Last month, Daphne, Stephen and myself went on a narrow boat weekend on the Leeds to Liverpool canal and had a jolly hockey sticks time. In case you want to read about it and see some photos, the June archive contains the 3 posts about it that will keep you busy, and hopefully entertained, when you have some time to spare on some wet and windy afternoon.
For the Brits who read my blog, this could be pretty much any afternoon in the next few weeks of this crappy summer. I think my cunning plan to spend Oct-March in Florida and April-Sept in England to ensure sunshine all year round has come up against a little problemette.
Namely that the April-Sept period has to be spent in England !!
Like the aroma of onions, Gauloises cigarettes and sweaty berets, Global warming seems incapable of crossing the channel and continues to stop annoyingly at the French border. Every country East of Calais enjoys summer weather like we oldies remember from our youth while we in the UK continue to suffer the effects of some sort of localised Ice Age.
Anyway, this is all the more reason to read my narrow boat posts and forget about chilblains and frostbite for a while.
As well as photos, I took an hour of video footage which I edited and then burned to a dvd which you can buy at the concession stand in the foyer after this presentation. It's well worth the Z$100bn price tag (that's Zimbabwe dollars to you and me) which apparently will now buy you a loaf of bread. And we think WE have financial problems ??!!
But in an effort to get some of the footage to a wider audience (and no, I'm not having a pop at you Americans), I've edited the already edited video so it now runs for less than 15 minutes which I believe is the attention span of a modern teenager.
Yes this blog version is not great quality. Yes it's jerky. But hey, it's history !!
I now present this Directors Cut to you and hope that you enjoy our nautical journey along 13 miles of the Leeds to Liverpool canal. Apologies to those without a fast connection as it's a relatively large file but it should begin playing as soon as the buffering gets enough data to make a start. And crank up your speakers.
Sorry but you'll have to provide your own popcorn.
Narrow Boat Trip from Silverback on Vimeo.
Oh Silverback, I loved your film. Thanks for sharing your canal trip to Liverpool. I followed this link from Daphne's blog and I am so glad to have done so.
ReplyDeleteIs Saffron yours? I wish that we could look inside.
Thanks again, it was swell.
Daphne and Stephen rented Saffron for the weekend, Liz, and kndly invited me along for the ride.
ReplyDeleteA soft and delightfully smooth treat for the eyes and ears. I always wanted to do a canal trip, it makes me even more determined to book a trip of my own! Thanks for the gift, Silverback. A perfect time out from the sub-tropical storms we had here this week.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely video. Do you get special training in how to use the locks? That's the bit that makes me feel nervous about hiring a canal barge. And crashing. And sinking, obviously.
ReplyDeleteHello - Daphne sent me here.
Thank you Katherine. Can't be often that someone from NZ is jealous of our weather !
ReplyDeleteTim, even after 3 days I'd no clue which of the 2 sets of gates to open first that make up every lock. I just followed the instructions of Stephen, "the lockmeister".
But yes, when you rent, you would get instructions AND lots of paper information AND there are nearly always fellow boaters at every lock and they don't seem to mind helping out.