How is a narrowboat built? That's what this vlog aims to answer, looking at the construction process from the very first pieces of steelwork forming the baseplate, via an awful lot of welding up to a finished shell which can then be insulated and fitted out.

When taking the narrowboat to a marina for work on the bilge and also to get the hull blacked, I noticed that the batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge and also that the alternator was disturbingly warm.

In October last year I headed along the North Oxford canal to Hillmorton Marina where they have a little dockside crane, suitable to lift an engine out of a boat.

This vlog picks up immediately where the last one left off, as I head from Hillmorton Wharf to Yelvertoft marina where I had the boat taken out of the water and into their shiny new boat shed for blacking.

What do narrowboat brokers do and should you use one, either to sell or buy a boat? These questions and more are answered in a sit-down interview with James Millsop of brokerage firm Rugby Boats, based at Stowe Hill Wharf in Weedon, Northamptonshire.

This is Part 1 of a three part mini-series about classic / vintage narrowboat engines as often heard chugging past on the canal. In this episode, I talked to Chris Wenham aboard NB Herbert about his Russell Newbury engine. He tells me why he bought it, why he likes it so much - and how much polishing it needs!

This is Part 2 of a three part mini-series about classic / vintage narrowboat engines as often heard chugging past on the canal. In this episode, I talked to Rob Goodman about his 1940s-era Kelvin K2 and its unusual starting procedure!

The third and final part (for the moment) in this mini-series about unusual, rare and vintage narrowboat engines. Here we meet Keith Lodge who had a replica working boat built to his specification including a two-cylinder National DA2 engine from 1949.

Every winter the Canal & River Trust shut parts of the network down for a time in order to do maintenance which often includes taking out broken or old lock gates and replacing them. New lock gates are not something you can just order in from Amazon however, so the CRT have to make their own and in this video I visited their Birmingham workshop to see how the process works.

Every Spring Bank Holiday, London's Little Venice hosts the IWA (Inland Waterways Association) "Cavalcade", a gathering and procession of narrowboats celebrating life afloat. I'd been meaning to visit for ages but finally found the time this year - and I bumped into some special guests on the way!

Can you buy a canal narrowboat if you're not from the UK?

When I received a panicked phone call from The Narrowboat Experience, who were stuck half way up the Grand Union canal and just too tired to carry on, of course I had to help.

Following a few recent questions and comments from viewers, here is a beginners guide to how electrics work on a narrowboat. It may also have general relevance to people in campervans, motorhomes, caravans and RVs although there are slight differences but the gist is similar.

On a beautiful sunny day in June I drove to Wales for an experience of the canals as they used to be, with the boat drawn by horse! The animal in question is called Cracker and he works for Bywater Cruises.

After all the work I went to last year in re-sealing the chimney collar on my narrowboat, I was disappointed during winter to find white grungy muck dribbling down the flue inside the boat onto the top of the stove.

In the second of my Autumn cruising videos for 2018, I leave Norton Junction on a blustery morning and turn 90 degrees right, to head south down the Grand Union canal on my narrowboat. The first thing to deal with is the Buckby lock flight of seven locks, then it's just a couple of miles to a mooring at Weedon Bec.

Another little jaunt along the Grand Union canal in the narrowboat saw me departing from Weedon after a pleasant couple of days, and heading towards Gayton Junction. On the way, I stopped to refill the water tank and met a lot of boats coming north from Stoke Bruerne after a big event that's held there every year. I end this vlog about a mile before Gayton so as to stop in the countryside.

My autumn jaunt along the Grand Union canal continues as I take the boat from Stoke Bruerne (where I can't get a decent 4G mobile signal) towards Cosgrove but I end up mooring in the lovely countryside. En route there's an awful lot of pretty countryside to stare at.

At the start of September 2018 I joined Jo and Michael of "Minimal List" as well as London Boat Girl, Lorna, and we went on a rather exciting and interesting voyage up the tidal river Thames from Limehouse lock to Teddington. Narrowboats are not at all designed for any swirly waters so the choppiness of the tidal Thames around Limehouse, London Bridge and the Houses of Parliament makes for an interesting - and wobbly - experience which requires confidence and a steely hand on the tiller, all of which Michael has in spades.

After a few days at different places in Milton Keynes, it was time for me to move on but the weather had different ideas and a tree across the canal put paid to movement for an evening. Eventually I was able to get going again and back out into the countryside, ending up near Stoke Hammond.

In my continuing narrowboat adventures for autumn 2018 I finally exit Milton Keynes and out into the countryside through Soulbury and down towards Leighton Buzzard and Linslade, where I stop to restock my food supplies at a very handy mooring next to a supermarket, then go on to the countryside again, almost not getting a mooring due to low water levels.

Continuing my Autumn 2018 cruise down the Grand Union canal, I head from near Slapton lock to Marsworth, going through about nine locks and one swing bridge in the process. A lovely - but long (ish) day.

Filmed in the last week of September 2018, this was the last part on my autumn cruise in which I headed south; the plan always was to turn around at the end of the month and go back. For logistical reasons - LOTS of upcoming locks! - it also made sense to do a 180 degree turn at this point.

Having turned around at Cowroast, my narrowboat journey on the Grand Union canal now continued north but with a diversion down the short length of the restored Wendover Arm. The navigable canal is only about 1.5 miles long so far and I found it quite narrow and shallow but quite scenic. I moored right at the far end where there's a large winding hole. Then I went back up the Arm and down the Marsworth locks before pausing one lock before the end of the flight.

Starting from just above Stoke Hammond lock, in this trip I did a mammoth journey (for me) on a beautiful sunny October day, up through Milton Keynes, continuing through Cosgrove and ultimately ending up at Yardley Gobion where there was a boatyard I could ask about a newly-found and substantial diesel leak on my engine.

After several days at Yardley Gobion, during which time I had the boatyard opposite look at - and hopefully fix - the diesel leak, I carried on with my return journey up the Grand Union canal, going back through Gayton, up the Stoke Bruerne locks and up through Blisworth tunnel (no signs of any ghosts this time round).

After several weeks, at last I embarked on the final leg of my autumn 2018 cruise along the Grand Union canal, the return stretch taking me from Blisworth, through Gayton, Weedon, Norton Junction and ultimately to Braunston. Video includes me singing, please exercise appropriate caution.