Back in 2015, the UK television news reporter David Johns was very unhappy with his personal and professional life. David's amazing week in the sunshine on the River Avon comes to an end as he reaches Stratford, whereupon he returns to the canals with a shock as he remembers just how narrow they are compared to rivers and how low some of their bridges can be. There are spooky goings-on along the canal (or are there?) Thus at the height of summer, the panels might provide sufficient motive power as it was used but none to recharge the batteries as well.At any other time, youd have to let the panels charge the batteries for longer such that in spring and autumn it could easily take several hours to recharge for an hours worth of movement.Without an additional (conventional) generator therefore, pure solar on a canal narrowboat is only suited for weekend breaks and day boats but not constantly cruising liveaboards. In the first season, he seemed rushedas he got more experienced, he got more relaxed. Solar would make little difference even a 1kW 1.5kW array (which would take up valuable roof space that you often need to walk on and store stuff on) would only give decent output in summer and still then not much in terms of engine powering for a typical 10kW motor even if it uses less than full power for actually moving along. Fun watch. Ducks on the bank, dozed in the sunshine. Why dont you get all-solar narrowboats?It sounds great, for sure. Do you need a licence to drive a narrowboat?Incredibly and unfortunately no. We took it slow and easy, Penny reacquainting herself with old haunts that were once so familiar to her. Why are the canals so disgustingly filthy? Did he go hiking or just sit around and edit videos? Then he turns around and starts back but with a diversion for his narrowboat along the delightful Wendover Arm. The boss said, "If I ever understand a word of what you say again, you're fired!" David continues his cruise north along the River Soar, wears a funny hat because it's cold, and turns from the Soar onto the River Trent rather briefly, before joining the Trent & Mersey canal to head east across the UK. You can follow David on Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately I cannot as I have never used any of the rental companies myself so I cant in good conscience recommend any. just aisles with food on shelves. see vlog 249 which is an updated version of vlog 66 for 2021, https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/specialist-teams/managing-our-water/day-to-day, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79df3e_z6sg, see vlog 69 I did about just such a craft, vlog 244 which was all about electric boats vs diesel. Those canals look very narrow, are they one-way?Very, very few bits of the canal network are so narrow that you can only get one boat through. After leaving the Shropshire Union Canal, David turns his narrowboat onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, a journey that does not begin with good omens as he immediately picks up something large and soggy around his propeller. The scenery is lovely, there are fields, small towns, some city scenes, church steeples, bridges, obscure side routes, and so much more. An episode in which David experiences the most glorious week of narrowboating he's had to date as he travels up the River Avon from Tewkesbury to Stratford-Upon-Avon, including a trip down memory lane to his childhood. So hybrid solutions are the only reasonable option. Can I visit your boat?As I am no longer living aboard and have sold the boat (see this video for my reasons), no! I went down to the big smoke to find out. He works with people so well. Penny gloomily watched the entire scene with a very long face, appalled at such wanton misuse of her grooming equipment, as she always did at hair cutting time. David is a great teacher who makes every lesson fun. We had watched him before we had even bought a boat. Plus he goes past the goose fields of Northamptonshire. I should also make clear at this point, that the David you get on Cruising the Cut is exactly the David you get off camera. Boating is also a big motivation behind Cruising the Cut. Hence its not generally advised! Braving another substantial river like the courageous soul he is, David takes his narrowboat from Stourport onto the Severn and pops back to his home town of Droitwich along the way before returning to the river and continuing south to Tewkesbury where he begins what would become his most enjoyable journey yet, up the River Avon. It varies month on month. Am I being too overly familiar? A boaters term for the canals is a cut, because long ago they were literally cut out of the land. Unlike rivers theres virtually no current in the canals except for whenever a lock is emptied, and with the canals being so shallow and having a lot of trees on the bank, theres an awful lot of silt lying at the bottom. That said, there are very few occasions when a bow thruster would really be needed. It was to be the final day of an unseasonably dry and warm spell. On Episode 546 of Trick or Treat Radio we are joined once again by MZ, he mustnt regret his decision to return full time yet. Is it cold in winter?No! Cruising the Cut web-series (2019) Cruising the Cut web-series (2019) Titles Cruising the Cut web-series. All free, all the time. How do you / Why dont you paint the baseplate of the boat?This is a source of much debate, a bit like what type of boat toilet is best. Have a look at Vlog 74 which is all about heating on narrowboats. He speeds through a very tight bridge, does some laundry, and comes to a legendary canal junction at Fradley. See Vlog As he travels, Johns points things out with a wry sense of fun. Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2022. Whos Deborah Johns? He had in a peculiar way become part of our lives - 'Oh, I think David did a vlog on that! Why are you driving on the right when you drive cars on the left in the UK?Apparently international maritime convention is for driving on the right. Apart from a few high spots around the canal network, we just dont get the kind of breeze these things need.Plus they have to be put up and down each time you travel. Back in 2015, the UK television news reporter David Johns was very unhappy with his personal and professional life. A couple of years ago there was extensive winter damage on some of the northern canals due to flooding which even raised up boats onto the towpath and left them there once the waters receeded. How do you make money?I am now a full-time YouTuber; every time someone watches the ads that occasionally play, I get a fraction of a penny. Just a matter of personal preference.You can also use apps or online guides such as canalplan.org.uk (ideal for route planning rather than a map) or opencanalmap which has all the CRT facilities marked etc albeit in a rather tiny font that you cant seem to enlarge. Its a tale of mid-life crisis, By Dan Clendenin | by Dan Clendenin | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Her nose snuffling new growth and old stones. Doing multiple takes of the same thing from different angles. In this special bonus end-of-season episode, David goes "behind the scenes" at a narrowboat manufacturer, seeing how huge steel plates are beaten and wrestled into submission to become beautiful canal craft. who actually want to pay me money, typically $2 $5 a month to support me in making more Vlogs. He chucked his job, sold his house, bought an old school, live-aboard fifty-six foot "narrow boat," and started chugging along the extensive network of bucolic British canals at two miles an hour. You can view Davids episode on Nighttime on Still Waters (via YouTube) here: 265. Firstly, its unlikely a cordless drill would have sufficient power; a lot of the mechanisms can be very stiff indeed hence needing a decent length of handle on the windlass to get the appropriate leverage. But I hadn't realised how much work it entailed! Brings my blood pressure down. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. He also meets up with some new friends, also narrowboaters. Can you change the boats name and how?You can call a narrowboat wherever you want, pretty much, and rename it as often as you like (superstition holds that you should do this with the boat out of the water but I dont believe in all that nonsense).As long as you inform the Canal and River Trust so they can reissue your licence, youre OK. In order to avoid damage to the rudder, boats would pass port side to port side. Home Videos Live Playlists Community Store Channels About Recently uploaded Popular 14:57 Merry Christmas from
Little is known of the sword due to the high . Typically, a canal might be maybe 4-5 feet deep in the middle (the canal bed tends to slope upwards slightly at the edges). A few years back, my third years watched me amazed as I wept as I tried to follow their instructions on how to set up a WhatsApp groupthing. The drone is required to be in visual range and control at all times, in the UK regulations.If you stop the boat to operate the drone (which would also necessitate bringing it to the side of the canal so as to be out of the way in case of further boats passing) then by the time youve brought the drone back and landed it and set off again, the situation ahead may have changed anyway.Plus there are so many blind corners and twisty bits on most of the canals, youd never get anywhere for always stopping. Im 53 and used to work as a local TV news reporter for ITV in the south east of England. Bear in mind the boats pivot in the middle so as you turn, the back end is going out. At a push, I will eat pickle in it as well but its not something I add by default.And no, the sandwich is not grilled, that seems to be an American thing. You can email me at nighttimeonstillwaters@gmail.com or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message using the voicemail facility by clicking on the microphone icon. The canals are all about slowing down to a crawl, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature around you and taking a substantial time out from the world outside. I really have very few fixed plans such is the joy of the narrowboating life so Ill tell you now: I dont know! I can joke about 'cheese sandwiches' (although, we don't), but what can he joke about? Only in peak summertime are you likely to approach the solar panels maximum output and even then only when the sun is high.In spring and autumn, any solar is very variable and in winter its negligible plus the hours of daylight are much shorter too and the angle of the sun much lower (Its not always possible to angle the panels at the sun and even so, the other factors mean the resulting power will be far less than in summer).On an average 57 foot narrowboat you have space for about 2.3kW of solar. A variety of sources: rain, rivers, boreholes, reservoirs. For single-handed canal boaters, shimmying up and down lock ladders or trying to get through swing bridges can be a huge nuisance. A boater's term for the canals is a "cut," because long ago they were literally cut out of the land. It could disturb other boaters or I could bang into things, even with the bow light on. It had nothing to do with David or Cruising the Cut, I have an immense amount of respect for both. Not very exciting but interesting and enjoyable. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. Perfect to sit back and watch with your favorite gin and tonic! Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2022. WebCruising the Cut web-series (2019) 1 of 1. I dont get anything if the viewer presses Skip on the adverts so if you like my videos, Id be grateful if you could grit your teeth and try to let at least some of the advert run!The sums are tiny; its a fraction of a penny for each advert view, so you need tens (hundreds!) Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Portable electric trolling motors are often suggested in the comments on my YouTube videos but Ive never seen a narrowboat with one; I think it would be a bit ugly and awkward to have one mounted on the bow plus it could cause an obstruction in the locks (potentially getting caught on the gates etc). David begins his journey this year by getting a diesel leak fixed in the engine bay and then heads off towards the heart of the canal network - Braunston - before continuing towards the Leicester Arm of the Grand Union Canal. Get enough views and this will eventually add up. A thruster could come in handy for tight spots in some marinas but generally its not a necessary item but a luxury so its not on my must have list. He had become too Americanized. This isnt a movie or even a television show, its a video blog or, as IMDB puts it, a web series that you can watch on YouTube, Twitter, or Amazon Prime. In his second year of narrowboat ownership, David Johns took it on a more extensive voyage involving five rivers, one Victorian boat lift, many canals and a lot of wildlife! Many, possibly most, have multi-fuel stoves which burn coal or wood and they will keep a boat so toasty youll have the windows open in mid-winter! Initially video logs . However, the podcasts were already underway. Also, due to the shallowness of much of the canal network, any blacking on the baseplate would be quickly scraped off in many areas. It has been known to happen but generally only in severe weather and often when a nearby river or stream overflows into the canal rather than the canal itself overfilling. Lorna (aka London Boat Girl) has done a comprehensive video about it, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79df3e_z6sg. Where does the grey water from the sink and shower go?Unlike your sewage, which has to be storedin one form or another until you get to an emptying point, grey water goes straight back into the canal. Rust abounds again as the entire engine is taken out of David's narrowboat so that he can scrape yucky old crud out of the bilge, then treat it and repaint so that it looks half decent again. David continues his cruise north along the River Soar, wears a funny hat because it's cold, and turns from the Soar onto the River Trent rather briefly, before joining the Trent & Mersey canal to head east across the UK. 4. The Umbrella Solution A favorite quote: "I wish I could take dog happiness as a drug." It's not unlike full-time RVing, which is what I am currently doing as a solo, but without having to deal with all those locks en-route! What video gear do you use?See my gear page! ANDAMAN ISLANDS:Virginal and amazing India, The Journey to Business Significance (Part 1), Ten Cities I Absolutely Must See Before the Reaper Comes for Me. As he reaches the final stage of his 2017 travels, two familiar faces pop up to help with the last strenuous leg down Hatton locks. The one where David begins his autumn 2018 narrowboat cruise along the Grand Union canal, starting at Braunston in Northamptonshire and chugging through a hateful tunnel before turning south. It's the coiled spring of life and energy of someone who has never lost their curiosity and interest in the world around. He stops at pubs and villages. Other boats have diesel or gas-fired radiator central heating systems just like in a house. This lovely series is a relaxing travelogue, providing ease and calm distraction The charming David Johns is narrator, captain and solo resident of a British narrowboat. CruisingTheCut @CruisingTheCut 229K subscribers Merch! Although normally prohibited to powered craft, with permission of the Cam Conservators in winter you can take a narrowboat onto the Cambridge Backs where the river Cam flows behind many of the citys historic colleges. I went over to see if he needs a hand with his equipment just as he was nimbly vaulting over the sheep-field gate down by the alder carr at the edge of cut, a compact but bulging bag and a folded spider of a tripod under one arm. The fact that he managed to put something together in which I not only have been saved from appearing as a jabbering fool, but has garnered interest in the podcast is a testament to his skills in salvaging silk purses out of particularly grotesque sows' ears. How do you turn around?There are turning points, known as winding holes (wind as in the breeze, not as in winding a clock) every few miles although not all of them are big enough to turn the longest boats in (sizes are usually marked on the canal guides though). It's like, as soon as the camera was pointed at me, all rational thought, ability to string a sentence together, even to retain some semblance as a human left me completely. Helpful Countries United States. The Greek myths tell us that there are times when the gods come down from Olympus to walk amongst mortals. So get the kettle on, and settle down." Just a relaxing watch and enjoying the beautiful countryside. He navigates the many tunnels and locks. Plus, how to buy a boat if you can't afford a whole one. Explaining what is needed and why with sensitivity and clarity; guiding and supporting them, and most of all, knowing when to step back and leave the picture. Also, how do you manage to talk coherently in front of a camera? 18 months ago former ITV Meridian reporter David Johns swapped a life on TV for a life on the water and bought a 56 foot long narrowboat. Evoking the spirit of pirate radio - on a canal, https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/, Tuesday Morning, 5.30am (The Voyage of Bran). Deborah (who composed the music for the version of Cruising the Cut seen on Amazons Prime Video) is my sister. Do you pay council tax?Boats on official residential moorings pay council tax as they are classed as residences. And really, they look just like every other supermarket Ive ever been into (!!) (hint: yes). Who is Cruising the Cut? Cruising the Cut is a YouTube channel started by David Johns in July 2015. David was once a local news reporter for a major TV channel in the UK and did this for over a decade, as well as working on local radio. Its fairly foolish to do so though, so most people will either try it out with friends whove done it before, pay for narrowboat experience days, or even go on a one or two day RYA Inland Waterways helmsmans course. So no, the canals are two-way for 99% of the time. Why do you steer from the back, not the front?Because with 40, 50 (indeed up to 72) feet of solid steel boat, you really need to stand at the back to see what its doing when you manoeuvre it; bear in mind they pivot in the middle so when you turn left, the back goes right and vice versa) not seeing what the back is doing could end up with you bashing a lot of moored boats on these narrow canals. If youre permanently in one location or have a base mooring, register somewhere near there and whenever you go back to the mooring you can get your teeth checked or whatever. It was partially the reason why I didn't create a vlog of my own. Popular. All fish must be returned to the canal alive except non-native species which must not be returned. Four seasons of Cruising the Cut, a video documentary by David Johns, a former ITV television reporter and presenter-turned solo narrowboat traveler, are available to Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. I was invited to take part in a trip that very few narrowboats are able to enjoy, along the Cambridge Backs. He stops at pubs and villages. David Alan Johns (born 15 July 1956) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his breakthrough role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 Ken Loach film I, Daniel Its therefore important to use wildlife-friendly washing products so as not to poison the fish, ducks, swans and other canal animals.A lot of people seem to get very irate about the grey water situation and I suppose in an ideal world, if we started again from scratch, wed be likely to use grey water tanks and have to pump them out. There is no need to be cold on a narrowboat. A rather lovely video to end the season sees David firstly having a new stove pipe custom-made to crown the chimney he'd fixed in Episode One and then, on an utterly glorious day in mid-summer, he takes a trip to Welshpool to see, and experience, a horse-drawn narrowboat. So its not a retrofit option but I wouldnt object to one on another boat. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Your best bet is to phone a few, get a feel for what they offer, and ask around on the canal forums to see which ones people whove used them recommend. I was also really touched that David felt that there might be enough things to include to sustain a vlog. Creative Commons Licence. Whats yourname and whats your background?Im David Johns. He navigates the many tunnels and locks. Petrol gennys are much cheaper, a couple of hundred quid, but you have all the issues of storing petrol safely on board (it being extremely flammable of course) and of accessing it since most wharfs and marinas dont sell it so you have to trek along a road to the nearest garage with a canister in hand. Of all the vloggers, I think that is why for so many of us, his news that he was selling his boat to move on land, hit so deeply. I love cruising the cut, I have watched every episode and I hope amazon will give us another season of David and his narrowboat. See here for our Journey with Jesus weekly webzine for the global church. The shell (hull) was built by G&J Reeves and the interior fit-out was by Millburn Boats. A sort of surprise that they look the same, but also out of place, like seeing your teacher in a karaoke competition - something, I should say, which has never happened to me, so I have no idea why that example popped into my mind. David Johns Page 2 Cruising The Cut Author: David Johns Vlog 277: Without a Paddle September 7, 2022 Travels, Vlog 6 This is the third and final part of my By that point the camera on my boats bow is 50 feet further forward so its missed it. He is best known for his breakthrough role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake. Hireboaters are not allowed to usually, under the terms of their hire. If you still refuse then eventually legal proceedings begin with the CRT having the contractual right to remove your boat from the water. Cruising the Cut. Secondly, without some kind of clutch mechanism, the drill would crunch the paddle gear into the end stop and ultimately this would cause wear on it, which costs the CRT money to repair or He travels slowly and peacefully around Great Britain's historic and still-active canals. A very special trip on the narrowboat as David reaches the Anderton Boat Lift, an amazing feat of Industrial Revolution engineering, restored some 15 years ago. Are you married? Four seasons of Cruising the Cut, a video documentary by David Johns, a former ITV television reporter and presenter-turned solo narrowboat traveler, are available to. David's epic narrowboat odyssey along the Grand Union canal concludes as he returns to Braunston in surprisingly sunny weather for mid-October. Why dont boaters greet each other when they pass?They DO! Boats that move around do not since they are not resident in any council area. I was so worried about the interview and convinced that the only useable part if it was that 'I live on a boar', that the next day I emailed over to David a lot of other material so that if he wanted to persist with this desperate endeavour he could use instead of the interview, but that I also could quite well understand if he simply wanted to retain his dignity and walk away from this whole sorry saga. This show is the perfect antidote to all of the crap that is American network TV and all the junk that streaming services regurgitate. Theyre really not; its just silt. of thousands of video views to get any sensible money. As a former boater ( although speed boats and water skiing) I kind of get some of the boating life. In which David travels south along the wonderfully green and lush Shropshire Union canal and admires several delightful old bridges along the way plus he gets admonished for going too fast. Tom Ford. You do sometimes get boats going past in the dark though. It's nonstop action in this episode as David continues along the lovely, tranquil Trent & Mersey canal in search of a haircut. Why dont you have a generator?Dedicated diesel generators (ideally in a silenced enclosure) are great but fantastically expensive many thousands of pounds even for little ones. How deep are the canals?Not very; they only needed to be dug deep enough to float a barge full of tonnes of cargo, any deeper was wasted effort. August 2019 David Johns, a popular video blogger who specalises in a series of canal based videos called 'Cruising The Cut", spent a day filming with LHCRT and has produced a report on our progress so far. Vlog 279: Honey, I Shrunk the Narrowboat. It's not just the equipment - all I do is step up my laptop and microphone! First thing to say - David is far better at gadgetry and digital communication than I am. We do get lots of houseflies and occasional wasps etc but theyre just the normal summertime pests. For information about the wooden writers box: Blue Star Crafts.I have the smaller A5 version of the Messenger Wood Box. Cruising the Cut. A couple of days before his arrival we gave each other a good haircut with Penny's dog clippers. Feedback. Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021. Why dont you steer from the front, in a covered wheelhouse? YouTube Top Charts. I have to admit to having quite a few qualms about the visit. It's fun and quirky, partly because of the extremely simple production techniques, and a good example of the expanding range of genres far beyond movies or TV. Why do you eat so many cheese sandwiches and whats in them?Because I love cheese I use the strongest cheddar I can get (preferably Pilgrims Choice Extra Mature or Cathedral City et al), with some tomato, maybe some cucumber slices and nothing else. His journalistic training is not just in evidence in the finished product uploaded to YouTube. Can you recommend a hire company for us to use? I try to answer the question, To be a writer or to write? Its tough, that. After 13 years of doing this and working in radio, I decided to chuck it all in and buy a narrowboat to cruise around the canals on. David's epic narrowboat odyssey along the Grand Union canal concludes as he returns to Braunston in surprisingly sunny weather for mid-October. How do you get post and what about registering for a doctor?Your mail can go to a friends or family members address plus there are postal redirection services you can sign up for that will either scan and email your letters to you or forward them to a location of your choice, which you can update as you move around the canals. It was a golden silver sort of day. Links from my videos to Amazon with an affiliate code in themmean I get a small commission if someone buys anything (yes, anything, not just the product that was linked to) after going to the site from clicking on my link.I also have a Patreon page for really dedicated viewers yes, there are some! He takes the narrowboat through a very tight squeeze outside Rugeley, changes the engine oil, and admires some flowers by the canalside. And is Lorna your wife?I am long ago divorced and currently single (applications for the post of girlfriend are welcome ;-). all rolled into one. Keeping you company through your night-times, canal-side. As a Yank, I can't help but associate this with watching golf on TV with my dad, back in the 60s-80s. For a typical video which will have taken me a day to film plus two to three more days to script, edit and upload, I might earn maybe 20-30 ish for each 10,000 views it gets. No, far from it. WebCruising the Cut is THE BEST series Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2022 David Johns is an amazing host and everything about this show is equal parts wholesome, informative, and relaxing. When David Came (Cruising the Cut) The Greek myths tell us that there are times when the gods come down from Olympus to walk amongst mortals. As a self-confessed fair weather narrowboater, a trip along the canal in the middle of deepest, darkest winter is something of a departure for our host but, with a friend aboard, a short jaunt along part of the Oxford Canal in December was in order. The sky was blue but whispy, horse's-hair clouds warning of incoming weather fronts had begun to be replaced by thicker midlevel banks and a playful wind was beginning to kick its heels. Whats your fuel consumption?Ive never measured it but narrowboats typically drink 1-1.5 ltr/hour. See Lornas (London Boat Girl) video about voting here. MarySue Foster/5 things that made me happy, National Dog Day and Seeing Nature Up Close, This is Why Ill Never Invest in a Medium Format Camera, Editing Tips for Stunning Black and White Photos, How to Make Twitch EmotesQuick and easy, https://twitter.com/CruisingTheCut?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor. His YouTube channels include:Cruising The Cut (narrowboats): www.youtube.com/CruisingTheCutUKVandemonium (campervans): www.youtube.com/VandemoniumTubeshooter (camcorder / gear reviews) www.youtube.com/tubeshootermagUKAirscape (informal camcorder tests): www.youtube.com/UKAirscapeDavid Reads Stories (exactly as the name suggests): www.youtube.com/DavidReadsStoriesDavidExpert (gadget reviews): www.youtube.com/DavidExpertTV, Powered by - Designed with theHueman theme. Thirdly, its not uncommon to drop a windlass into the canal by accident and it would be a very expensive mistake to do that with a cordless drill! It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. Also, when you are going past moored boats, it is required (and polite) to slow to an absolute crawl, generally at engine tickover or just over, so that you dont rock them or pull their mooring pins out this really does happen when boats go zooming past with no regard for anyone else. If I ever win the lottery or am bequeathed a lot of money from the very rich uncle I never knew I had, I will buy a narrowboat and spend many hours of many days in many years traveling the canal and river system of the United Kingdom.