Living on a boat

Earlier this year (2004) my brother and I bought a barge to ease the stupendous costs of living in Bristol. We spent the summer doing the boat up in Devises about thirty miles East of the city before moving on in.

On the Waterways

To make boating more interesting the people who invented canals put these gates in the way. You have to get through without sinking your boat.

Illustrating the standard lock opening procedure.

Sat on the roof of the boat whilst in motion can be hazardous. Often the driver falls to sleep through sheer boredom and the boat drifts into the river bank.

Joe and Will fight off overhanging branches.

The boat top speed is about that of a trotting Daschund dog but that did not stop us from trying waterskiing outside Bath with the life ring.

Jordan doing his best not to drown.

Boat Maintenance

The boat needs maintaining all the time. Painting is one of the few things Matt does, sometimes.

Matt doesn't need undercoat, he's an artist.

To stifle the nauseating smell of our poo we were advised to sprinkle brewer's yeast into the toilet. Once done it just grows of its own accord never needing replenishment. It still smells bad though.

Matt seeds what is to be the most cultured thing on the boat

We found rust in the water tank, Matt bravely declined the task and instead made cups of tea whilst I scrubbed it clean and blacked it.

The tank was less spacious than it looked.