained and locked. The access for a canoeist is most difficult with a craft to ingress or egress. In other words, really looks the part, very futuristic, but not welcoming and not thought through. From the Boater's perspective, looks to be a great mooring location, but only for 24hrs. Prior to spending the £80,000, you would have moored to the rings on the towpath as usual.

All around us in the press and social media, we see evidence of the canals being leveraged for their health benefits, their free spaces, their cycle ways, dog walks etc., But to me, it does not seem to have been planned for in the same way as highways and their ‘designated’ cycle lanes or parks with their bins for dog poo.

It is with a sad heart, that I notice an increase in selfishness by some users too. Almost a disregard for manner or etiquette. I was nearly run over by a bike when walking under a bridge. Later I saw a dog poo bag, a used one on the ground. Round the corner, a beer can on the fence.

In itself, I suspect most existing users of the canal system are happy go lucky and welcoming. However, I fear that this ‘new to some’ oasis could take on something of a wild west or frontier type of free for all. Almost a victim of its own success. It reminds me of the early days of ‘Free To Roam’ for footpaths in the Lake District. Followed by footpaths being worn away or the weekend arrival of 4 x 4’s and dirt bikes – a kind of juxta position to peace and tranquillity.

The extract from a Guardian article below has two words that frighten me just a little…
Drifting: could we be drifting away from the very canals we treasure?
Teeming: is there a want or the space for teeming towpaths?

Drifting into the future at 4mph: a rebirth awaits for Britain’s canals (extract with link)

There are now 38,000 narrowboats – one quarter of them are homes – on 3,000 miles of navigable waterways, and the number of people enjoying barge holidays has doubled in recent years. Membership of the Friends of the Canal and River Trust (CRT), the waterways’ version of the National Trust, hit 28,000 this year. Towpaths are teeming with walkers, anglers and cyclists, and there are thousands of volunteers working on 98 canal restoration projects from Devon to West Sussex to Cumbria. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA), the charity that champions canal restoration, is working towards reopening 2,500 miles of “dead” canals which lie derelict.(Source: The Guardian)

As usual, I have included a few photo’s as prompts for my article and as food for thought. Ironically, you will not see a photo of a Canoe or a Boat, there were none!

safety certificate… wot’s one of them then?

In the spring of 1969, Lady Jena, the family’s 16ft plywood cabin cruiser, sank due to a plastic lid working its way through a piece of rather soft plywood.

There was some panic but a petrol powered pump was hired from Turk and sons, the boat refloated and the hole temporarily blocked with greasy rags. It was then towed down to their boatyard where it was lifted from the river whilst Mum and Dad had a proper barney with the insurance company who had said that the sinking was due to a latent defect in the hull. Mum and Dad had another viewpoint and eventually managed to exit the argument with dignity. An “ex gratia” payment approximately equal to the claim was paid leaving my parents ready and willing to clean up and repaint the boat.

Dad replaced the offending plywood sheet (comprising about a quarter of one side) and the boat was painted out in a striking blue and cream livery. In order to gain internal space, the rather less than reliable Albin 10 horsepower motor was sold to Turks and an outboard was bought to fit on the assemblage of steel brackets and wood that Dad had neatly fitted to the stern.

All was looking great.

We would go on holiday as usual, this time powered by an British built single cylinder 4 stroke, 4 horsepower outboard motor which even had a generator so we wouldn’t have to avoid use of the lighting. When I saw it for the first time I had a few misgivings despite my lack of engineering experience. The thing looked like a lawnmower engine on top of a pipe. When started it even sounded like a petrol lawnmower, probably because the same motor was used on some models of Flymo hover mowers.

When we set off all seemed well until, at the first lock, the control cables flew off the motor and Dad had to lean over the back and find the piece of bent metal that passed for a gear lever before we hit something.

Whilst in the lock, he clipped them back into place and we headed off upriver with a nice graunch as forward gear was engaged by pulling the remote lever back (For no real reason it worked the other way round) .

After about twenty minutes, the fuel pump pulled in a nice air bubble and the motor stopped dead. I was asked to lift the remote tank above the outboard. The tank looked like a recycled catering cooking oil can that had been sprayed white. Mainly because it was exactly that. Once we were under way again, Mum found some string and we proceeded with the tank hanging for as long as we had the motor.

Partly because of the servicing requirements of our new power unit, we decided to go onto the Oxford Canal via the Sheepwash channel. That took us through some rather weedy water which proved conclusively that the “weedless” propeller was anything but. That discovery was eclipsed by the experience of the electrically powered lift bridge near Wolvercote. Dad sounded the horn as required. Nothing happened so we reversed to hold position in the water.

Eventually, with Dad on the towpath, ready to head to the factory gatehouse, someone opened the bridge. Mum then put the motor into gear, only to find that it wouldn’t go into gear. A novel feature of the gearbox was that, due to poor design, the prop shaft moved back and forward when the gears were selected, leaving an inch or so gap between the back of the prop and the gearbox. This was now packed with chopped up weeds and wouldn’t move. We hand towed the boat through the bridge and Dad flipped the motor up, spilling petrol on himself, ready to attack the jammed weed whilst he smoked a cigarette.

We were ready to continue again, which we did for another mile. There followed a tooth jarring screech as the Aspera (not Villiers as advertised) motor seized up solid, never to run again. It was an ex outboard, dead as a doorpost and sworn at by the whole family. We continued by hand towing until we got to somewhere with a phone. That place being a pub called “The Wise Alderman,” the landlord of which had a pint ready for Dad as he stepped in.

“You’ll be needing this before you do anything,” he said.

Quite how the landlord knew that, I have no idea but it was certainly welcome. The landlord allowed us to moor until we’d sorted out the motor issue, which took a total of three days.

The mixture of petrol, smoking, Methylated spirit stoves and slowly decomposing plywood would strike horror into the heart of may boat inspectors these days but such Heath Robinson boat fit outs were commonplace on the waterways of the mid to late sixties.

Several were built from ex W.D. bridging pontoons, and I remember one stern-wheeler that had the engine of an Austin Mini sat high up next to the cabin, attached by a long motorcycle chain to the paddle. The original gearbox and clutch pedal was retained, and the steerer changed gear as the craft progressed.

The superstructure of another pontoon was made of the recycled front of a Birmingham boutique. This was powered by a 4 hp British Seagull outboard. This truly couldn’t be ignored in my writing and first appears in “Mayfly” as “Chrysophyllax Diver” - a name I pinched from a severely holed and very poorly made plywood dinghy that I saw being slowly incinerated on a bonfire near the River Wey.

I’ve included some photos of before and after the sinking, together with some incidental shots of the weird and “wonderful” adaptions of craft that flourished before the days when it was deemed wise not to have holidays on boats that varied in safety between tinderboxes and small bombs. Them were the days weren’t they. I guess I survived it all though!

slipping into an accent

Emma on the Shropshire Union Canal

Before we moved onto a narrowboat we filled our minds with information about how locks work, maps and routes of the waterways, engine maintenance and all the things we thought might be essential to know. When we started travelling we were so focused on not hitting the cill in a lock, so excited by being on an adventure, that we hadn’t fully thought about the people we would meet along the way.

Being musicians we have travelled around the country for twenty plus years, driving up and down the motorways, arriving for soundcheck, getting up on stage, packing up and heading home again. Coming from Gloucestershire, and with family in the south west, I’ve always been enthralled by the different accents we’ve encountered that seemed unusual, curious or, sometimes completely incomprehensible.

Emma and Ernie in Chester Basin

When we set off on Jambo we travelled not at seventy but three miles per hour and in doing so slipped quietly through the water, gliding into each new village and town. We knew Worcester well as it was close but as we moved northwards we found ourselves listening to accents slowly emerge, alter and change – like climbing the lower slopes of a hill with the gradient getting steeper until the source area of the accent appeared at the top then slipping away again to be replaced with the foothill of another.

As we navigated our way up the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal we skirted the outer edges of the Black Country with it’s unique accent that has more in common with Middle English of a thousand years ago than most other regional English accents. When an outsider is spoken to by someone of an older generation from Dudley it often leads to a quizzical look and a shrug at its impenetrability!

Heading up the Llangollen canal we heard the slow creep from English to Welsh with it’s sing-song mellowness and sad undertones and as we made our way further north to the upper reaches of the Shropshire Union in Cheshire the twang of the Mersey estuary, most associated with Liverpool, crept into the pronunciation and phrases. As we couldn’t take a direct route east we had the chance to hear the slow decay of the Cheshire inflection and the rise of Mancunian which reached it’s crescendo within Manchester itself. It seemed strange in contrast to reach Wigan, which even by Narrowboat didn’t seem that far away from both Manchester and Liverpool, and hear such a unique and different tongue. It was in Wigan that I definitely felt most distant to our original west country home. Saying the word ‘pal’ down south is often followed by an argument and yet up there “y’aright pal” (are you alright pal) was used in the same way that “mate” is used in Gloucester or Bristol.

Castlefields Basin, Manchester

Throughout all of these changes brought about by our journeying we met the folk on boats. Those who like us travelled brought a wide and varied range of accents from their original homelands. Most strange of all was what happened to my own accent. Left to it’s own devices I have a relatively strong Gloucester/West Country accent (or speaking in farts and whistles as a friend from Bristol once described it) but after years of needing to speak to people from all over I’ve lost it by the simple necessity of needing to be understood. The further we got from Gloucester, the stronger it became until one morning I jumped out of the boat and instead of saying “good morning” came out with something that only an old farmer from the Forest of Dean could have understood! As we got nearer to the south west again my accent snapped back into it’s usual BBC announcer state! Very Bizarre.

Bugsworth Basin

Travelling the length of the Trent and Mersey canal we left the rhythms of Cheshire behind and listened to a gradual change into Midlands accent around Rugeley and Burton on Trent before the addition of a northern inflection started creeping in as got nearer to Derbyshire. It was fascinating to listen to and gave us plenty to natter about as we made our way along on the back of the boat.

After Leicestershire, where to be honest we didn’t get to speak to too many people (not sure why), we headed along the Grand Union. After quite some time north of Birmingham it was quite a shock to hear southern voices again but as we curved up towards Warwick and Kings Norton the familiar Brummie tones appeared. It’s a warm and friendly accent despite reports that it is the least liked in the UK and the focus of much mimicry but I love the sound of it.

Once we’d returned to Gloucester for the winter it took a couple of weeks to not “hear” the accent. This may sound strange but when we first got back to the area our friends and families accents sounded remarkably strong and it took a good couple of weeks to readjust and for it to become invisible to our ears again.

Foxton Locks - Foxton Top Lock

Something special happens when people get onto towpaths. The rush and hurry of day to day life can fade as the water works its wonders, people smile and are more willing to stop and talk. Between boaters the conversation inevitably turns to the weather, news of the waterways and toilets but from non-boaters the most popular questions are normally ‘doesn’t it get cold?’ (nope), ‘do you live on there?’ (yup) and ‘do you go to the loo in the canal?’ (absolutely not!!). Once these essential questions are out of the way people often open and are eager to talk about the local area, about the history of the place or their own experiences of boats. This means we have heard some wonderful tales ranging from boating disasters to local road planning and how the place has changed to one interesting chap who once worked in the rope industry (it was a lot more interesting than it sounds!).

Whatever the subject though there have been few occasions that we’ve been bored by people who want to stop and chat and we’ve also noticed that a boat going through a lock is enough to entice even the most sullen teenager into action in helping with a gate. It’s taken some adjusting to but we’ve met a number of “dodgy” characters, especially in cities, who you might if you passed in the street try to avoid but who have turned out to be, genuine, friendly and engaging – the water is a great leveller.

martin vogwell - jodarolo crafts and plants

Neil & Claire's boat, home of plants and Jodarolo Crafts

The people most special to us have been the boaters we’ve met. When I fell off of a lock gate in 2019 and stumbled my way down into Audlem it was Claire and Neil from their boat Jodarolo Crafts who helped us moor up Jambo and point me the direction of the local hospital. Further along the way, when we were buzzing at having just gone up the Foxton lock flight we met Rob on Tebay who could understand what we were doing and why we were so excited. At Braunston we met Chris who had sold our boat Jambo three times already and at Greensforge we met Jo and Michael who record their travels on YouTube as Minimalist and had a good natter while we gave them a lift to the chandlery to buy emergency spare parts as they’d broken down.

But most special have been the boating friends we’ve met and got closer to during the national Coronavirus lockdowns including this site’s very own Linda and Gerry and the wonderful Martin & Gail from Towpath Tipples (if you like canals and you like Cider these are the people to know), and Debs, Andy, Chris and Evie, who have become like family.

boating and france

Have you ever thought about the attractions of waterways beyond these islands?

We have been slow as a nation to perceive the incalculable inherent value of our sadly neglected canals.

Our friends over the Channel have long understood the glories of their waterways. The network of navigable rivers and canals in France extends throughout the country, from the deep south to the borders with Germany and Holland – and connects with the networks in those countries and beyond.

They are kept in excellent condition for the commercial traffic that still uses them, but private boating for pleasure is as popular there as here, and it is not hard to see why. Glorious countryside, continental weather, plus great food and drink, have long attracted Brits to France in particular for holidays, and many are now choosing to enjoy them linked to all the pleasures of messing around in boats.

It is of course possible to boat further afield on European waterways, but the closeness of France, its user-friendly network, and its innate attractions make it the number one destination.

Major hire companies in the UK have French offerings in their brochures, specialists like LeBoat have huge hire fleets available, and for those who like their cruising to come with maximum comfort and minimum effort, luxury cruises on the major rivers are growing in popularity.

Yet most British canal enthusiasts hardly give France a thought when choosing to invest in a boat or a boat holiday. So let’s look at the pros and cons of boating in France.

the pros

The pros are easy and some of them have already been mentioned.

The variety of scenery in France is staggering, and viewing it from the water is as attractive there as here. And much as we all love traditional pub grub, even the most enthusiastic among us have to admit that fish and chips or cottage pie can pall a little – especially compared with the legendary food and drink available in all the different regions of France.

Moreover, from a boating point of view, the two main attractions of France are the breadth of the waterways, and the electrification of locks.

France has no equivalent to our narrowbeam canals and boats; there are variations across the country in terms of maximum beam and length, but it is broadbeam all the way and for private boaters, length is no problem either.

A 50ft by 12 ft craft is ideal for comfortable cruising for four and can go anywhere and moor up anywhere. The size means large double beds, sundecks for relaxing or eating, large kitchens and saloons, and more than one bathroom!

Virtually all locks in France are electrically operated – a boon for those more advanced in years. Systems vary from waterway to waterway, but all benefit from powered paddles and gates so no more jumping on and off, climbing up dodgy handrails, teetering across ancient gate edges, yanking on swing bridges, pushing heavy gates or misplacing paddle keys.

the cons

And the ‘cons’ are far less daunting than they can appear. First, you do need someone on the boat to have certification. You will need an International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft (or ICC) to provide evidence that you are competent to handle a boat. In the UK, this scheme is run by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). If you have had previous boat handling training, you may already have the necessary evidence of qualification for the ICC – the list of acceptable qualifications can be found on the RYA website.

Don’t worry if you do not currently qualify. You simply need to take an RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman’s Course. This is a practical course, takes 2 days, and costs in the region of £300. Details of the course and of a training centre near you can also be found on the RYA site. If you have a partner who would benefit from basic crew training, this can often be done at the same time for a modest additional cost (as little as £25), making it a very enjoyable two days on the water. The relevant RYA course is the Inland Waterways Crew Course. There is no exam at the end of either course – you just do the two days and you get your ICC.

The other Certificate you will need is a Code Européen des Voies de Navigation Intérieure (CEVNI). This is like a Highway Code for European waterways, covering signs, rules and procedures. It looks daunting but is really mostly common sense. The CEVNI is only available to those holding an ICC. If you already qualify (see above), you can apply to take the test at a recognised centre or online. If you are going to take an RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman’s Course, the CEVNI test can be administered at the same time for a nominal cost (£30). The test is multiple choice and pretty much no one ever fails! For anyone who has been on the receiving end of incompetent UK hirecraft helmsmen, it might be a good idea in the UK required something similar!

The other major ‘con’ is cost. Boating is not a cheap pastime wherever you do it. It is a brave man who buys a boat, especially if he is only going to use it for a few weeks in the year. Insurance, maintenance, mooring etc. are not cheap, here or in France. The old adage is that whatever you spend to buy the boat, assume you will need to spend 10% of that every year just to keep it.

The cost of a boat appropriate for French waterways will be higher than for UK narrowboats because you need a different kind of boat for river conditions – widebeam, with a protected prop and rudder, and a strong diesel engine. You can easily spend £250,000 and upward for such a boat new; a decent second hand similar craft would cost around the £100,000 mark.

Of course, you can use a flat bottomed narrowboat in France, and some do, but it is not ideal. On the other hand, the cost of hire craft has now reached crazy levels – again, both here and in France. And of course, if you love boating as a pastime, there is nothing quite like owning your own boat.

Luckily these days, there is a middle way – boat share. This is growing in popularity across Europe as a way of having your cake and eating it – all the pride and pleasure of ownership, but with the worry and cost of maintenance shared with other friendly, likeminded people.

boat share

Boat share, like holiday time share on land, has rightly had bad press in the past. Greedy and/or incompetent management companies were to blame. Luckily, most of these have gone out of business and the ones that remain provide a reputable service.

Alternatively, many boat share schemes now cut out the management companies altogether and are run by syndicates of owners who undertake the task of management themselves: think freehold vs leasehold flats. In these ‘freehold’ schemes, syndicate members who enjoy fiddling around on their boats, maintaining, repairing and upgrading, do so together in annual working parties. Others contribute their administrative, financial and marketing skills to the common purpose. And for those big expenditures like winter mooring or repainting, the cost of bringing in the professionals is shared among owners. The way it works is simple: find a boat syndicate you like; buy a share of weeks; pay a yearly running cost contribution (agreed at an AGM); and enjoy.

Annual running cost contributions for a French boat share vary but are usually in the region of £3-500 per week owned. The only costs on top of that are fuel and mooring fees. Fuel for a 2 week holiday should not be more than a few hundred pounds and mooring is either free if you choose, as many do, to ‘wild’ it, or about £20-25 per night in a marina with water, power and shore bathroom facilities: comparable to European caravan site fees.

Of course, there is an initial capital outlay – typically £2-3,000 per week purchased, but this can be recouped if and when you want to sell. Think of it this way: a bank loan of £2,500 to buy a week would cost just £125 a year at, say, at 5% p.a. interest. Add that to that, say, £400 per week running costs makes a total of around £525 a year. That wouldn’t hire even the smallest craft for a week in low season, let alone a luxury 50 ft widebeam craft. Or of course you can spend a six figure sum on a depreciating asset, another 10% every year on maintaining it, and then use it for just a few weeks. Just ‘do the math’ as they say over the pond.

If the idea of boat share in France interests you (and why not?!), a good website to explore is www.boatsharefrance.com. It has sections on Why France?, Why Boat Share? and How it Works?, providing answers to all the most common questions.

floating home

Martin and Emma, along with their dog Ernie are liveaboard boaters, folk musicians and continuous cruisers. They began their canal adventures on NB Jambo in 2017, only moving onto NB Digalou after the Covid Lockdown of 2020. Martin invites you to join him aboard as the trio continue their adventures.

Where to start… well I was born in… too far back… ok then! The shorter version is that after living in a house a stones throw from the Gloucester Sharpness Canal for fourteen years, my wife Emma and I - who are both musicians - were given a chance to change our lives and so we bought a narrowboat and left the land behind to live on the water.

We’d been on a narrowboat only once before when we’d hired from the (now closed down) boat hire in Dunhampsted, Worcestershire, but that was it. We devoured every boating YouTube video we could find and were still completely clueless… and sometimes three years later we still are!

Our first floating home - NB Jambo

We’d fallen in love with, and purchased, a boat that we had found advertised online which was moored on the River Lea over the other side of the country from where we were living. Getting it back to Gloucester was a massive struggle involving boat movers, a broken down engine and finally a lorry which craned her back into the water at R.W. Davis’ in Saul (about 8 miles south of Gloucester). It was stressful, expensive and utter chaos - so therefore a good introduction to boating.

In July 2018 we emptied a three bedroom house, giving away about 90% of our possessions and filling the attics of various friends and family members with a small library of books, music, and instruments and moved onto Jambo - a 39ft narrowboat made by East West Marine in 2006.

At this point I was still commuting to work, every day becoming harder to drag myself away from the canal to sit in a windowless office for 8 hours in front of a computer (I work in IT). One day, having finally snapped, I decided that I wasn’t going to any more! I went into work and handed in my notice with the idea of finding another job where I could work remotely, but the managing director had different ideas and so on January 1st I found myself unexpectedly working for the same company I had for the last 14 years but from our boat - a dream come true!

The Gloucester Sharpness canal is one that I’ll write about later but it is not normal (in the nicest possible way) when compared to a lot of the canal network in the UK. It is very wide, fairly short and massively forgiving for new boaters getting to grips with navigating for the first time, but we yearned to explore so on the second week of January, much to the shock and worry of our friends, we left Gloucester lock and travelled north along the mighty River Severn. We arrived safely at Stourport on Severn and started our journey through the narrow canals, learning as we went, often getting it wrong and being saved by good grace and the amazing people we met along the way.

Winding our way northwards we traversed through the early months’ snow and ice past seemingly magical places such as Greensforge and quiet canal homesteads like Kinver stopping only to work for a few days before taking to the tiller and pushing on. At Wightwick our engine went awry as our gearbox disintegrated leaving us to limp into Wolverhampton and then to the middle of nowhere on the Shropshire Union Canal where it finally expired leaving us stranded for three weeks whilst River Canal Rescue desperately tried to find the right parts.

Emma getting us through Hurleston lock flight

Carrying on up the Shroppie I fell off of lock eleven of the Audlem flight, broke a finger and whacked my head leading to a trip to hospital, which meant that as we turned west onto the Llangollen Canal’s Hurleston lock flight I was having to wind the lock paddles left handed as all four seasons of weather battered us.

We also found at that point that our lovely Jambo didn’t like the Llangollen. She was “raw water cooled” meaning that the engine was cooled by drawing water out of the canal, through the engine before it was ejected on the port side. In the low waters of the Llangollen canal Jambo rebelled, became stubborn and stopped whenever the cooling system became blocked, all the way up to the little town of Llangollen itself where we had to turn around and go all the way back the way we had come to reach the Shroppie once more.

Ernie taking in the sights on the Anderton Boat Lift

Once more on the Shroppie, we continued north and eventually reached Chester, the massive city walls towering over us. For the first time in a while we took a break before heading to Ellesmere Port so that we could say that we’d navigated the length of the canal. The weather by now was a lot better and we spent a lazy day or two on the Middlewich canal which connects the Shroppie and Trent & Mersey (T&M) watching the trains whiz over the adjacent bridge before turning left onto the T&M and meandering north (with a detour down the Anderton Boat Lift and along the River Weaver to Northwich before returning vertically up to the canal) eventually reaching Preston Brook tunnel and leaving C&RT waters for the Bridgewater Canal. Entering the city of Manchester was daunting (we half expected to see “here be dragons” on the map) but it was a wonderful experience giving us free accommodation in one of England’s largest cities whilst feeling completely safe in the unique Castlefield basin.

Beneath the walls of Chester City

Our plan from the start of our journey was to reach Sheffield in the north of England but when we eventually reached Wigan, which would have started us onto the Leeds & Liverpool canal, we were unexpectedly turned back by the lock keepers. There just wasn’t enough water in the canal due to damage further up and so rejected we turned south again and followed the same journey back south, past Middlewich on the T&M and up “Heartbreak Hill” (or the Cheshire Locks) before turning up onto the Macclesfield Canal. This waterway turned out to be an absolute delight and one of our favourites but having reached the end we were warned of yet more water shortages on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal which again blocked our way north. We sulked into the incredible Bugsworth Basin before slinking down the Mac again.

the Middlewich Canal by moonlight

From there we ducked our way through the very low Harecastle Tunnel and journeyed on through the potteries finally reaching the end of the Trent & Mersey and entering the broad expanse of the River Trent for a very short while before heading south down the River Soar. Having to go away for a few weeks to appear at gigs in Devon, Holland and Gelsenkirchen, Germany (yup - it’s a strange life) we moored Jambo up at Ratcliffe On Soar and so luckily missed a flood which hit the area making the river un-navigable. When we returned to Jambo (who was fortunately safe and sound on a floating pontoon) we carried on towards Loughborough (which seemed like a very quiet place as the students weren’t around) and zipped through Leicester with it’s knackered locks before racing up the Foxton lock flight eventually reaching Braunston on the Grand Union Canal where Emma drifted us into the only free mooring space with about 1 centimetre free either end.

Watching me watching you

The cruising year was coming to an end and it wouldn’t be too long before the annual engineering works started to kick in so we hurried (at 3mph) along the central branch of the Oxford Canal to re-join the Grand Union at Wigram’s Turn before turning off through the Lapworth Link. Trailing north we bounced through the Lapworth locks before finally turning onto the Worcester and Birmingham canal. Here we hit the Tardebigge flight of 30 locks that took a day to recover from as we had to rope Jambo out of every lock (the bubbles at the bottom of each lock caused by the overflow caused problems with the raw water cooling system!).

At Worcester we pulled in at our favourite cake stop (Commandery Café attached to the civil war museum on the outskirts of the town centre) and waited for the water level of the River Severn to drop as it was in flood. Four weeks later we were still there (and about half a stone heavier - it is exceptional cake!) until the waters of the river finally subsided and we could travel through fog and fast waters to return to the Gloucester Sharpness Canal for the winter.

All Posts by

how to wire a narrowboat - part 4

fuse board and connection to the batteries

featured author - spring 2021