Today is screwed up
and not only once but twice
I feel really shook after that
Is that lobster?
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, we made it through the Braunston tunnel,
discovered narrow locks on the Oxford canal
and watched an incredible sunset show from the roof of our boat
I really love waking up at five or six am
because it's the quietest time of the day
often I can catch a beautiful mist
over the water
It's the time when everything has a
touch of magic
that seems to fade as the day progresses
During the winter I really miss the sun so in the summer
I make the effort to wake up early
to enjoy and appreciate the fleeting nature
of light
because I know it doesn't last forever
If you plan to cruise the Oxford canal as slow as we did
make sure to stock up the fridge
What's that?
Is that a lobster?
Do they live in the canal?
I don't know..
How did you spot that?
I just saw it floating on by
While looking up canal lobsters on google
Yes we did!
we found out that this, in fact, is a crayfish
It's either a UK native crayfish or a signal crayfish
that became an invasive species
so these invasive species create a
network of tunnels that can go up to two meters into the
banks causing massive erosions
We are about to set off
I'm going to show you our set-off checklist
the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to top up the cooling tank
above the engine
it was fixed but we think it's still a little bit leaking
so we do top it up every day
Now i'm going to mark on our map
I've got a really old map from the 80s
where we stayed the night and i'll put
little cross there
because there aren't any bridges or
locks nearby I'm going to look up on the phone map where we are exactly
and then enter that in the book I'll show you
so one just after 126.
I'm gonna go and take us off the pins for that, I need a hammer
oh that was easy, didn't need a hammer!
famous last words...
Myles do you want to
take it over?
And we're ready to go now.
Aren't you forgetting something?
I feel terrible! I went under the bridge
it was a really low bridge with a turn
as most of them are.
I was turning and
I felt I was in control. Didn't feel that I was too fast but then
I needed to turn slightly while under the bridge
When it turns it actually gets closer to the bridge
So I smashed the chimney and the new pallet bench
So the chimney is all wonky, maybe even broken
We've taken it off and the bench is now upside down
Myles is really upset with me as well
not a good start
I feel really shook after that
yeah I feel awful
Gets rid of your confidence really quickly
I guess what I need to do
is to go under bridges with the same speed
as I would go into a lock
We were excited to moor up and spend the evening in peace
but then...
Today I screwed up and not only once but twice
because we just arrived and I realised that I left
the mullet at the previous mooring
Didn't need the hammer!
We've been cruising for about three hours
I'm going to have a quick dinner
and i'm gonna get on the scooter and go all the way back
to get the mallet
I'm back from saving the mallet
I've got it but it was an adventure
It was supposed to only take an hour but it took two hours because
we don't think the scooter was fully charged
and I had to start
manually help it scooting
also, we've just inspected it
and there is a puncture all of these things combined
meant that it was really slow and then it kind of stopped working on the way
back and then I found a shortcut so ended up on the main road and then
it was dark, it was past 10 o'clock
so it was really unsettling
My phone wasn't charging either
(I brought a battery pack with me)
so I rang Myles and asked him to come
and meet me
He was trying to do that but on the way
there were two swans on the towpath
right in the middle
so he couldn't actually walk past them
He ended up jumping
in the dinghy and meeting me in the dinghy and then we
rowed back to the boat
but then while I was trying to
record this and the battery died I heard a splash
Myles was on the roof so he dropped the chimney
dropped it in the canal
so we tried with the magnet and getting it out
I tried sitting in the dinghy and getting it out as well
while he used the marking it but it didn't work
We've got the mallet, we don't have the chimney and we've got a puncture
in the scooter...
What a day!
I've got it! I'm covered in mud, I'm all soaked
but i've got the chimney!
let's see if it's gonna fit
I'll make it fit!
maybe needs to fit on the outside but
unfortunately, I don't know
my garden is doing well because it's my first time growing it I'm not actually
sure if i'm ready to eat it i've got to do some research
and this is our mint!
after such a stressful day
the best way to deal with it was to get stuck with boat work
and cook some yummy food
cooking always calms me down
Today i'm going to make hummus
For this recipe you'll need a little bit of olive oil
cumin, one can of chickpeas, half a lemon
but i didn't have a lemon so i'm doing lime
and tahini
also you need two garlic cloves
Tasted it and it's a little bit bland so I've added extra salt
and a splash more of olive oil
once you're happy with the flavour
i'm going to
transform half of it into a tupperware
add one boiled beetroot to the rest of the hummus
and if you don't believe me about how good this hummus was
take it from the swans
they wanted to jump in through the window just to have
a taste
This morning Myles found something on our
tree we picked it up from a canal side a year ago
and it was literally just a stick last year
so we picked it up, looked after it and we really wanted to know what it is
we didn't know until today because look what
is on the tree.. it's an apple! and it's appling how crazy is that?
We've got a fruit tree.
I will keep you updated on the progress
of apples
today i'm going to shape the lavender
we've got
it used to round and it's no longer
round and i can practice creating a nice flowy shape
because
Myles promised me that I can cut his hair
on the tree first and see how I do
Now i'm taking these recycling bags to the front and
they will live there until we find a recycling spot
The evening came and we were off again
Then it started to rain and suddenly the cows in the fields rushed towards the
bridge creating traffic by themselves
What would you take, just the flowers?
Yeah we just need the
branches of flowers
We were not quite in Cotswolds but the nearby village
looked very interesting so I went out to explore what was there
I haven't been off the towpath for so long
now when i do it feels weird to be around
houses and residential area and it kind of feels
that I shouldn't be here
just because I'm
so out of my comfort zone
The origins of Cropredy are traced to Anglo-Saxons
and it's even recorded in the Doomsday book of 1086.
At one point the Oxford canal finished at Cropredy
before being extended to the Thames
thank you so much for watching guys give this video a like
if you enjoyed the ride and please subscribe to our channel
very special thanks to our patrons who help us to continue making these videos
every week
next week it hails like crazy and after
three weeks of cruising we finally make it to Oxford
consider joining our Patreon family to watch the episodes early and for a
chance to come for a cruise with us
see you in the next one!