I understood Vlog 66 only too well, so thank you for sharing. It was good to go back to your first day... To remind me of how it looks through fresh eyes, our first day was around 97' and with downs and ups still afloat in our 70's.
Thanks. Yeah it was amazing for me to look at that old footage too and compare it to me 4 years later. The canals have been kind to me, and clearly to you too continuing to cruise in your 70s.
What a joy to watch! I can only imagine youve been through it to get to this point. Your enthusiasm and realisation of where youve got to is infectious ... well done Andrew
Probably more to do with the release from the intense strain I had been under for the previous 8 months. But thanks Jim, it's a decision I really don't regret.
My gosh buddy! I know i'm a bit late to this party but your smile at 1:07, damn that's just pure inner happiness flooding out! I havent watched the whole video yet but that smile right there. damn that's infectious!!
Found your page a couple of days ago and subscribed so I thought I would start from the beginning. Loved watching your reactions to being set free from all your cares and beginning a new life, great stuff!
Oh how I loved your utter joy as you embarked in a life on the cut. As I sit here under lockdown it was a timely reminder of how I felt when I left the rigours of South Africa and moved to start my new and happy life in northern Thailand. When I was a kid I grew up in a town on the Leeds - Liverpool canal and in those days it was not seen as a leisure resource but did have great times on our boat that was based near Bingley. I look forward to following your exploits. Cheers
I too just found you and am so jealous. I live in Canada, found the UK canals and the Thames back in 2017 and fell in love at 72. Covid shut us down this year so hopefully two trips across the pond in 2021. Keep them coming.
Hi Fred, hope you get to do some cruising next year. Since the holiday boats have been allowed back on the system it is incredibly busy - I believe most holiday boat companies usually run at about 70% capacity, but it seems they are all trying to make up for lost business now!
Just watched episode 1, loved watching the joy and wonderment on your face as you set off on your journey into boat life.. just what we needed to remind ourselves how lucky we are to live on a boat..we've experienced some negative discrimination during lockdown, but also some positive support from the local community. Really enjoying ur vlogs, we are binge watching them. X
Sorry to hear you've experienced negative discrimination Julia, that's pretty appalling. I watched Narrowboat Girl the other day discussing her and her mum's experiences and was utterly horrified. Hope all is resolved now.
Hi Andrew, your latest video appeared in my feed and I’m very glad. I’ve been watching a lot of narrowboat channels lately as next year I will be a live aboard constant cruiser, I realised I’d been looking for this alternative life for a few years, I just didn’t know it was this. I’ve spent many years cycle touring, wild camping and a lot of gongoozling!, I just hadn’t put them all together into the live aboard life, anyway just wanted to say thanks for your videos, I really enjoy them and am now going to binge catchup, I’ve subscribed so look forward to your future videos, see you on the water next year! 🙂👍🏻
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, the serenity and the freedom is brilliant. It is a steep learning curve if like me you haven't done it before, but all the better for that. Good luck with the boat buying, and if I can help with anything just ask
Brilliant. Many thanks for that. Great to meet you at Tuel Deep Lock. Please keep in touch and hope the maps have been useful. Look forward to hearing from you. Drop me a line for I have a contact question for you. Best. Chris
Hi Chris, great chatting to you too, and the maps are invaluable - in fact I've thanked you in my next vlog which will hopefully be up later in the week. Regards Andrew
Would love to do this but my husband says he hates the boats. We are going on another boat hols next year, our children love it, my sons excellent at steering driving it ❤ Well done to you. All the best. Jobs are stressful, ❤ Love your channel ❤
Wonderful! Your happiness and obvious gratitude for what seems like a positive change in your life is absolutely infectious! I'm looking forward to following your journey which feels as much personal one as a narrowboating. Smooth sailing!
Thought I’d start at the beginning of your vlogs as I was looking for cruising on the Rochdale Canal. What a great find you are! Your immense joy at setting off on your adventures was so inspiring and infectious, (in a good way lol). I am so hoping to get my boat and start exploring. Looking forward to watching all your other journeys. Enjoy!
Thanks so much for a great video... highlights exactly how I feel right now... can't wait to get on the cut... the chuckling made me laugh, but not at you... with you.. Lucky blighter!!
Just a little hint - knock in your mooring pins tilting AWAY from the canal - that way the pin will withstand the pull of the boat better. Also join 'Narrowboat Owners Group' on Facebook. People there are always willing to give help and advice if you need it.
Well, just watched this first vlog excellent and I can see and relate to your emotions I think. My change in life was to retire early and after 4 years I have my own narrow boat Looking forwards to all your vlogs Cheers H
Just discovered your channel & impressed with the quality of the video picture. Looks really good on my Sony tv. Over & above the picture quality of other narrowboat channels & am presuming it’s the equipment you use. Enjoying the content too.
That was absolutely brilliant! You seemed so pleased with your first day, it warmed my heart. Unfortunately I can't really remember my first day (spring 1973) but was only 19 so probably not capable of a coherent thought anyway. Really good, I have subscribed.
I found your vlog by accident (or the magic of algorithms). You seem to be living my life! Can I have it back please? I hope to have my own boat within the year, unless I'm granted redundancy / early retirement in which case sooner. Loved your Tenby video, I'm regularly in Tenby in November for the blues festival. Looking forward to getting through your other vlogs.
Cheers Steve. I was in Tenby in November to film that, it was my birthday. Wish I'd known about the blues festival, I may have chosen a slightly different date to visit. Tenby was my favourite beach when I was a kid. When you get a boat you must go to the Diggle Blues festival. Who knows, you might even bump into me there.
@@talesfromtheswansneck I'll keep an eye out for Diggle. Tenby was also a regular family venue for me, still very fond of Pembrokeshire. The blues festival is an annual event www.tenbyblues.co.uk/ it might even happen this year, C19 permitting.
Your enthusiasm, excitement, and relief is infectious! Just curious have you done a tour of your boat in one of your videos? What is the length of your boat? Would you recommend smaller boat sizes for single cruisers like yourself? Thank you so much.
Hi Justin, no I'm afraid I haven't done a boat tour, partly because I guard my privacy, but also for security reasons. My boat is 53ft which I feel is a good size for a solo boater, though it depends on the layout. I've been on a smaller boat (45ft I think) which was nice, but a little cramped for me. I guess the best way to find out what suits is to go to a brokerage and have a look at various boats.
Swa this and the next two videos a couple of months ago, when I started my dive into the narrowboat-tubers’ world and since then I was angry at myself that I forgot to subscribe or at least remember the channel’s name. Found you again today - and subscribed. Looking forward to bingeing up to the actual videos and following you with whatever comes in the future!
@@talesfromtheswansneck Saw your latest yesterday. Definitely more professional. I like the first two for the sense of genuine happiness about the new life-chapter. From there you start taking that chapter into your hands - which is different but just as nice!
Just watching your first episode and you look so happy, did you have any experience with narrowboats before you bought the one you on, I'm asking because I'm saving for my first narrowboat and cannot wait. Thanks Lee
Hi Lee, in truth I'd never been on a narrowboat before! I'd only ever seen canals in London in the 80s which wasn't a great experience. Hope you realise your ambition soon, it really is a great lifestyle
@@talesfromtheswansneckyou look alot more relaxed now, I 'm on episode 8.i should be getting my first narrowboat in a years time and cannot wait for the relaxing pace. I'm a keen photographer and cannot waiting to get my Sinar f2 out Keep the great vlog coming. Thanks Lee
@@talesfromtheswansneck When I made the comment I had just watched an episode 30 something, on the Lancaster Canal. I had just finished watching 6 seasons of another narrow boater, I loved them. But I noticed the difference in photography right away when I started watching your's. Also your music in the background is nice, usually that annoys me.
@@nancyhoppe6605 many thanks. It has to be said that if it wasn't for the other narrow boater you mentioned I probably would not have ended up on the canals!
I've just stumbled on your channel. I hope that as I watch you will reveal how you came to take to the canals and answer some obvious questions eg. are you retired? (although you don't look old enough to be an OAP.) What's your background? Do you intend to make this lifestyle permanent, or do you expect to eventually return to dry land? Okay, I'm being nosy, but I am sure that everyone watching this type of channel wonders how you have managed to escape the rat race.
Hello, yes much of what you ask is revealed , especially in episode 16, Questions Answers and Out-takes. I'm not officially retired (pleased I don't look like an OAP yet!). My background - I worked as a photographer for 25 years, and then taught photography and film and drama to people with learning disabilities. And I certainly hope that I can make this lifestyle permanent, but that remains to be seen... I hope you enjoy watching as much as I've enjoyed being on a boat for the first time.
@@talesfromtheswansneck I think the key factor for anyone considering a life on the canals will always come down to hard cash. In short, does one have enough income and savings to sustain long-term what is clearly an attractive, relatively stress-free existence. If one doesn't, then sooner or later stress will rear its ugly head again - this time in the shape of money worries. As my father used to amusingly say "Of course, money isn't everything - the other 2% is health..." So I hope for your sake that you are secure enough financially to not have these concerns in the back of your mind. Good luck!
You keep waxing lyrical about the beautiful setting but keep the camera pointed at just one thing ... your face. The Calder & Hebble Navigation (not, as keep calling it, a canal) is one of the most scenic and dramatic stretches of the entire waterways system in this country and you've, sadly, failed to do it justice.
@@Ditto463 Thank you Diane. I've learned so much during my 6 months afloat, from being a complete novice to someone who is now confident and pretty competent. It is a pleasure every day
@@Ditto463 You may well be right. I can't see the "point" of having a camera pointing at him and missing all that lovely scenery. We could still hear his earnest commentary if he'd turned the camera around. But you hold on to this "whole point" (whatever that might be). Haha!
I understood Vlog 66 only too well, so thank you for sharing. It was good to go back to your first day...
To remind me of how it looks through fresh eyes, our first day was around 97' and with downs and ups still afloat in our 70's.
Thanks. Yeah it was amazing for me to look at that old footage too and compare it to me 4 years later. The canals have been kind to me, and clearly to you too continuing to cruise in your 70s.
What a joy to watch! I can only imagine youve been through it to get to this point. Your enthusiasm and realisation of where youve got to is infectious ... well done Andrew
How nice is it to see someone who is so happy with life
Probably more to do with the release from the intense strain I had been under for the previous 8 months. But thanks Jim, it's a decision I really don't regret.
My gosh buddy! I know i'm a bit late to this party but your smile at 1:07, damn that's just pure inner happiness flooding out! I havent watched the whole video yet but that smile right there. damn that's infectious!!
Haha yeah, it was a mixture of relief and excitement and pure joy. Two years on and I still occasionally experience that feeling too.
Oh lovely a whole new set of vlogs to watch. I know I'll enjoy them all because of your pure delight at messing around with boats
Welcome aboard Margaret, hope you enjoy the journey.
I so love your excitement and laughter at the start of this.
Probably not as much as I loved laughing and being excited on my maiden voyage Kathy
Found your page a couple of days ago and subscribed so I thought I would start from the beginning. Loved watching your reactions to being set free from all your cares and beginning a new life, great stuff!
The beginning is always a good place to start Rita. Hope you enjoy the journey
Your smile says it all 🙂
After six months on board there is still plenty to smile about!
Well just found your channel .. Naturally I had to subscribe , so a good place to start is from the beginning xx
You can really see the stress lifting from you face, hope to be joining you soon on the cut,
It's not completely stress free but it's as good as it gets. Say hello if you see me!
@@talesfromtheswansneck will do we are on the high peak in july
Love your vlogs keep them coming. We are waiting for the lock down too end for our survey on a 38ft cruiser Stern Springer 👍
Oh how I loved your utter joy as you embarked in a life on the cut. As I sit here under lockdown it was a timely reminder of how I felt when I left the rigours of South Africa and moved to start my new and happy life in northern Thailand. When I was a kid I grew up in a town on the Leeds - Liverpool canal and in those days it was not seen as a leisure resource but did have great times on our boat that was based near Bingley. I look forward to following your exploits. Cheers
Thanks Ian. I've been considering doing the Leeds Liverpool. Not quite sure what's next after the Llangollen
I too just found you and am so jealous. I live in Canada, found the UK canals and the Thames back in 2017 and fell in love at 72. Covid shut us down this year so hopefully two trips across the pond in 2021. Keep them coming.
Hi Fred, hope you get to do some cruising next year. Since the holiday boats have been allowed back on the system it is incredibly busy - I believe most holiday boat companies usually run at about 70% capacity, but it seems they are all trying to make up for lost business now!
Just watched episode 1, loved watching the joy and wonderment on your face as you set off on your journey into boat life.. just what we needed to remind ourselves how lucky we are to live on a boat..we've experienced some negative discrimination during lockdown, but also some positive support from the local community. Really enjoying ur vlogs, we are binge watching them. X
Sorry to hear you've experienced negative discrimination Julia, that's pretty appalling. I watched Narrowboat Girl the other day discussing her and her mum's experiences and was utterly horrified. Hope all is resolved now.
Great you pick-up the pieces and you are back "in the groove" !
Found you thru the recommendation of Fran and Rich. Always great to have another narrow boat/wide beam to watch.
Hi Terri, yeah what a lovely couple they are, and hope you get some enjoyment from my channel. Happy Christmas to you.
Lovely scenery and nice to watch
Hi Andrew, your latest video appeared in my feed and I’m very glad. I’ve been watching a lot of narrowboat channels lately as next year I will be a live aboard constant cruiser, I realised I’d been looking for this alternative life for a few years, I just didn’t know it was this. I’ve spent many years cycle touring, wild camping and a lot of gongoozling!, I just hadn’t put them all together into the live aboard life, anyway just wanted to say thanks for your videos, I really enjoy them and am now going to binge catchup, I’ve subscribed so look forward to your future videos, see you on the water next year! 🙂👍🏻
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, the serenity and the freedom is brilliant. It is a steep learning curve if like me you haven't done it before, but all the better for that. Good luck with the boat buying, and if I can help with anything just ask
it's remarkable watching this vlog - your joy encapsulates a place i also hope to be joining before long - fabulous !
Thank you. Believe me the joy is still there 3 years later, especially coming across something new.
Yes I get it too. It's another world .. nobody even uses 😊. That's one of the bonuses 😅
Really enjoyed your first video. Looking forward to watching the rest
Thank you. Great to meet you and Emma - tell her to keep up the good work!
@@talesfromtheswansneck It was great to meet you too and look forward to watching your adventures.
Brilliant. Many thanks for that. Great to meet you at Tuel Deep Lock. Please keep in touch and hope the maps have been useful. Look forward to hearing from you. Drop me a line for I have a contact question for you. Best. Chris
Hi Chris, great chatting to you too, and the maps are invaluable - in fact I've thanked you in my next vlog which will hopefully be up later in the week. Regards Andrew
we really enjoy narrowboats and have clicked the like and subscribe buttons
:-)
Great! Thank you so much
Would love to do this but my husband says he hates the boats. We are going on another boat hols next year, our children love it, my sons excellent at steering driving it ❤
Well done to you. All the best.
Jobs are stressful, ❤
Love your channel ❤
thank you Rachel
Wonderful! Your happiness and obvious gratitude for what seems like a positive change in your life is absolutely infectious! I'm looking forward to following your journey which feels as much personal one as a narrowboating.
Smooth sailing!
You are so right John.
Thought I’d start at the beginning of your vlogs as I was looking for cruising on the Rochdale Canal. What a great find you are! Your immense joy at setting off on your adventures was so inspiring and infectious, (in a good way lol). I am so hoping to get my boat and start exploring. Looking forward to watching all your other journeys. Enjoy!
Thank you Jackie, and I hope you enjoy the others too. Mostly I hope you enjoy the waterways soon.
Thanks so much for a great video... highlights exactly how I feel right now... can't wait to get on the cut... the chuckling made me laugh, but not at you... with you.. Lucky blighter!!
Thanks John, and you know what... it just gets better. Good luck with your venture.
I have just watched your first vlog and am so envious. It is exactly what I am hoping to do when I find the right boat. Happy times, Regards Michael
Good luck in your search Michael, hope you make the waters soon.
Just a little hint - knock in your mooring pins tilting AWAY from the canal - that way the pin will withstand the pull of the boat better. Also join 'Narrowboat Owners Group' on Facebook. People there are always willing to give help and advice if you need it.
Great video.
Well, just watched this first vlog excellent and I can see and relate to your emotions I think. My change in life was to retire early and after 4 years I have my own narrow boat Looking forwards to all your vlogs Cheers H
Yeah, what a relief that was. Thing is, it just keeps getting better!!!
You are free!
Free as a bird! Free as a lame bird at the moment...
Just discovered your channel & impressed with the quality of the video picture. Looks really good on my Sony tv. Over & above the picture quality of other narrowboat channels & am presuming it’s the equipment you use. Enjoying the content too.
Great, thanks for that
That was absolutely brilliant! You seemed so pleased with your first day, it warmed my heart.
Unfortunately I can't really remember my first day (spring 1973) but was only 19 so probably not capable of a coherent thought anyway.
Really good, I have subscribed.
Haha no, I doubt many 19 year olds are capable of coherent thought. Blimey Frank, I wish I had started narrowboating aged 19!
Just looked up your channel as was linked on float my boat channel
Glad I found you
Hi Julie, I hope you enjoy my channel - the vlogs do get better I promise! Wishing you a happy Christmas.
@@talesfromtheswansneck thank you Andrew and a very happy Xmas to you 🙂
Following you after a friendly chat at the Nantwich water point October 2020. Glad we met up, and glad to have so many videos to anticipate!
Thanks David, good chatting to you too.
I'm looking forward to copying your joy myself very soon Andrew,I'm off to see a boat on Monday,happy days
All the best with it John! It will be joyful when we can move again...
I found your vlog by accident (or the magic of algorithms). You seem to be living my life! Can I have it back please? I hope to have my own boat within the year, unless I'm granted redundancy / early retirement in which case sooner. Loved your Tenby video, I'm regularly in Tenby in November for the blues festival. Looking forward to getting through your other vlogs.
Cheers Steve. I was in Tenby in November to film that, it was my birthday. Wish I'd known about the blues festival, I may have chosen a slightly different date to visit. Tenby was my favourite beach when I was a kid. When you get a boat you must go to the Diggle Blues festival. Who knows, you might even bump into me there.
@@talesfromtheswansneck I'll keep an eye out for Diggle. Tenby was also a regular family venue for me, still very fond of Pembrokeshire. The blues festival is an annual event www.tenbyblues.co.uk/ it might even happen this year, C19 permitting.
Your enthusiasm, excitement, and relief is infectious! Just curious have you done a tour of your boat in one of your videos? What is the length of your boat? Would you recommend smaller boat sizes for single cruisers like yourself? Thank you so much.
Hi Justin, no I'm afraid I haven't done a boat tour, partly because I guard my privacy, but also for security reasons. My boat is 53ft which I feel is a good size for a solo boater, though it depends on the layout. I've been on a smaller boat (45ft I think) which was nice, but a little cramped for me. I guess the best way to find out what suits is to go to a brokerage and have a look at various boats.
Swa this and the next two videos a couple of months ago, when I started my dive into the narrowboat-tubers’ world and since then I was angry at myself that I forgot to subscribe or at least remember the channel’s name.
Found you again today - and subscribed. Looking forward to bingeing up to the actual videos and following you with whatever comes in the future!
Well I'm glad you found me again, and I hope you enjoy the vlogs - they do get better!
@@talesfromtheswansneck Saw your latest yesterday. Definitely more professional. I like the first two for the sense of genuine happiness about the new life-chapter. From there you start taking that chapter into your hands - which is different but just as nice!
Just watching your first episode and you look so happy, did you have any experience with narrowboats before you bought the one you on, I'm asking because I'm saving for my first narrowboat and cannot wait.
Thanks
Lee
Hi Lee, in truth I'd never been on a narrowboat before! I'd only ever seen canals in London in the 80s which wasn't a great experience. Hope you realise your ambition soon, it really is a great lifestyle
@@talesfromtheswansneckyou look alot more relaxed now, I 'm on episode 8.i should be getting my first narrowboat in a years time and cannot wait for the relaxing pace. I'm a keen photographer and cannot waiting to get my Sinar f2 out
Keep the great vlog coming.
Thanks
Lee
I’ve just gone back to the beginning again as enjoyed it so much !
i just discovered your show. Your photography is outstanding!
Thank you Nancy
@@talesfromtheswansneck When I made the comment I had just watched an episode 30 something, on the Lancaster Canal. I had just finished watching 6 seasons of another narrow boater, I loved them. But I noticed the difference in photography right away when I started watching your's. Also your music in the background is nice, usually that annoys me.
@@nancyhoppe6605 many thanks. It has to be said that if it wasn't for the other narrow boater you mentioned I probably would not have ended up on the canals!
Enjoy!
I've just stumbled on your channel. I hope that as I watch you will reveal how you came to take to the canals and answer some obvious questions eg. are you retired? (although you don't look old enough to be an OAP.) What's your background? Do you intend to make this lifestyle permanent, or do you expect to eventually return to dry land? Okay, I'm being nosy, but I am sure that everyone watching this type of channel wonders how you have managed to escape the rat race.
Hello, yes much of what you ask is revealed , especially in episode 16, Questions Answers and Out-takes. I'm not officially retired (pleased I don't look like an OAP yet!). My background - I worked as a photographer for 25 years, and then taught photography and film and drama to people with learning disabilities. And I certainly hope that I can make this lifestyle permanent, but that remains to be seen... I hope you enjoy watching as much as I've enjoyed being on a boat for the first time.
@@talesfromtheswansneck I think the key factor for anyone considering a life on the canals will always come down to hard cash. In short, does one have enough income and savings to sustain long-term what is clearly an attractive, relatively stress-free existence.
If one doesn't, then sooner or later stress will rear its ugly head again - this time in the shape of money worries. As my father used to amusingly say "Of course, money isn't everything - the other 2% is health..."
So I hope for your sake that you are secure enough financially to not have these concerns in the back of your mind. Good luck!
Your so lucky we wish we had done this when my husband retired
Yes I am lucky I've found this lifestyle. Is it too late for you? I see plenty of retired couples on the cut
That was you x
So what's your story? It helps to know what brings you to canal life?
Well Shiela... that would be spoiler alert. Seek and ye shall find!
Hi mate how are you doing
Do I know you?
@@talesfromtheswansneck no I'm just a fan enjoying your channel
@@gracehawkins919 OK that's cool, just that from your comment I thought we might have met before
Do you have. Facebook page ?
Hi Mark, no I don't do facebook. I have an instagram page instagram.com/tales_from_the_swans_neck/ but rarely use that either
You keep waxing lyrical about the beautiful setting but keep the camera pointed at just one thing ... your face.
The Calder & Hebble Navigation (not, as keep calling it, a canal) is one of the most scenic and dramatic stretches of the entire waterways system in this country and you've, sadly, failed to do it justice.
John T I think you’ve missed the whole point.
@@Ditto463 ...well I didn't like to say Diane, but hasn't he just!
Tales From The Swan's Neck Yes! I admire your courage and feel that you’re one of the lucky ones who escaped, keep on enjoying!
@@Ditto463 Thank you Diane. I've learned so much during my 6 months afloat, from being a complete novice to someone who is now confident and pretty competent. It is a pleasure every day
@@Ditto463 You may well be right. I can't see the "point" of having a camera pointing at him and missing all that lovely scenery. We could still hear his earnest commentary if he'd turned the camera around. But you hold on to this "whole point" (whatever that might be). Haha!