Copper Jack is a passenger boat, managed by the Swansea Community Boat Trust. Bookings can be made online and groups ...

Last Thursday we took Brandy Pad out for a couple of nights. We were fortunate to have very pleasant weather ...

Having made the journey from Sharpness down to Portishead, the next day we had to complete the second part of ...

We finally managed to make the trip down the tidal Severn Estuary to Bristol. The trip took around 5 hours ...

This is the last tunnel of our recent trip. It is the Tardebigge tunnel on the Worcester and Birmingham canal, ...

We spent last weekend at Lechlade, a gorgeous spot at the top end of the navigable, non-tidal Thames. This is ...

On the Thames, tonight - the Equinox: Full moon ...

We have been quiet for a while, due to an admin problem which has, fortunately, now been sorted. A couple ...

We have finally made it to Bristol. We travelled from Sharpness down the Severn Estuary to Portishead Marina, where we ...

This video shows going into Upper Lode Lock, and then leaving it. Only one of the paddles that empty the ...

Lastly, this video shows leaving Gloucester Lock and travelling through Gloucester Docks themselves. For context, we had been trying out ...

As we are still moored at Sharpness waiting for the (hopeful) go-ahead to head down towards Bristol, we took a ...

On Friday we travelled from Worcester down to Gloucester on the Severn. We made the same trip last year, but ...

We have finally set off on our trip to Sharpness and then onwards (hopefully) to Bristol. This was the trip ...

We have recently had some work done on the seating at the back of the boat. This is the way ...

Friday evening, 7th May 2021 Click on the image for a full size view ...

Brandy Pad was hauled out of the water on Tuesday and it very quickly became apparent what the problem with the ...

We have finally returned to the boat. After five months, we at long last hope to repair the bow thruster ...

...since our last blog. Not entirely surprising as we haven't been near Brandy Pad for ages, due to the various ...

This is our bow thruster. It has two large batteries on the right (you can only see one of them) ...

A few days ago we came up from the River Severn onto the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal at Stourport.  A ...

This is a screenshot of the navigation map we use while cruising, showing a section of the West Midlands. The ...

It is always necessary to keep on top of maintenance with a boat. Recently, the roof of the "dog box" ...

Moored up early in a pleasant spot today, so I thought you might like to have a look at this ...

We moored up in Worcester last night. It was a very hot day. One of the problems with being on ...

...it seemed like a good idea to post this This is how our lit fire looks during the winter months ...

We are currently moored up at Tixall Wide again, a lovely spot that is, as you can see from the ...

  As Brandy Pad is moored in England, we could, for some time, have visited it - but not stayed ...

We have all been affected by the Coronavirus lockdown, not least those that are living and trying to travel on ...

The current Coronavirus danger is affecting everyone, and we are no exceptions. Our original plans for this year were going ...

...Droitwich Spa Marina. Should be a good day tomorrow ...

Fortunately, not as the result of an emergency, but as part of a Christmas event. On Sunday, 22nd December, The ...

Brandy Pad is now moored up in Droitwich Spa Marina for the winter. We decided that we would move ashore ...

Photo from tonight, 22 October. Click on the image for a larger view ...

We are currently moored at the lovely location of Tixall Wide. So called, I guess, because it is near a ...

We finally managed to get on the move again last Thursday, after being laid up for 3 1/2 days. You ...

Well, this is a first. As I mentioned recently, we are currently on the River Weaver. We have been on ...

We are making our way down the River Weaver towards Runcorn today. As we came around a bend, we suddenly ...

We are back on the River Weaver and moored up near the Anderton Lift again, having come down on it ...

As you will have seen from our last blog, we are currently on the Lancaster Canal. This canal is rather ...

We recently made the crossing from the Leeds and Liverpool canal at Tarleton to the Lancaster canal at Preston. This ...

We recently returned to Liverpool Docks for a few days as we wanted to visit more of the sights. Sadly, ...

...we are still here. It has been a long time since our last post. We have been off the boat ...

....you are going to see. In this case, alongside us in Salthouse Dock, Liverpool! I had heard they were here, ...

We are currently moored up in Salthouse Dock (next to Albert Dock) at Liverpool. The journey to the moorings from ...

...on the Anderton Lift that is! On Wednesday we managed to meet up again with our good friends Rob and ...

..that's one for the Goon Show fans amongst us. Seriously though, a dangerous incident occured on May Bank Holiday Saturday ...

We have recently been travelling down the Fossdyke Canal and the River Witham, having once again fought our way up ...

We recently travelled along the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad Canals, which take you up through Lancashire, and then down the ...

If you occasionally view our Bowcam page, you will probably have seen a few bridges like this: You may even ...

View from the side hatch as we moored up this evening - after a day including 25 locks and a ...

I don't normally post about a day's cruising, but today, as you will know, has been the most gorgeous, sunny ...

This morning was, as you may know, a bit - misty. We came out of the Droitwich Barge Canal onto ...

Yesterday, we came through the Tardebigge tunnel - 580 yards long. Most tunnels are lined with brick (and consequently leak ...

There are few problems that can't easily be overcome on a boat, but this is one of them. This is ...

Or, more to the point, the sound of BREAKING ice. It was a cold night last night (though not inside ...

We moored up at Rugby on Sunday and will be meeting with our friends Rob and Susan on Monday. Rugby ...

....that's basically because we haven't been travelling on the boat much of late. In August, Nick and the family came ...

A few days ago, we moored up at the top of the Tardebigge flight on locks of the Worcester and ...

We have just come back up the river Nene. There are 36 locks between Peterborough and  Northampton and they are ...

One thing about being on the "Middle Levels" (the Fens), they are very flat, which gives you some wonderful Big ...

We are currently on the "Middle Levels Navigation", and visitor moorings are - let's just say very few. The last ...

Well, maybe not quite, but we have just travelled as far east as we believe it is possible to go ...

You may have noticed that there have been no Bowcam pictures recently. The reason for that is the demise of ...

Haven't we been having some beautiful weather recently? In fact, it is the first really sunny, warm weather we have ...

So, Brandy Pad is out of the water yet again. We are having some changes made to our propulsion system, ...

Hard to believe that only 4 days ago I posted a video of the beautiful, sunny spring scenery around us ...

A 360 degree (almost) from the roof of Brandy Pad today: https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sutton pan.mp4 We are near Kings Sutton having failed, ...

We came up the Grand Union canal recently and found ourselves in a location that captured the evolution of transport ...

A week and a half ago Helen and I were discussing how it looked as though Spring was coming early ...

We always keep an eye on the forecast and have been monitoring the current weather for a week or so ...

So, the forecast may be for more cold, wintry weather coming soon, but this morning was absolutely glorious - as ...

Lovely day for a cruise today, with warm, winter sunshine and lots of other boats out and about. When we ...

We have been in Trinity Marina at Hinckley for three weeks now. While we were here, we have endured gales, ...

Well, I've mentioned before that plans are a waste of time as they mostly fail. Today is a classic. We ...

This is where we have been moored for the last two weeks. It is a marina in Hinckley, a rather ...

A while back, Helen lost her keys overboard. We were tying up to take on fuel at the time and ...

Snow overnight and an icy blast today makes me think about the issue of freezing water pipes. Interestingly (well to ...

To all our followers, from Narrowboat Brandy Pad ...

Well, we are finally back in the water again - more precisely, back in the ice! It's surprising how quickly ...

OK, we knew we would possibly get snowed in on the canals, but not like this in the builder's yard ...

So, we are finally back on board. On board, but not yet back on the water. Bluewater Boats have done ...

Brandy Pad has now been in the water for just over a year. Although it could be in the water ...

This is Copperkins ll, with our good friends Rob and Susan aboard. Well, actually just Rob as Susan is behind ...

...

I think I have referred before to the problems of rubbish in the canals. Mainly in urban areas - no ...

Now, I would be the first to acknowledge that I don't exactly have a "Received Pronunciation" English accent. However, I ...

After nearly a year of thinking about it, we finally have a canopy fitted to the stern of Brandy Pad ...

For the first time since Brandy Pad was launched, almost a year ago, the boat has been out of the ...

We've been on the Fossdyke Navigation and river Witham for the last week or so. The navigation was dug by ...

I previously wrote about our adventures on the River Ouse and how challenging it was. Well, that was just a ...

For the beautiful views we find on our doorstep (or bow in this case): ...

Narrowboats are, as I have mentioned before, really designed for narrow canals. At the moment, however, we are on the ...

I have mentioned before the folly of making plans, which inevitably fail. This one was a corker: On our way ...

Brandy Pad is, of course, a narrowboat designed for use on the canals. Now, canals are man-made and designed to ...

So, they said, on our maps, that the Pocklington Canal might be "a bit weedy". Well, they were right: We ...

[video src="https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Naburn-Lock.mp4" /] ...

[video src="https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Ripon-Android_2.mp4" /] ...

After a long hard slog up the tidal River Ouse on Tuesday, fighting the receding tide for the last third ...

Having spent a week moored up in Rodley at a boat yard (a little matter of a leaking water tank, ...

Swing bridge [video src="https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Swing-bridge_1_1_1.mp4" /] ...

Found a particularly beautiful spot to moor in a couple of days ago (before the rain came): Click on the ...

Many canals have (or had) milestones along the way. I guess they would mark progress for the bargees making their ...

While we were in the USA visiting Nick and his family, we left Brandy Pad in a marina at Stretford ...

Hot Weather Those of you that have followed our blog from the beginning may remember me discussing the subject of ...

We are now in the USA visiting the family for a few weeks.  Just before we left we saw the ...

This is a a Great Crested Grebe, as referred to in my last post: Male - I guess. These, however, ...

This evening: [video src="https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20170505_201511.mp4" /] (Spot the Great Crested Grebes) ...

Today is Sunday, 23rd April and it is the first day of this year that we have seen new ducklings ...

One of the more interesting challenges: Well, what the hell do you do when the mooring is banana shaped?  It ...

We came down in this yesterday (Sunday) and met up with my cousin Peter and his wife Sue.  The Anderton ...

...or in this case, canal: ...

We took advantage of the sunny weather of the last couple of days (which we hope you were also enjoying) ...

Last night we moored up near the top of the Montgomery canal, waiting to go up through the Frankton locks ...

A view from the top of the aqueduct today - a beautiful, spring morning (click on the images for a ...

...

Spent last night being battered about by the stormy winds.  Fortunately, I had double-staked the upwind mooring which held throughout ...

Brandy Pad at Chester: (click on images for large view) Seen  from here: As you can see, we are moored ...

You have probably noticed it has been a little stormy recently.  Fortunately, weather forecasting is pretty reliable these days, at ...

Life on the cut never seems to be dull.  Yesterday, we were approaching a lock on our way to Chester ...

This is a bag - as you can see it is a bag of coal, or rather, was a bag ...

It couldn't be a Monday could it?  I go to start the engine for a day's cruising (we want to ...

One of the best things about being out on the canals at this time of year is that there are ...

As we are continually on the move (well, more or less) you may think this makes dealing online for purchases ...

So, I have this problem - perhaps you can help me with it?  It happens all the time and it ...

Timelapse video of a trip through the tunnel [video src="https://brandypad.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/6th-Jan.mp4" /] ...

A little late posting this.  Well, Christmas is a time for relaxing and not having to think too much isn't ...

Even at this time of year, there is a surprising amount of wildlife about.  The score to date (in the ...

So, the other day I was wondering what acceleration was like on Brandy Pad, so we came to a complete ...

So, after 4 weeks in the marina, we are FINALLY able to set off on our travels.  I sold the ...

This morning sees the first ice since we arrived in the marina.  Not severe, and it wouldn't stop us moving ...

Last night was really cold apparently - but not on Brandy Pad. Thanks to the thick coating of insulation, the ...

So, we've been on board just over two weeks now.  It is taking time to sort out some loose ends ...

Although Brandy Pad was actually launched a week ago (November 9th) it has been a very hectic week and I am ...

Well if there is one thing we have already learned about boating it is that if you make a plan, ...

Due to a closure of Saltford Lock, which would have resulted in us being stuck in Bristol Harbour until Christmas, ...

Getting near the launch date now, and Brandy Pad has officially been named ...

A recent trip to visit Brandy Pad at Bluewater Boats meant we could catch up on progress - which has been ...

We are well under way with the business of moving.  Of course, most of you will have experienced it yourselves, ...

The Corian worktops have now been fitted and the galley is starting to look fit for purpose - although there ...

Brandy pad is now starting to take on some real shape. Bobby from Bluewater Boats is hard at work building the ...

Had a lot of fun yesterday (Saturday 25th June).  We received our first visitors to Brandy Pad.  It was a Bluewater ...

Visited Brandy Pad recently to discuss a few things with Bluewater Boats and see how things are progressing.  Not a whole ...

In an earlier post I said I would return to the subject to of loos.  So, here we go.  If ...

Interestingly, keeping the cold out (more to the point, the heat in) is easier than keeping the heat out.  In this ...

Now that the steelwork has been completed and painted, it is time to start on the interior. In this photo, ...

This is the first time Brandypad has moved into the daylight.   It is a short journey of just a ...

...steel that is!  The boat has now been to the shot-blasting workshop.  Next thing is for the hull to be ...

And now the main steelwork is done.  Helen gets to see our new home for the first time and I ...

Now the sides are in place.  These photos show the boat from the stern, one looking through the interior of ...

Building the steel-work takes time. Today, the roof is being attached.  I guess the sides will be next.  Looks rough at ...

We now have a drawing of the approximate final layout. This drawing is made primarily so that the guys doing ...

As the build continues, the time has come to start acquiring the items that we are providing for the boat ...

So, I have finally made a trip to Bluewater Boats and have actually been able to touch Brandy Pad!  The ...

Ever wondered how you build a narrowboat?  This is how it begins and we are really excited to see these ...

Well, finally managed to get the website running again.  If you were trying to message us (and somebody was) apologies ...