13 May 2022

From Coast to Canal with Dee, Fran and Rich

By Paul Knox-Johnston Sales & Marketing Manager (Marine)
A person waves from a canal boat while three people sit on the roof; sheep graze in the nearby field under a clear sky.

COAST TO CANAL
EPISODE 1

COAST TO CANAL
EPISODE 2

Enjoy watching 2022’s hottest boating video, ‘Coast to Canal’ with Dee, Fran and Rich.  Both episodes are now available to stream above, via our YouTube channel.  Make sure to subscribe to see all our latest videos as they are released.

‘Coast to Canal’ is likely to be the most talked about boating collaboration this year!  Our two-part series featuring YouTube legends, Fran and Rich from ‘Floating Our Boat’ and round the world yachtswoman Dee Caffari. It’s a feel good reality mini-series, which brings together the whole boating community from the coast to the inland waterways.

As a fly-on-the-wall documentary of Dee’s maiden narrowboat voyage on the Grand Union Canal in Leicestershire, it shows her leaving the tides and currents of the open sea for a completely new challenge involving staircase locks, winding holes and tunnels on the tranquil inland waterways of the UK.  Whilst Dee is a hugely accomplished yachtswoman, she definitely relied on her hosts, Fran and Rich, for expert guidance and instruction along the way and to help her avoid some potentially embarrassing situations!  Luckily, she couldn’t have asked for better, more patient teachers in Fran and Rich.

Grab a cuppa, sit back and watch one of the world’s best-known sailors plucked out of her comfort zone and presented with the challenge of a two-day narrowboating holiday.  You think it is easy?  Well, come and see for yourself!

Our Film Stars

Meet the people behind the scenes

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Dee Caffari MBE

Best known for sailing around the world six times, both single handed and with crew, both the ‘right way’ and the ‘wrong way’!  Starting out her career as probably everyone’s favourite PE teacher, Dee first hit the headlines as the only female skipper in the Global Challenge Race in 2004.  The call of the ocean was strong and only four months after returning from that first race, she headed back out to face a circumnavigation the ‘wrong way’ (against the prevailing winds and currents) and has been challenging herself and successfully leading crews in races and voyages ever since.  Outside of sailing, Dee is a passionate advocate for protecting our oceans, encouraging greater female participation in elite sailing and safety at sea.  She had never been canal boating until we lead her astray in 2021!

Fran and Rich - "Floating our Boat"

Fran and Rich met whilst working on their community allotments, swapping plants and helping each other out with their chickens.  In 2018 they decided to swap their life in Norfolk with a life afloat on a narrowboat, exploring the inland waterways of the UK and documenting every step of journey.  Starting out on the journey on the Ashby Canal aboard ‘Rum Smuggler’ soon renamed ‘Constanze’ after Mozart’s wife.  Having explored thousands of miles of the canal network, they decided to have a custom canal boat built by Elton Moss and took delivery of ‘Laura Maisie’ in April 2021.  A mere five months later they kindly let Dee loose with her.  Thankfully, she is still afloat and we remain on speaking terms!

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Read some of the lovely comments received

We’re pleased you have enjoyed the journey of two different worlds coming together

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