Bow Locks…

Yep, it’s that time of year again…That time when we poor unfortunate boat dwellers shiver inside our damp, cold, leaky metal tubes that drip with condensation, are dim, uncomfortable and uninviting. We have to bundle ourselves up in many, many layers to keep the elements at bay and eat gruel to try and keep body and soul together and rue the day we took to the water.

We long to visit friends whose houses are spacious, warm and welcoming, have proper facilities, modern technology, are safe, secure and free from rats and plague.

Believe that? Nah, course not. Load of rubbish. Although still a popular misconception. Curious passers by often quiz me about the lifestyle and one of the first questions they always ask is…. “Is it really cold in the winter?”

Truth is…

It’s really not. This is the warmest, cosiest house I’ve ever lived in, thanks to my Morso Squirrel stove, and I do have a fully functioning bathroom, kitchen, all mod cons/technology and the comfiest bed ever. I’ve never seen a rat on board either, nor do I suffer with colds (hardly ever) let alone the plague.

Don’t tell anyone though – they’ll all want to move onto the river. And that would spoil all the fun.

John here is sitting in the ‘hot seat’, usually given away after a short while in exchange for somewhere cooler or, if no takers, it has been known for him to strip off. Good enough reason to leave him sitting there I’d say…

Often I’ll have to fling open the front doors and maybe also the hatch. Honest. Even when there’s snow on the ground. But the boaters among you will know that.

Nope, wouldn’t swap it for any mansion, no way, no how.

It won’t be long now before I start to keep the stove burning 24/7, which ensures I don’t have to get up in the freezing cold in the morning. I hate to be cold. I’m not too keen on mornings either but that’s another story.

But for now I’ll spark it up late afternoon (or earlier if it’s a bad day) and let it burn out overnight.

So I came home from work today and got the fire going (definitely the first job) popped the kettle on top and by the time I’d sorted myself out it was boiling, ready for afternoon tea in my nice, warm front room.

Out on the back deck as I start up Hobo’s engine to top up the battery bank (and in turn anything else on board that needs a charge – phone, laptop, dustbuster) and I see this through the fug of the chimney smoke…Not quite sure that I believe what I’m seeing – could there really be someone out there on the lake sailing…?Seems so on closer inspection. All very patriotic sporting the red, white and blue. Don’t they look great?

You may have gathered, having waded through the above, that nothing much exciting is happening down by the river, just thought I’d wax lyrical about life on the water talk Bow Locks for a while.

They do say that the weather might pick up by the weekend and, John willing, we could be off to Bow Locks… a place that has long fascinated John (though initially provoked a perhaps predictable one word answer from me) but I am warming to the idea.

We’d both like to poke around the East End a bit and this might be a good place to start.

Watch this space.

Tags: Bow Locks, morso squirrel, sailing