If you love canal boats, this pocket book will get you started. Current skills can be improved with, for example, 9 pages on reverse. JANUL is a commercial skipper and a seasoned RYA Instructor, with experience based on varied steering techniques.
Follow Perriwillow & his narrowboat, Sarpedon. A Wizard seeks revenge on Perriwillow, who only wishes to return home to Dwarf City, helped by the Good Witch, Stella Bella and Terry, the Boatman. Full of fantasy, magic and adventure, this is a charming & humorous tale, which is woven through lilting rhyme into the historic backdrop of the canal
When owning a narrow boat, or any engine-powered vessel, it is vital to ensure that the engine is kept in good working order. Narrow Boat Engine Maintenance and Repair is a practical guide to help keep your engine operational, and your boat moving. It also provides instruction on how to identify faults and, where possible, how to fix them. With its focus on diesel engine operation, and the systems found on most vessels, this is a useful resource for any boat owner. It provides practical guidance to undertake everyday maintenance on your diesel engine; it demonstrates how to complete a service and locate and resolve common faults; explains the theory required to understand each of the boat's main systems and shares the practical skills and techniques that engineers spend many years learning. This invaluable resource will be of great interest to those who own and run narrow boats, those starting out and more veteran boat owners. Superbly illustrated with 264 colour step-by-step photographs and 60 technical diagrams.
'Haywood imprints his inimitable humour on his descriptions of the people and places he meets along the way.' – BBC Countryfile magazine 'He conjures up a picture of a different world, filled with interesting and eccentric people. A cross-section of the best of middle England, in fact.' – The Oxford Times Steve Haywood has been cruising the inland waterways for fifty years, and has amassed a following of readers keen to hear about his travelling tales on Britain's beautiful canals and rivers. His previously published books – Narrowboat Dreams, One Man and a Narrowboat, Too Narrow to Swing a Cat and Narrowboat Nomads – have all been hugely enjoyed by those with a desire for a narrowboat narrative told in Steve's witty, charming style. Tales from the Tillerman is Steve's next title and is both his tribute to Britain's canals, rivers and countryside and a celebration of Britishness in all its eccentric glory. Unlike Steve's previous titles, which have each focussed on one particular journey that Steve has taken, Tales from the Tillerman is casting the net wider and drawing from his full fifty years of experience, recounting the many hair-raising escapades he's had up and down the country and reflecting on how the country and the cruising landscape has changed in those fifty years. Anecdotes and light-hearted rants aplenty, mixed with some tall tales and a smattering of the nostalgic, in Tales from the Tillerman you'll be thoroughly entertained as a middle-aged man (oh, go on then, an old one) reflects on his long love affair with boats and waterways, contemplating their importance to his life and how they've changed it.
For centuries, living afloat on Britain's waterways has been a rich part of the fabric of our social history, from the fisherfolk of ancient Britain to the bohemian houseboat dwellers of the 1950s and beyond. Whether they have chosen to leave the land behind and take to the water or been driven there by necessity, the history of the houseboat is a unique and fascinating seam of British history. In Water Gypsies, Julian Dutton – who was born and grew up on a houseboat – traces the evolution of boat-dwelling, from an industrial phenomenon in the heyday of the canals to the rise of life afloat as an alternative lifestyle in postwar Britain. Drawing on personal accounts and with a beautiful collection of illustrations, Water Gypsies is both a vivid narrative of a unique way of life and a valuable addition to social history.
Aimed at the complete newcomer and those with limited experience of narrowboating, this book explains how to pick a canal, how to steer, moor, turn the boat, negotiate bridges, bends and tunnels, and work locks confidently & safely, and it offers tips on what to pack & where to visit along the route. With descriptions of 38 canals & 43 maps.
The UK has over 1000 miles of navigable canals and rivers which are home to an estimated over 70,000 boats. To the untrained eye canal boats can look much the same, but there are some very important distinctions and a new buyer has some very important choices to make. This book discusses those choices, taking into consideration the various boating profiles. From those choosing to live on board permanently, to constant cruisers, and weekend boaters to fair-weather cruisers, each will require a different type of boat if they are to fully enjoy their new vessel. The book covers finding and buying a boat, the legalities of purchase, the different features and utilities, finding a mooring, boating health and safety, the cost of boating, boat maintenance, boating etiquette and many other frequently asked questions.