Life Afloat

Took a rowboat out across Seattle’s Lake Union to photograph its houseboats (in the US they call these structures floating homes). Verandahs, large windows, solar panels and bright colours are popular but generally there’s little homogeneity in their design. There are certainly some vivid imaginations at work, as in this home with its own totem pole and sculptures of geckos, horses and sea horses.

The rowboat was on loan from the Center for Wooden Boats. I went back to the lake the following week with Tuba who was also attending the nonprofit technology conference. It was a lot windier, fewer boats were sailing and getting the boat back to the center was far trickier, even with two of us rowing.

I went to Seattle for the NTEN nonprofit technology conference. It was a great event but the highlight of my week was sailing and rowing on Lake Union. I just can’t stay away from the water.

The Center for Wooden Boats is a great museum but it’s much more than that: how many museums encourage you to take out the exhibits and have fun with them? The CWB actually loan out their antique wooden boats for the public to enjoy… and encourage them to bump them about. The center also teaches maritime skills and even has a course for families to learn to build their own boat.

On Sunday I joined their free public cruise in an historic sailboat. Quite a different experience to driving a motorised 17 ton steel boat. Afterwards I took a rowing boat across the lake to photograph some of Seattle’s famous houseboats (in the US they prefer to call them “floating homes”), made famous by the film Sleepless in Seattle. Seaplanes take off and land on the water in between the boats, a sometimes unnerving experience when they are speeding in your direction.

Three locks in Camden then moored up outside the outdoor market. Wandered round the shops and took some grub from one of the food stalls back to the boat. I’d just sat down to eat and the boat started rocking violently. Half a dozen kids were jumping up and down on one side of the boat.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to sink your boat.”

“Oh er right. Well it won’t work. Don’t do that again.”

“Sorry.”

I don’t know what confused me more, the confession or the apology. Five minutes later one of the kids jumped from a low bridge onto the roof of a moored narrowboat. Then realised he couldn’t climb back up again and stood there stupidly asking his mates what to do. Did I laugh?

Driving a boat through thin ice makes the most wonderful tinkling sound, and the sight of sheets of ice breaking up amongst small waves is delightful. It hadn’t been a particularly cold weekend but there was still a lot of ice about on Sunday as we drove from Docklands back to Angel.

(Joining a boat called Troll in a lock yesterday, Bristol Fashion hit ice and was embarrassingly deflected, bouncing off the beam then knocking into the other boat. Apparently the square-ish front of my boat causes it to bounce off ice. Troll has amusing trompe l’oeil paintings of a troll peering out of a window on either side. Look out for it!)

A single sheet of ice covered about 40 foot of the canal. Bristol Fashion simply bounced off it on the first few attempts. A crowd soon formed on the towpath; they had never seen a boat stuck by ice before and they wanted to see what I planned to do about it. So I took the boat pole, walked to the front of the boat and whacked the ice hard, barely denting it. That looked stupid.

Took a run up and charged at the ice, opened a crack along its entire length and sailed through the middle. The crowd cheered but I couldn’t help thinking they’d have been more amused if I’d stayed stuck.

The geese are so damn noisy this time of year, I don’t need an alarm clock. They are everywhere in pairs. Honking, fighting and mating all day long.

I’m moored outside the Narrowboat, a great little waterside pub in Angel, North London. The fish and chips is superb. It’s one of my favourite areas to stay: it’s a safe place to leave the boat; a tube station and launderette are nearby; there’s a Borders bookshop where I can spend all evening reading magazines and which has a good nautical section; near the station is a narrow road with interesting antique shops, delicatessens and pubs; and the restaurants and cafes are appealing. It’s got everything I need.

I’m getting comfy here but the law says I can only stay in one place for two weeks at a time and my time’s up. So tomorrow I travel to Limehouse Basin.