#diesel ten

[brendambois]

The execution in this scene is perfect.

The way Diesel Ten talks, the way his engine revs when he cackled that third time, the fact his body sways when he cackles, and when he stops cackling, inhales while looking up, then when he looks back down and goes "yeess", like, DAMN. They did not need to go so hard and with this ending, the give us day of the diesels.

[that0neartist]

🌸UHHH EJRNEORNENEIRJ

🌸TAKE TTTE CHARACTERS + OCS AND MAKES THEM PHANTOM OF THE OPERA WHOOPS

BONUS:

🌸Worm James.

[dieseltentrillion]

Boats too

[cheerfullycatholic]

Who's gonna get whacked by the snowstorm? It's supposed to get me the next two days and I'm kinda excited tbh 👀

ARE Y'ALL PREPARED?!

[sudriantraveler]

Bigg City Port's Newest Addition - Traintober Day 13: Something New

Both Stars and Z-Stacks watched as the new tug, its wheelhouse still covered in tarpaulin, glided almost silently out from the fitters wharf.

Hardly any smoke emerged from its short clean stack, and instead of the rhythmic pulse of a steam engine, only the low growl of a diesel announced its movement.

Lucky’s Yard had certainly outdone themselves with their latest project.

[specialtrees01]

Original TUGS Trainz Scene

Based on a scene that's present in the 2nd draft script to "Sunshine", I give you a loose adaption of that scene, in Trainz and with voice actors!

My first time doing anything Trainz related, so I hope you all enjoy!

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Since Vin Diesel wants to bring in Robert Downey, Jr. for the final “Fast and Furious” movie, I have an idea.

In the big, dramatic trailer for Fast 11 (or 12 depending if Diesel makes another movie since Universal requested it), we see RDJ playing this Elon Musk-type supervillain. He starts saying these vague villain lines, like, “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. It’s time I finish what you and your people started. This time, Toretto, you won’t be so lucky.”

Tyrese says something like, “Damn man, this guy’s got drone cars and satellites that shoot laser beams! How the hell we supposed to fight him!”

Ludacris follows up with, “He said that he wants to finish what we started. Dom…who is this guy?”

We then get a flashback…to the FIRST movie. It’s then revealed, through the magic of CGI, that RDJ is playing the KJ truck driver who Dom and Letty tried to rob. It’s the guy who tried killing Vince with a shotgun after he jumped onto his truck.

In the years since the first movie, the truck driver eventually took over the company he was transporting goods for, which was all part of his master plan to finally kill Dom and his family once and for all.

[emilykat-artblog18]

Tillie’s Travels: Far From Port

(chapter 5)

.:: Missing Tug ::.

Meanwhile in Bigg City Port…

The storm had long passed in Bigg City Port but it had caused a great amount of trouble throughout the port.

Luckily all of my tugs had survived the ordeal, but there was plenty of work for them to do that day.

“The railway bridge down the canal has collapsed during the storm so Big Mac, Warrior, you two are to help with repairing it with Mighty Mo.”

“Right away Captain,” Warrior affirmed,

“Meanwhile Top Hat, you’re to report to the Railhead and help with taking away any destroyed rolling stock to Burke and Blair’s yard.”

Top Hat hooted his whistle and departed from the Star Pier,

“O.J and Sunshine, you two are to head up River to help Billy Shoepack and Little Ditcher clear any fallen trees and to see if Boomer made it through just fine afterwards you’re to go dredging in the estuary, the dump, and the quarry in case any rocks or garbage were blown into the water,”

“Yes sir!” Sunshine chirped and followed O.J to the Up River canal.

“and finally as for you Ten Cents,”

“Yes Captain Star?” Ten Cents acknowledged,

“You and Tillie are to head to the various piers in the harbor and help retrieve or take away any cargo that may have been tossed or destroyed by the storm.”

“Right then sir,” and Ten Cents headed off to the Coal Depot to reload on coal and to tell Tillie their jobs that day.

When Ten Cents arrived however, Tillie wasn’t there.

“Strange,” Ten Cents commented.

At that moment Tianna, a J50, came puffing up with a very anxious look.

“Did Tillie return to the Railhead last night?” Ten Cents puzzled,

Tianna frowned, “No, did she not end up morning at the Star dock with the rest of you tugs?”

“No, I’m afraid she didn’t,” Ten Cents faltered, “Maybe she ended up mooring off somewhere else when the storm hit.”

“Hope you find her soon!” Tianna called worryingly as Ten Cents headed to the Railhead.

At the Railhead, Ten Cents found Top Hat waiting with Frank and Eddie as Little Owl shunted cars onto the two rail barges.

“Ten Cents, have you not found Tillie yet? You two have plenty of jobs to do today,” Top Hat huffed.

“I know Top Hat, I haven’t found her yet but I was wondering, when was the last time you last saw her?” Ten Cents quizzed.

Top Hat thought for a moment, “Well, the last time I saw Tillie, she was taking her barges to the Melon Produce Warehouse. She said that it was her last delivery.

“Is that all?” Ten Cents quizzed,

“If I knew anything else I’d tell you.” Top Hat replied bluntly.

“Alright, thanks anyways.” Ten Cents sighed

Ten Cents departed from Railhead and made his way to the Melon Produce Warehouse. When he arrived, it was in quite a state: cargo had been blown off the quay and into the surrounding water, Tillie’s barges were tied in their place despite the mess however. But there wasn’t any sign of Tillie anywhere and Ten Cents was getting more worried for her.

“Where could she be?” Ten Cents pondered as he helped to retrieve any spilled cargo out of the water.

As Ten Cents finished he spotted something differently colored floating on top some splintered wood aways from him, he chugged up to it and realized it was a torn piece of a light lavender ribbon.

“That’s… That’s Tillie’s ribbon.” Ten Cents examined, looking up to the direction of where the ribbon went out in the open ocean, Ten Cents felt his boiler churn.

His crew grabbed the ribbon and in order to make haste he headed out to Dem Der rocks.

When Ten Cents arrived at Dem Der rocks, he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t see Tillie holed on the rocks but it didn’t make any sense to him.

If she wasn’t swept onto the rocks from the storm, where else could she have been? As Ten Cents turned back to port he heard a foghorn.

He looked where he heard it and saw it was coming from Lillie Lightship.

“Lillie?” Ten Cents uttered.

“Ten Cents!” Lillie shouted trying to get his attention.

Ten Cents’s boiler bubbled and he hurried over to Lillie; As he drew closer he noticed that she looked distressed, her mascara was running as if she had been crying the whole evening.

“Lillie! Lillie what’s the matter? Are you sinking again?” Ten Cents panted out of breath.

“No, it’s not that, Ten Cents, but something awful happened last night!” Lillie wept

“What? What happened..?” Ten Cents plead.

“It’s Tillie… she was swept out to sea by the storm.” Lillie blubbered.

The news hit Ten Cents hard like a stone.

“I saw her being taken away by the currents, I tried to radio for help but… a ferocious wave swept Tillie away into the open ocean. I couldn’t make it to her if I tried… it was too late, all I could do was listen to her cries for help… I’m very sorry” Lillie lamented on the verge of tears.

Ten Cents comforted Lillie the best he could, he felt bad for Lillie but he knew he had to tell me immediately about what happened to Tillie.

Ten Cents chugged as fast as he could back to the pier. I practically could hear him panting outside my office. I went to my megaphone and called out to him,

“What’s the rush, Ten Cents?”

“Captain, Tillie’s been swept out to sea!” Ten Cents cried in exhaustion.

“Oh dear, well… I’m afraid there’s not much we can do at the moment, Ten Cents. Hercules is away working in another port and communications with other harbors are down due to trees taking out the power lines at Control. You’ll just have to carry out your duties on your own until all these inconveniences are rectified.”

Ten Cents didn’t like the sound of this but what more could be done? As he worked he thought long and hard about the current circumstances, as he was helping to clean up a pier, O.J. paddled over to him,

“Penny for your thoughts?” he queried.

Ten Cents told him what happened to Tillie and the old paddle wheeler listened closely.

“Oh dear… and there’s nothing that can be done to get Tillie back?” O.J. added,

“Not at the moment. With communications down and Hercules not around there’s nothing anyone can do, but I can't just sit here and not do anything either. Tillie’s probably out there by herself in who knows where.” Ten Cents maintained,

“And what are you going to do then, lad?” O.J. quizzed,

“Well… this might sound crazy but, I was thinking of going out to find her on my own.” declared Ten Cents

O.J. was taken aback, “Are you sure about it lad?”

“Yes, I'm sure. If no one else can, I can at least try.” affirmed Ten Cents

“Ten Cents, while I appreciate your bravery and persistence to bring Tillie back, I don’t think it’s possible to do it on your own. How would you even know where Tillie ended up or if she even did end up anywhere at all?”

“I’ll ask Lillie where she saw her swept away, then I’ll travel to the nearest port and ask around, if she’s not there then I’ll travel to the next until I reach the last possible port,” Ten Cents explained

“and if she isn’t there...” he began again before O.J. interrupted him

“It's a bold plan Ten Cents, but you couldn’t possibly last the journey out there, not without enough coal or water.”

“Then I’ll… borrow some barges here and load up on more at the ports” Ten Cents persisted

O.J was about to interject again but Ten Cents cut him off before he could.

“Even if she’s nowhere, at least I tried. And if I run out of coal and water along the way or back, so be it, I’ll still try to find a way to press on” Ten Cents vowed

O.J didn’t know what to say, he took a deep breath and chose his last words carefully.

“Alright lad, as long as you know what you’re doing, then I wish you luck.” OJ said before heading back to work.

Ten Cents continued his work as usual but throughout the day he slowly began putting his plan into action.

Ten Cents had put the first step of his plan into action. He had to be careful the best he could as if he was caught taking barges, much like Zebedee did once during the high wind season, he’d be in big trouble. Ironically though he went to the coal depot and picked up a coal barge, as he was turning to leave he heard an engine whistling trying to get his attention.

“Hey Ten Cents, where are you off to? Have you found Tillie yet?” Tianna called with a slight panic in her voice.

Ten Cents stopped and tried to think of what to say, “Uh… no I’m afraid I haven’t,” he started, Tianna’s face fell, “The truth is she had been pulled out to sea, once communications with the other ports are back on, Captain Starr will send Hercules to go searching for her” Ten Cents reassured her.

This managed to put Tianna’s mind at ease for a moment, “Okay then Ten Cents,” Tianna said with a small smile, “But where are you going with that coal barge? I thought you were scheduled to help clean up the harbor”.

“I uh… Captain Starr wanted me to take coal to one of the factories. He said it was important,” Ten Cents fumbled.

“Alright then, well good luck with that, I hope Tillie gets found soon though,” Tianna said finally.

“So do I…” Ten Cents said as he headed to the waterworks for a water barge. Little did he know however that another tug was watching him from afar.

Ten Cents crept into the waterworks and tied onto one of the water barges near the dock. As he was about to pull away he heard a voice,

“Where do you think you’re going with that?”

Ten Cents turned towards where he heard the voice and then he froze. It was Zorran.

“Shouldn’t you be clearing the docks with that other switcher friend of yours?” Zorran snarled.

“Uh no, Captain Starr took me off that for another job.” Ten Cents quivered.

“I see, did it require you to deliver water and coal to a client?” Zorran added

“Yeah.” Ten Cents replied.

“You’re lying, No one’s been giving out orders because the telegraphs are down because of the storm last night.” Zorran snapped.

Ten Cents went pale.

“I’ll be sure to report this to your Captain. I’m sure he won’t be pleased to hear one of his tugs have committed mutiny.”

“Now wait just a minute Zorran, I-”

Ten Cents was interrupted by the sound of a horn and the humming of an engine approaching. Zorran too was silent,

“Now what’s going on here huh?” quizzed Jacob,

Jacob was a Diesel Tug built at Lucky’s Yard. He did odd jobs around the port but he had no allegiance to the Stars or the Z-stacks.

Zorran scowled, “None of your business Jacob.”

“Well I’m here, so it is my business. Unless you don’t want to have a problem, you’d clear out of here.” Jacob said bluntly.

Zorran scoffed and then he puffed slowly away.

“Thank you for that Jacob, I’ll be on my way now,” Ten Cents sighed.

“Not so fast,” Jacob said, blocking Ten Cents’ way.

“You’ve gotta tell me what's the deal with that load of yours”

“Yeah? And what if I don’t?” Ten Cents growled.

“I’ll report your thefts to the coast guard. He won’t be pleased with this, nor will Captain Starr when he finds out,” Jacob dagged.

Ten Cents gave in and told Jacob his plan. The Diesel Tug was perplexed by it all,

“There, can I go now?” Ten Cents hissed.

“Not yet.” Jacob smirked,

“I must commemorate your willingness to go out and search for your work colleague as stupid as it may be. It’s no loss if you wind up lost with her, however I’ll keep this a secret under one condition:”

Jacob paused.

“Yeah? What?” Ten Cents queried.

“You let me do all your jobs in your absence.” Jacob finished.

Ten Cents was worried. He didn’t want anyone else to know he was leaving to find Tillie. He didn’t know if he could trust Jacob but what choice did he have?

“Alright Jacob, you have my permission,” Ten Cents caved.

“Good. Leave these barges with me, I’ll meet you at Burke and Blair’s yard tonight to give them to you” Diesel instructed.

“Why there?” asked Ten Cents.

“It’s the most discreet place for you to depart from. Not to mention, you have work to finish today.” Jacob explained.

“Oh uh alright then.”

The two parted ways, as Ten Cents went to see Lillie.

“The storm swept her northward,” Lillie explained through her streaking make-up,

“I only hope she’s alright.”

“So do I,” Ten Cents said before steaming back to Port.

Ten Cents helped Sunshine dredge in the estuary for the rest of the day. He didn’t talk much during the operation, he was beginning to have doubts about his decisions; Not just to go out to look for Tillie but to give his work to Jacob to keep his plan a secret.

“Everything alright Ten Cents?” Sunshine puzzled.

“Not really,” Ten Cents sighed, “Sunshine, if you had to do a good thing at the cost of something bad would you do it?”

Sunshine pondered for a moment, “Well it depends I suppose. How beneficial would this good thing be, and what would the cost be?”

“It benefits you and our fleet personally, but it costs well… I don’t know, it's hard to explain” Ten Cents stammered.

Sunshine conceded, “So something similar to what happened a couple 4th Julys ago?”

“Well yeah,” Ten Cents admitted, “We could’ve gotten into a lot of trouble with the Navy for that maneuver”

“Indeed, but we didn’t and you know why?”

Ten Cents was about to reply but Sunshine interjected, “Because Captain Starr understood our intentions and he forgave us.”

Ten Cents added, “And you said before that that friends are valuable”

“Not sure what that’s got anything to do with this conversation but if the good thing is as important as our mates then I’d say it’s worth doing” Sunshine smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ten Cents said, “thank you Sunshine”.

“Any time Ten Cents.” Sunshine winked.

That night Ten Cents crept out of the dock and steamed towards Burke and Blair’s yard where he found Jacob.

“It's all here for ya,” Jacob called in a hushed voice,

Ten Cents mosied over to his “borrowed” barges.

“I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up. Do you know how hard it was to sneak these things here without those two demons knowing?” Jacob huffed.

“Well I’m here now and I’m going through with this” Ten Cents retorted.

“You do know you’re going to be in trouble regardless if you come back with that friend of yours right?” Jacob quizzed.

Ten Cents shot him a dirty look,

“I’m just saying,” Jacob sighed, “This friend of yours must mean a lot to you if you’re willing to do this.”

“She does,” Ten Cents admitted,

Jacob gagged “You’ve got a lot of guts, a stupid kind of guts but guts nonetheless. Good luck out there.”

Ten Cents headed out of the port; he didn't know whether or not to be thankful or slightly suspicious about Jacob but he knew he had to do one thing, find and bring home Tillie.

[End of Chapter 5]

<-Previous Chapter • Next Chapter ->

[brendambois]

OH

OH

OH MY GOD

THIS IS SO PEAK

Back on Track! - Steamers 'n' Stations / Diesel's Depot

Here's some more engines who'll be puffing about in this AU, did these as a practice to get more used to redesigning the engines in this new style!

And wanted to pracitce some enviorment/buildings too, for two key stations nicknamed 'Big Tee' and 'Big Vee' - Why they're called that? You'll have to find out,, 👀

[dwarfman403-blog]

The opening 10 minutes of “The Fate of the Furious” (2017) was such a feel good sequence! The movie could have ended there and I would have been like, “yeah, that was a good movie” and walked away a better man

[that0neartist]

🌸D10 X STARLIGHT SHIPPERS GET Y'ALL'S JUICE

🌸of course I had to make a goddess train that's best friends with Lady and OF COURSE I GOTTA SHIP HER WITH TEN- DON'T @ ME- IT'S BASED OFF RP STUFF I'VE DONE WITH MY FRIEND SHERLOCKIACAT

🌸Made it a long while ago, I definitely need to draw more 😔

[thecoffeelorian]

24 Hours Le-effft!! HEE HEE HEE!

@vessels-cape: fixed. 😎

[homocorn]

so much facking NOISE lately shut the up !!!!!

[obaewankenope]

American to English translation for fic

So I read and write fanfic, as do lots of others, and I've noticed that when it comes to British shows or movies, Americanisms or American terms crop up often. It's mostly because most don't know we have specific terms for things in the UK, and I've seen references here and there before, but I've decided to write one of my own. Feel free to add to it tho! I'm gonna put it up on Ao3 too and any additions, I'll reference the tumblr and link them on Ao3 too.

AO3 link is here!!

Anyway, here we go I guess.

Some Americanisms to English-isms

Gas = fuel/petrol/diesel (we tend to specify the type of fuel the vehicle uses, diesel vehicle or petrol vehicle for example)

Gas station = petrol/fuel station

Gas court = petrol/fuel court, or sometimes forecourt (not often with this one tho)

License plate = registration plate/reg

Diner = cafe

Fast-food = takeaway (this is sort of interchangeable. McDonald's is called fast food, a meal from a pizza place that delivers is takeaway)

Motel = hotel

Side-note: We tend to use specific named hotel chains like Premier Inn (or Prem-Inn for short) or Holiday Inn or Travelodge. We also have Britannia Hotels and several others. If the fic is based in a specific place, local hotels or famous ones may be better options. For example, in Liverpool, we have The Shankly or Adelphi.

Cab = taxi or black hac for a specific type of taxi.

Side-note: These are what you see in BBC Sherlock, for example, and are a UK staple. They're less popular or common-place nowadays but there are dedicated taxi companies that use them. There's on in my town that operates until 4pm each day. They are also usually more expensive than a car taxi but they have oodles of space and you can have a pram/buggy kept upright rather than folded-down in them which is brilliant.

Cop = police officer

Side note: more informal, colloquial terms include "copper", "the fuzz", "tit-head" (because of the nipple hat okay, just look up the hat, it's hilarious), "bobby", "rozzer" (pronounced r-o-z-er not Row-zer), and "the bill" (there's an actual show called this btw. It can be a good reference for anyone writing crime fic in UK). There's more but those are the most common. Older terms do include "peelers" and "old bill".

Second side-note: the police have a whole host of terms, colloquial and slang that can be a great thing to include in fic, which I'll link a glossary of here. It's not all UK centric but cross-country policing is a thing so that may just be a boon imho. Also the short-hand acroynmns used are useful so here's a link to the Metropolitan Police glossary of those too!

Patrolman = constable or police constable

Antenna = aerial or TV aerial

Fall (season) = autumn

Bill = banknote or specifically "tenner", "fiver", "twenny" (not "twenty"). We don't have single banknotes like a dollar bill. We have pound coins

Dimes, nickels, etc = pound coin, two-pound coin, fifty-pence, penny, two-pence, five-pence, ten-pence, twenty-pence (link here about the coin currency)

Drug store = chemist or pharmacy

Optometrist = optician

Primary care physician = GP (general practitioner) here's a link about UK medical terms for doctors etc

Side-note: here's a link about medical terminologies etc between American and UK

Social security number = national insurance number

Liquor store = off-license or, specifically, Bargain Booze™

Liquor = spirits (usually)

Store = shop

Target, Walmart, etc = honestly, it's probably gonna be Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons, ALDI or Lidl

Superstore = supermarket

Shopping cart = shopping trolley or just "trolley"

Yard-sale = car-boot/car-bootie/car-boot sale

Attorney = barrister or solicitor (solicitors you go to for legal help, barristers tend to be involved in actual court matters, like a the Crown Prosecution Service), here's a link that explains it better

Janitor = caretaker

French-fries = chips (although McDonald's French-fries are just that, French-fries)

Intersection = crossroad

Highway/freeway = motorway

Interstate = usually an A-road or a motorway, we don't really have interstates here)

Overpass = flyover

Turnpike = toll motorway

Windshield = windscreen

Trunk of a car = boot or car boot

Hood of a car = bonnet or car bonnet

Truck = lorry

Sedan = saloon car

Blowout = puncture or flat tyre

Pavement = road

Sidewalk = path

Subway = underground (like the London Underground)

Drapes = curtains (though we do use "drapes" we tend to say "curtains" more)

Pacifier = dummy or "dodo" or "dodi"

Diaper = nappie or a pull-up (if its like underwear for toddlers)

Baby crib = baby cot (though we do use "crib", we tend to say "cot" more)

Baby carriage/pushchair/stroller = pram or buggy (more specific type tho, here's a link about the differences)

Trash/garbage can = bin, dustbin, rubbish bin

Garbage/trash collector = binman/binmen

Mail = post

Mailman = postman

Mailbox = postbox

The movies = cinema or pictures

Movie = film (less common nowadays with influence of Americanisms but I still use "film" and a lot of people my age and older do too (25+)

First floor = ground floor okay, it's the ground floor because it's on ground level

Sneakers = unless they're Converse, it's probably just "trainers"

Baggage = luggage

Purse (as in the bag) = handbag, or "purse" but that tends to be the thing you put your money and cards in then put in your handbag

Vacuum cleaner = hoover or a specific brand like Henry Hoover™, which you'll find we tend to just call Henry (though I have a John Lewis hoover I got from George, ASDA that I've named 'George' and yes, I do say "I need to use George in a bit to hoover" regularly)

Sweater = jumper or, if it buttons up it's a cardigan or cardi

Closet = wardrobe

Elevator = lift

Call collect = reverse charges

Schools = we have primary/infants (11yrs)and secondary/high school (11-16yo) with some high schools have sixth-form college (16-18yo) or actual independent colleges for the same ages

College = university

Semester = term

Vacation = holiday

Kindergarten = nursey/reception

Flashlight = torch

Wrench = spanner

Backyard = garden

Cookie = biscuits

Chips = crisps (like Walkers™ or Lays™ in the States)

Pants = trousers

Cottoncandy = candyfloss

Dude = bloke/fella/mate

John Doe = John Smith

Exhausted (tired) = knackered

Cell phone = mobile

Cell data = mobile data/4G/5G

Bathroom/restroom = loo/toilet (informal term "bog")

Thanks = cheers

Soccer = football

Y'all = "you lot"

Fuck off/hit the road/go away = bugger off

Some slang phrases too

Bits and bobs = stuff, usually random

Take the mick/mickey = making fun of someone or over-exaggerating

Bob's your uncle = there you go, basically

Bog standard = typical, run of the mill kind of deal

Gutted = feel upset, disappointed

Dull as dishwater = basically really, really fuckin boring

Chinwag = basically "shooting the breeze" or just having a talk/chat

.

If you have any others that you think of or want added, reblog and add em! Tags too if you'd prefer but reblogs would be easier ☺️

[elodieunderglass]

Hi there! I need to write A Guy who is Extremely Narrowboat, for reasons, and the Narrowboat Guy you just posted is. well. Very much that-adjacent, I suspect. Do you have advice for a) what this Guy is like, and some tips on conjuring them into existence, or b) a good place to look for Narrowboat Things? (if this ask has come in twice I am sorry. Cursed)

No worries at all!

Post references: description of original character Ken who lives on a narrowboat, post about Ken describing characteristics of a quite normal boatie, picture of Ken trying to recruit you into his band (he will teach you how to sing maybe.)

Ken is a Very Boatie Boatie so you should be able to pick or extrapolate some aspects of his character from some of those. The overall smell, of course, being woodsmoke and diesel and slightly damp wool. Personalities range from shifty and feral, to surly, to normies, to chirpy influencers, to wide-eyed wanderers, but boaters are often (not always) daytime drunk. Ken’s a sunny inclusive one that strikes a careful balance between many boatie extremes; practical enough to do a lot of his own repair and maintenance, but silly enough to always have oil on his nose. Your character can fall anywhere on these spectrums!

People who live full-time on narrowboats are incredibly diverse, ranging from prosperous retirees in custom-designed floating houses worth hundreds of K, to people who are functionally homeless. They can be people who live permanently on moorings or marinas, or continuous cruisers who are completely nomadic, (or sensible plan-ahead people who pay a “winter mooring” fee to pause the “continuous cruising” rules during winter and get the best of both worlds.) Ask five boaters and get ten opinions. There are a thousand nuances and reasons why. Some people choose the lifestyle with excitement; for some, it’s forced on them. Some are right-wingers and some are left-wing and some are anarchists, but all of them are living in someone else’s back garden on charity-owned property. The only things they have in common are some basic boater characteristics, like cork-ball keyrings and a lofty resentment against anglers, and the fact that every boater has willingly chosen to marginalise themselves.

The UK has always been hostile to nomads, but is increasingly so now, and the various inconveniences of living without a fixed address add up to some material penalties. It’s not just slightly harder to pay bills, do admin, arrange childcare, commute, vote, etc. The liveaboard narrowboat community once prided themselves on being “the last legal nomads” in the British Isles; anti-traveller legislation has increasingly soured this, with laws being passed limiting everything from the use of wood-burning stoves (positioned by the anti-biofuel lobby in the Guardian as an eco thing. In London. I ask you.) to laws making it easier to remove off-grid children from their parents. And yet, due to housing pressures and the cheap sustainability of the lifestyle, the liveaboard population hasn’t dropped.

By going off-grid you are commenting, politically, in some way, about the grid. By stepping out of society you are agreeing to be a little bit out of society. You simultaneously cross many social classes, and don’t leave your own life at all. Your rights and worries are now shared with the legal rights of Travellers, the Roma, fairground workers, and the unhoused - to the point where the collective term for your community is G****y, Traveller, Roma, Showmen & Boater (GTRSB). (Yes the first one’s a slur, yes people know that - it’s still a community self-description for some, and essentially you’re expected to ignore it and not use the word.) ultimately, a boatie only has to be slightly sideways. A bit self-reliant. A bit willing to be outside.

Reference books? Well, Narrow Dog to Carcassonne is an exciting account; I read Narrow Escape by Marie Browne before moving aboard and appreciated her honesty. There are a lot of influencers living aboard nowadays, but plenty of books abound. My friend Dru remains brave and true and is a trans woman in some tricky days, so you can buy some poetry books from her Etsy shop to keep her afloat and hear from boaters.

I lived aboard for years and am happy to answer questions - maybe Ken could do his own information post! A boater character is a wonderful, rich, textured thing. What would you like to know?

[dragons-and-magic]

SAME!

The first time I saw Arry and Bert was in Day of the Diesels, and I thought they were Diesel 10’s bodyguards. They just seemed like those silent, but deadly musclemen appearing on each side of the big boss in mafia movies. XD