welcome to cruising alba
we invite you to join us on our
adventure
living off grid
and traveling the uk canal network
I'm Myles and I'm Marina
in the last episode the bench got a makeover
we did some epic sunset cruising
and went through
one of the longest canal tunnels
in the world
We are approaching Braunston tunnel
Myles is just setting everything up
This tunnel shouldn't be as long as the one
we did a couple of days ago
but we are getting out our rain jackets
just in case
Braunston tunnel is almost two kilometres long
It was built in 1793.
There were a few areas when they were setting out
the line of the tunnel at the bottom.
As a result, there is a slight S-bend
in the middle of the tunnel
Heatwave!
Living on a boat requires a little more
planning and organisation.
So this morning I woke up and did
three or four hours of editing and then prepared for the tunnel
we set up early so i didn't really have time to eat breakfast and now
we haven't got any food for lunch either.
We didn't prioritise food shopping
We didn't realise that there aren't many shops on the Oxford canal
and we are going to end up without fresh produce for a whole week
Myles and I figured out a routine
since we've been moving every day
If we have of locks in the row when you can actually see the next one
I help out with half the lock or Myles helps out and then one of us goes ahead
and sets it up
Ice cream?
Yes I do want an ice cream
Do you want to go have a look see which one you want.
I will.
And then will do a swap and I'll go get them.
These were our last moments on the
Grand Union.
We have been living on it since March last year
and we look forward to exploring the Oxford canal now
This is Braunston Junction where the Grand Union canal
and the Oxford canal meet.
Apparently, it's the busiest place on all of the
British canal network.
Oxford canals are narrow
you can't go on them on a widebeam
The further we travelled the slimmer they seemed
That night we found an idyllic spot and
witnessed one of the most spectacular and clear sunsets in a while
I'm going to show you guys how we store stuff under the bed
and what it takes to actually lift the mattress
Our mattress is really heavy
and it's really thick
so I don't know it's 30 or 40 kilos
that's why it needs both of us to lift it
Some of my winter clothes
need to be put away
and also I want to get something from
under the bed so today we're lifting the mattress
The room is really messy
because I've got loads of stuff
out on the floor to be put away
so just ignore that
This year all of the music festivals have been cancelled
So we've got loads of zoom parties happening at the moment
and we want to get our fancy dress anyway
These bits of wood on the side
they are our
bedside tables
so we can put our charges and drinks in there
as you can see
it's a pretty big job
so we get under the bed only when
it's absolutely necessary.
And here is the satisfying before and after
The Oxford canal was originally built 230 years ago
it was designed to twist around the hills to minimize its level
and has a lot less locks
We are approaching the narrow Oxford canal
that we've been waiting for
on this side
there will be a branch to Birmingham and Warwickshire yeah
Braunston is behind us
Yeah Oxford's gonna be amazing
We can do it in a week but
We don't need to go that quickly. Yeah!
So if we find a nice spot...
Countryside's meant to be amazing around here
Just wish the pubs were open.
A year and a half ago we hired a narrowboat in Oxford
to test our ability to live on the water and in a small space
and now things are coming full circle and we're bringing Alba
in the place where it's all started
Earlier today we arrived at a really nice spot
But we couldn't connect to the internet
We tried to do a quiz and
it barely worked
so we can't actually work on this internet
so we have to move
We really wanted to relax and have dinner but we can't do that
but we need to find a spot with better internet
also I just looked for the nearest supermarket
and i can't find anything the nearest tesco is
an hour and a half by bike
so we just need to keep going
we are at our first narrow lock
single boat width
it looks tiny
we've just arrived we've done six locks
and there were a breeze
really slow, gentle, narrow
it didn't take very much time at all
It's a really nice sunset the moon is out
so we actually really enjoyed it
the internet here is okay
I've gotta get the video for you guys
uploaded tomorrow so it's really
important that i've got a good internet
oh and the views here are insane
it is so so pretty here -
rolling hills
you can see far in the distance
open sky
What's for dinner captain?
Burgers,
beans,
chips, couscous
I'm about to change the water filter
so we've got
this replacement filter a few weeks ago
that i'm gonna try and install
The first time we put in the water filter
was in October last year
I don't think they'd last this long but
we kind of forgot about them...
Before doing this I watched a video on how to do it
but I think our system is a little bit different
so we're gonna have to improvise
Looks like I need to take the shelf off because
I'm not able to unscrew it
You need a towel underneath
oh god it's disgusting
all right it's just an outside then
From our experience the water flow from the filter slows down over time
the instructions say that we can clean the filter
after a few weeks if the water slows down again
We are careful not to pull the
water through when we're low on water
or filling up the water tank
because there is some sediment on the bottom
and that's probably why the filter looks this orange
This boat sits in land
but it's in the water
and surrounded by land... Crazy!
I'm trying to navigate this really windy canal
that bends and turns all the time
there's so many...
sometimes I feel like I'm going in circles
It's pretty cool I quite enjoy it. There are not many locks which is
great, always great!
But yeah Myles is cooking dinner and I am
trying to film
and cruise and find nice shots
and film Myles cooking
so a lot of multitasking is going on
We're coming up to a bridge
and bridges here
are really tiny so we need to be careful
they're really narrow and tiny so we
need to be careful of our bench on the roof but also
it's just a bit more tricky to navigate
I am so happy here
looks amazing it's especially at sunset.
Super rural,
no one is around
we can be on a roof and enjoy the sunset
oh it's paradise!
and this morning we had to
use the plank for the first time
I don't think we've used it before
Thank you so much for watching!
if you're new here
welcome so good to have you!
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Tune in next week for the day when
everything goes wrong
the bridges get lower and we get into
an unfortunate line of unsettling incidents in a row
see you in the next one!