The ever present genius that is Sandip Singh emailed me his own proposal for my Dad’s canal boat: The Dan Industries Canal Kraft, or Knightbarge. Pressing the turboboost button causes it to reach speeds of up to seventeen miles per hour.
Thank you sir.
We lasted two days boating in the end. It wasn’t that we didn’t enjoy ourselves, we did. But a baby and an three year old are more suited to day trips than epic journeys. Plus we wanted off the boat before any of us needed to do a poo, therefore avoiding me having to deal with any solids when emptying the chemical toilet.
And anyway it rained. While the downpour only lasted about an hour of the second day, it was the same hour in which we were deciding whether to stay out another day or not.
In total we were gone for twenty eight hours, and during that time we covered a distance of approximately eleven miles. That’s an average speed of 0.4 miles an hour folks.
But on the canals it’s not the destination but the getting there that counts, and it was a wonderfully serene way of spending time together as a family. Even if Evan does snore.
Many thanks as always to my Dad for allowing us to bounce his very expensive boat off the canal walls of Derbyshire. Here are a couple more photo’s. If you want to see more take a look here.
that’s really cool Dan! I’m surprised you lasted that long with the kids
Great pictures, both of you. So are you ready to try that horse-drawn caravan in Ireland yet, Dan?
When I first saw the Batbarge, I failed to notice the similar boat in the background that had people on/in/near it. Failing to notice them, I thought your dad’s boat was huge. Then I saw the picture with you at the helm and Amy navigating (or co-captaining) and realized the boat wasn’t even one-third the size I thought it was. It actually eased my mind a bit because I thought it was a monster boat that you would require a full crew to manage through the locks and dams of the canals. Seems like a really neat boat!!
I wanted to add to my post. That wasn’t the first time I focused on just one part of a picture and failed to notice an important detail. At our base, there is a poster sized picture of a C-130 aircraft flying over a desert. I was really close to the picture trying to focus in on some small structures in the sand. I pondered aloud “I wonder where this is?” My coworker said he was pretty sure it was Egypt. When I asked him what made him think that, he pointed to the upper portion of the picture that was full of the pyramids!! We still laugh every time we walk by that picture.
Now that’s just cool. I would do that in a heartbeat!
I’m curious about one thing though… you all can go 28 hours without a poo?
Deb - Ah… yes… you probably have a point there. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to book that holiday.
Deb - funnily enough, I thought of the caravan trip when we’d all just woken up on the second day and how Amy would love it.
Dwayne - I laughed so much I cried when I read your second comment
Jeff - That isn’t including Evan of course
There was a moment when I was steering and the others were inside, keeping out of the rain. I could see quite a stretch of canal in either direction and there was no-one around. That’s when you remember it’s another world on the water and I had it to myself, which is just fantastic.
I was still rocking when I went to bed though!