PKYo

@PKYo@poweredbygay.social

Liveaboard boater who visits rural inland dales and small towns on a steel narrowboat. Sometimes folks join me. My main boating concerns: canal closures, potable water, fuel, groceries, data reception, brown water¹ pump-outs, and heat. I eat on board, not in pubs. There's music² on board. On the tail end of middle aged. Avoid politics.

I follow people who balance boosts with their own posts about interesting things.

¹ This means what you think.
² Bouncey, age-inappropriate.

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ghorwood, to random
@ghorwood@mastodon.social avatar

when i was twenty-two or so, i was hanging out downtown doing nothing, as the punk rock kids of the era did, when a thunderstorm erupted. a massive downpour. i ran for the nearest public building to take shelter; the public library.

“are you here for the 1pm tour?” the librarian asked. sure. what the hell. it was going to rain all afternoon.

that tour blew my mind. i got my first library card as an adult that day.

PKYo,

@DemocracySpot @ghorwood @kimlockhartga

I got my first library card when I was 13. The library was in the basement of a commercial building, and we would go on Fridays. I read every SF paperback there was.

We didn't have a TV, so books kept me occupied. They were an escape from school bullying and loneliness.

#bookstodon

PKYo, to random

We have reached Stoke-on-Trent, where the canal climbed up a heck of a hill by means of a series of deep locks.

#locks #lock #gate #paddle #sluice #weir #CanalLife #canal #canals #boating #boats #narrowboat

A view from the stern of a narrowboat, looking forward across the bow at the top gate of a lock, then turning around to look at the bottom gate, from the top down to the roiling water at the bottom, and finally turning again toward the bow.

PKYo, to boating

Two very old, grey-haired guys hobbling along the towpath with two very old, grizzled dogs.

Canals are a wonderful community resource – linear parks with water, grass, trees and a path to walk, jog, and cycle on, and to share with boaters.

For boaters, the canal bank and towpath are our garden.

PKYo, to random

It's nonstop birds and hawthorns in bloom, out here in the middle of nowhere, clear of the industrial outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent.

Spring on the Caldon canal seems to be a few weeks behind the rest of the midlands, judging by what's blooming and the size of moorhen chicks and goose goslings.

#spring #moorhen #goose #gosling #birdsong #birdcall #hawthorn #canal #CanalLife #Caldon #Stoke #boating #narrowboat #England #UK

Video looking east at the Caldon canal from the bow of a narrowboat. It's green and lush. On the non-towpath side there's a wooden shed of sorts and a fence to separate two plots of treed land that run up to the canal. Disappearing into the the distance, on the towpath side, are two pedestrians and their dog. The camera turns north to show the high hedge of hawthorns along the canal's towpath, then turns more to show a traditional arc of a brick bridge over the canal, looking west into the sun. More hawthorns and trees.

PKYo, to random

With the help of two Collins Nicholson "Waterways Guide" mapbooks, a £5 dataplan and a search engine, my husband just worked out our boating route for the next two or three weeks.

Me, I don't care where we go, as long as we boat there together. I was dancing around, all "Yay, we have a route!" and he said when I'm done being a disco monkey, I can put the mapbooks away.
🐒

#Lgbt #canal #boating #life on a #narrowboat in the #midlands of #England with a #map

PKYo, to random

The canals in England predate its railroad by several decades.

Roughly I50 years ago, Canada's Atlantic-to-Pacific railroad was built by Chinese navvies (a term that comes from the navigators who built England's canals). It was deadly work.

Gordon Lightfoot, who died this week, memorialised the navvies in this beautiful story of a song, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, commissioned by CBC for Canada's centennial year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PXzauTuRG78

#canal #UK #England #railroad #Canada #GordonLightfoot

PKYo, to boating

Living on a boat with a refillable water tank, I've learned to conserve water.

I wash daily but only shower once a week, because:

  1. It's a waste to run lots of water over your body and then pump it overboard.

  2. Human skin is great at keeping clean and oil-free without any help from Proctor & Gamble IF you let it recover from the chemical abuse of "body wash" etc.

  3. It's environmentally responsible.

PKYo, to random

Ahhhh, relaxed again.

We are well beyond the urban bustle, now, and the canal has returned to a green and peaceful state.

After heading northwest through some heavy industrial terrain, we made a sharp eastward turn and then northeast past the HS2 construction. As we left #Birmingham, each lock had less graffiti, less litter, and less floating debris than the one before it.

Here's a photo of our current rural location.

#UK #canal #boating #life in a #narrowboat through #rural #England

PKYo, to random

It's a delightful day. A bit of drizzle never hurt anyone in rain gear.
☔☁️

Earlier, two guys were riding on our ass, and of course you mustn't pull over on principle, because boating life is a slow life. 🤣

Then within 2 minutes there was a water point. And we did need water, so … they got to pass without us having to concede to their need for speed.

I'm talking 3½ miles per hour instead of 3 mph.

#Canal #slow #boating in a #narrowboat by #FazeleyJunction in #England #UK #Coventry #Tamworth

A sign announces Fazeley Junction. The camera then pans forward over the bow to show an oncoming narrowboat passing under a traditional arched brick bridge over the canal. The canal is bordered by green vegetation, and the drizzley sky is overcast but not too dark.

PKYo, to random

Waiting for a boat in a lock, I see a child playing in the active area, so I ask the woman holding a windlass, "Is he with you?"

"Yes."

Making smalltalk, I mention Canal River Trust's census: 5% of live-aboard boaters have children with them.

"We homeschool," she responds in a defensive tone. "He doesn't need to learn all that stuff, like how to multiply by 10,000. He knows how to buy a can of beans."

#education #homeschooling #curriculum #DfE #boating #narrowboat #CanalLife #canals #CRT #UK

PKYo, to boating

Going through a flight of double locks, traditionally boats would be tied together to move more easily between locks.

You don't see it often because newer boaters don't know how, and —oh no— they'd have to talk about something other than the weather. It takes experience, trust and collaboration.

In the photo, one boat is crewed. It is steering both, using only one engine. The other boat crew is operating locks.

#CanalLife #canal #boating #boat #narrowboat #locks #broadbeam #double #navigation

Mrfunkedude, to random
@Mrfunkedude@mastodon.social avatar

Well, I'm feeling better. Now I just have a bunch of mucus that constantly wants to escape my nose. So tissues are essential.

I'll spend the rest of #today resting. It's chilly this morning so I made sure to bring a small blanket downstairs to keep my legs warm. Maybe I should ask for an electric blanket for Giftmass? I already have the electric neck warmer.

Anyway, hope whoever reads this has a great day. Do something fun for me will you?

PKYo,

@Mrfunkedude

My cold has settled in. I'm past the endless-tissue drippy stage. My lungs squeak and moan with every breath.

My fun thing will be to go out in search of vegetables to eat. 😜

🍅🍠🥕🌽🫛🫑🍆

PKYo, to boating

There's a dog placement service in this town, and I've put my name on the list.

Today they called. Our boat could soon have a dog living on board.

The service could use a better photographer, because the photo they sent of candidate one is fuzzy.

PKYo, to random

OFFICIAL NOTICE:

We would like you to know that We Are Available, Willing And Able to eat more birdseed.

Don't delay. Now is good.

PKYo, to boating

Canal and River Trust brought 3 steel barges to the marina. Each one arrived on its own lorry/truck. A separate crane lifte them into the basin.

Here you can see a tug (blue) holding a barge in place in the basin, while a crane (yellow) lifts another barge over to the basin. A second tug has already left with the third barge.

That's yesterday. Today, three CRT vehicles and crew are parked here, waiting for …?

#CanalLife #canal #boat #boating #narrowboat #CRT #barge #tug #crane #marina #basin

PKYo, to boating

The marina down the canal quoted £400 + parts for an engine service. I'm told it's a fair price. I've booked it for Monday, the week after next.

I was also told to keep the old belts that get replaced, in case of a future belt emergency.

Here's the checklist.

PKYo,

@markhughes I don't know how to do it. I wonder if they'll let me watch or claim that's a "health and safety" transgression.

PKYo, to boating

Reached Manchester by early afternoon.

Tied up at Castlefield. Beautiful afternoon. Went cycling on a Starling Bank share bike. Saw references to bees and beehives everywhere. 🐝

People are friendly, here.

PKYo, to boating

The locks toward Haigh Hall are deep. Their massive gates weigh more than a tonne each. A number of the gates have chains and pulleys to help boaters open and close them.

To share the work, I asked another boat to pair up.

Quite a few of the are covered in a lush, living carpet of (see photo).

I did see a worker, today, in a white hazardous-materials suit, around each lock – ? 🤔

jonobie, to random
@jonobie@social.coop avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    PKYo,

    @jonobie Photo?

    PKYo,

    @jonobie It's beautiful work.

    evan, to random
    @evan@cosocial.ca avatar

    #Thanksgiving, to me, is in part about recognizing that North America is a bountiful land that has provided nutritious, delicious food for millions of humans for thousands of years.

    It did not need to be turned into a clone of Eurasia to become livable. We have delicious, native foods here. #NativePlants provide the vitamins, minerals and energy we need; native animals have meat for those who eat it.

    One small step in decolonisation is to #EatNativePlants.

    PKYo,

    @evan

    Also from the Americas and traded throughout:
    Tomatoes
    Eggplant or aubergine
    Potatoes
    Lima beans
    Salmon berries
    Saskatoon berries
    Blueberries
    Wild rosehips

    PKYo, to boating

    I just dropped the last of the canal boat crew at the flying boat place, to fly west for the winter.

    Me, I'm already at Euston station, rolling north in 11 minutes, back to the canal. By myself.

    Time for a sad song, covered by John Grant: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CZoEVGYAHfQ

    jonobie, to random
    @jonobie@social.coop avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    PKYo,

    @jonobie

    And the answer is … ?

    If you're like me and get way too focused on whatever, then: "No."

    PKYo, to boating

    At day's end, I tied up the boat near a Canal & River Trust service shack: water, elsan, toilets and shower.

    A shower! 🚿

    I hurried from the boat to the CRT building in only my shorts, T-shirt and shoes, towel and soap in hand. (These places lack clothes hooks, so fewer items is better.) They did have a wooden bench, and a disabled grab handle that I used as a towel rack.

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