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The Wrong Way Round: Being the (mis)adventures of Sgt. Pepsi and Miss Mavis Ming on board NB Hekla
In the beginning there was the Plan. And like all good plans it was thoroughly researched and meticulously, erm, planned, and with various alternative back-up plans in place. Then The Plan meets The Canal - eventually you come to realise that plans mean nothing! They pale into insignificance and wither away like an ethereal dream. Plans and "Living the Dream" on a narrowboat are polar opposites, the Ying and Yang of existence. You encounter Canal Time - that special dimension where the Spanish phrase Mañana would be appropriate, except Canal Time does not countenance such a sense of urgency! Take the title of this book, for example. How to describe the circumstances where a canal journey of 149 miles and 51 locks in around 2 weeks, actually took four months, 650 miles (including a tidal river) and 441 locks. (oh, and losing 2 waist sizes in the process)? An essential read for anyone who is contemplating buying and living on a narrowboat - to learn how *not* to do it. Stop - I have just had a serious telling off! Book cover design and artwork by the lovely Lesley Pearson
164 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 6, 2017
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June 8, 2017
A charming tale of Rob and Lesley's first four months aboard their new (to them) narrowboat, Hekla. It describes their (many) trials and (many) tribulations in their journey to home waters from the Shropshire Union canal to the Chesterfield Canal, going, as the title suggests, The Wrong Way Round.
The book captures the somewhat frustrating nature of "planning" a journey on the UK's canal system only to find that the canal gods (may they be eternally praised) have other ideas. In the book, we find Rob and Lesley meet all the usual challenges of newly committed (and Rob should be) 'live-aboards' - engine troubles, canal troubles, winter stoppages, rivers in flood and never quite being where you intended.
It's a salutary tale for all those who would plan such a lifestyle with experiences and places well described (OK, some just in passing, but from my own experience, knowing that somewhere is 'good' is important) and I would highly recommend this as an eye-opener to anyone who would consider living aboard as a continuous cruiser. Many consider the lifestyle an inexpensive and trouble-free alternative to bricks and mortar, but as you will see from this wonderful book, things are never quite as straight-forwards as they seem.
The book captures the somewhat frustrating nature of "planning" a journey on the UK's canal system only to find that the canal gods (may they be eternally praised) have other ideas. In the book, we find Rob and Lesley meet all the usual challenges of newly committed (and Rob should be) 'live-aboards' - engine troubles, canal troubles, winter stoppages, rivers in flood and never quite being where you intended.
It's a salutary tale for all those who would plan such a lifestyle with experiences and places well described (OK, some just in passing, but from my own experience, knowing that somewhere is 'good' is important) and I would highly recommend this as an eye-opener to anyone who would consider living aboard as a continuous cruiser. Many consider the lifestyle an inexpensive and trouble-free alternative to bricks and mortar, but as you will see from this wonderful book, things are never quite as straight-forwards as they seem.
Displaying 1 of 1 review