Hail to the Hive!

We have now, as of this week, reached the 1 year anniversary of not only our return to the UK from the Philippines but our 1 year anniversary afloat living aboard badger the Narrowboat.

After 7 years of managing a Scuba Diving Centre in Cebu, Philippines the whole covid pandemic pulled the rug out from beneath us.

Going from full on hectic, exciting days of backpackers and divers coming through the doors to come dive the beautiful waters of the Tañon Strait.

To lockdown at home. Which to be honest was pretty good as we had a great location.

With superb views and plenty of beer. So at this point, lockdown was good. But as things went on I became painfully aware that the tourism industry was going to get an all mighty kick in the bollocks and I didn't see it standing up very quickly afterwards either. So we needed an escape plan. A plan 'B' if you will.

So Hive account@millycf1976 and myself remembered an idea we had looked into many years ago. Living on a narrowboat. We spoke about it and both liked the idea as we had really wanted to do it before. So we decided to go for it and in March 2021 we landed at heathrow airport and were taken to Badger directly as we'd had a friend purchase her for us so we had somewhere to live as soon as we landed.

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After 10 days quarantine we started to explore the waterways. The restrictions in the UK were loosening at the same time so it worked out beautifully for us as we started to move in slow motion and figure out how this life actually worked.

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Using canal apps on my I Pad I was able to see where water points and waste disposal points were as well as figure out which canals we would have to take to get to our first destination, Leicester, to see family and friends.

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You have to get used to the fact that you get nowhere fast on a narrowboat. A 30 minute drive in a car will take days on the canal 😁. But you are moving your home with you so there is that.

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Not all canals have the exact same lock mechanisms and they come in all different depths and sizes but we slowly as a team found our way and learned how to deal with them and to be honest as much as they slow you down, they really are part of the charm of the canal system. They're pretty cool 200 year old engineering in my eyes.

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Hive account@millycf1976 is my Lock Queen!

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The freedom to explore is something you never grow weary of.

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Visiting historic Towns such as Stratford Upon Avon ( Shakespeare Country) and being able to moor at no cost in the city centre..... well that's just amazing. No hotels needed!

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Being what they call continuous cruises means we roam constantly.

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Home is wherever we moor the boat and the freedom is liberating....

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Until we broke down.

We had an enormous amount of help from an old friend from the Philippines ( hey less of the Old!) Hive account@diveratt.

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He got us going a few times.

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But we also needed a tow on occasion courtesy of a friendly boater.

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We all got stuck in re painting "blacking" the hull.

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Hive account@millycf1976 was a dab hand at this.

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We had the old knackered engine removed

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And replaced with a brand new shiny green piece of loveliness.

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This was a happy day indeed giving us so much more confidence in Badger and in the journeys that we planned to undertake.

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Visiting my hometown of leicester twice in the 1st year and being able to moor in the city centre, at no cost, was superb. A great way to visit home and see family and friends.

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Cruising through the UK countryside admiring the beauty is really quite special.

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With some absolutely idyllic locations that we can just stay at and call home for a week or so. I mean

How cool is that?

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Cruising at night when we've underestimated how long it will take to get somewhere has been on occasion both really cool and atmospheric and also a little scary.
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There is of course always the british weather to contend with but usually we just stop and make a coffee and wait for it to get better....... hopefully.

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And then of course there was dealing with our first winter in 8 years and our first on a boat ever. Hive account@millycg1976 had a dalmation onesie to snuggle up in for a while

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Until we got a proper multi fuel burner for wood and coal installed.

Luckily a friend had a bit of know how and did it for us.

And wow! What a difference i really don't know how we would have coped without it.

I could even find and chop my own wood!

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How awesome is that!

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And now as the 1 year comes up we find ourselves in an amazing location in Wales challenging my fear of heights crossing aqueducts that are both very high

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