Adoooribleeee! Who me? No not you!
So this is the cause for celebration
see who does all the hard work around here
Welcome to Cruising Alba! We invite you to join us on our adventure
living off-grid and travelling the UK canal network I'm Myles and I'm Marina
I'm going to the post office to pick up some parcels for us
on the way back I found a shortcut behind this 800 year old church
that led me directly to the boat over the railway crossing
that was the railway crossing
Connector only... this is the plus but we're actually not plugging the plus in yeah
okay well done for sorting it yay showers we can have a shower again
how happy are you? Very happy, very happy i promised myself once this gets fixed I'm having a bath I've
never ever had a bath on board neither did Myles so this is a course for celebration
Sometimes people walking by on the towpath ask us if we live on board which often is followed by:
do you have a shower? well Alba actually has a bath it's not a full-size bar but it's pretty
decent size however Myles and I never truly appreciated it before to the point that we wanted
to swap it for a standing shower and we made that decision while living in London and having access
to gyms and friends houses with showers. 18 months later and we're spending the second winter on board
away from luxuries of land. This is when a hot bath becomes a real treat and we're so
glad we kept it. Just had my first bath on Alba it's been a year and a half and I've never had one
and it was incredible. First of all i have noticed yet again that we don't have
taps in the bathroom so had to fill up the bath with a shower and then when
i was filling up i was wondering how much gas we are using because we don't have a calorifier
it was great, really enjoyed it feel really really warm. We're cruising today and it's
really rainy and windy so it might be a bit of a miserable weather but i'm ready for it now
We got a big day of cruising today so I'm making a stew now
stew now so we don't have to cook on route and we'll have a nice hearty meal. see who does all the
hard work around here. All right... who's done the fire? Me. No you haven't. Yes I did once
so we've got to do this page and then we get to Bruce tunnel 1, 2... 11, 12 locks. fine doable
this year we feel like we missed out on many things our friends had babies that we haven't met
yet, some found love and some became dog parents today is one of those days when happiness comes
from meeting a puppy for the first time. This is Alex in InKa. Inka is a whippet who is still
learning about the world and today is her very first time being on the boat
Back in the old days before narrowboats had engines the boats were pulled out
of the lock by their lines. Myles is giving it a go for some reason, maybe he's getting cold?
I'm just walking ahead to set up the next lock it's really close hopefully we can save some time
The downside of working monday to friday is that we only have two days a week to cruise
so if the weather is terrible we haven't really got a choice. If you missed our previous episode
where we touched on our winter plans we keep going west and need to go past Wootten rivers
to be on the right side of the winter closures so we can travel to Bath this winter
How are you doing Inka? how did you find that is it okay oh
my cold hands
three, four there was water there
see that thing that like came in from the side, it had bins and stuff
that's just in a lock yeah it's just down here yeah we're looking for a water point that is
supposed to be somewhere nearby yeah we need to switch sides cause the water is on the other side
okay I still got wet clothes so i'll go out and do it yeah go for it perfect
♪ ♪ show me what it's like to be circling among the clouds
♪ because without you by my side
♪ I would be stuck here on the ground
this kind of holder you can lift it up
with your hand and keep it there
and now you bring it all the way down
♪ until you set me free, my eyes were closed now I see clear as day and I just wanted to say
lock after lock we're getting closer to our destination
♪ you can take me higher ♪ ♪
we were so grateful to spend some precious time with a friend and perhaps we could imagine what
the life could look like with the dog on board especially as well behaved as Inka
the Bruce tunnel is close to the summit of the Kennet and Avon canal, it was built over 200 years ago
there is no towpath through the tunnel so when canal boats were still pulled by horses
the boatmen had to haul their boats through the tunnel by hand
pulling on chains that used to run along the inside walls
we've just seen another rainbow
I think the next lock is going to be the first lock for since... ages going down we
reached the summit of K&A and the plan is to find there should be another water point
to fill up the tank to the top because we rushed earlier on and yeah and then find a mooring
we're at the last lock of the day so glad the weather improved throughout the day
it's been really nice to cruise in sunshine an Inka
she fell in didn't she? she did! she made an escape I was on the side
of the boat, she wanted to jump to me so she jumped into the canal because
she's not got very good balance at the moment so that's a little scared but she's all good now
nice and warm you're so young you're only 15 weeks you don't really know what
jumping in the river is like. I call it baptism by fire! yeah yeah that's it she's a boat dog now
Myles needs another haircut so i'm going to cut his hair before we set off
coming out of this lock we discovered a pleasant surprise. we've got recycling, we got recycling
Inka found her favourite place on the stern the steel plate she's sitting on is situated
right above the engine so it's tasty and warm
We finally crossed the line of winter closures
we're aiming to stop at Pewsey which is only an hour away at a leisurely pace
the scenery has changed yet again and we're now seeing magnificent hills
in the distance. I grew up in the mountains
so any slight resemblance of hills instantly takes me back to my childhood and i feel at home
Adoooribleee! Who me? No not you!
Oh my goodness this is one of the prettiest spots we've ever been at, it's incredible the views just
goes out for miles and miles
a nice house over there
oh it would be great if it was snowing... and just like that we were moored up in a place
where we are going to spend another lockdown. Next week we are staying put
and tackling a long list of boat jobs that we finally have time to work on thank you all so
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