Our story so far…
The creation of the music boat began in the winter of 2012, before this our punt was used in Cambridge, delivering historical tours along the famous Cambridge Backs (backs of the colleges), but in the winter of 2012, corrupt local officials decide to create a monopoly for the long established punting companies, and small, independent operators like myself were politely informed that we would no longer be granted a license to trade. Many of my friends in the same predicament decided to band together and litigate in the hope of overturning the authorities decision….I felt this was one David versus Goliath story that was not going to end well for us, so I decided to move to London and try my luck there…
Luck, Motors and Pianos
By the grace of God, despite myriad obstacles, endless red tape and countless practical difficulties, we managed to get our punt licensed and onto Regents Canal. However, the concept was still in its infancy, in the beginning we had actually motorised our punt (at the time it was conditional for the licence) we were taking passengers all the way from Camden Lock, to Little Venice, and back: a round trip that took 1 hour and 30 minutes, while playing rock and roll associated with Camden’s illustrious musical history: With a passenger capacity of just 12, this was not a business model that was going to last. Then two miracles coincided: My old friend Desmond who used to run the piano shop in Camden Market (may God rest his soul), suggested I put a piano on the boat, at the same time, Canal and River Trust unexpectedly permitted the traditional use of the pole for propulsion: the engine was out, the piano was in, and The Music Boat was born! Although, unfortunately the Piano was later deemed unsafe by the authorities (a miscalculation based on optics rather than reality in my opinion)…The pianists were quickly replaced by very talented guitar / accordionists who are still to be found on our humble little boat to this day!
The Music Boat Saves Lives.
Our story would not be complete without telling you all about the time we saved a man from drowning in the Canal…Although the accompanying video fails to capture the vital moment I actually fished the 20 stone drunken polak from the water, it does provide an adequate depiction of that famous event…. so basically our inebriated friend thought it would be an excellent and heroic idea to climb the footbridge’s underlying support beam from one end to the other. What he failed to realise was that the aforementioned beam does not go all the way to the other end but ends two thirds of the way along (where you can see him hanging)…Our friend was clearly a man of strength, but also one whom gravity did not favour (even with 3 grown men attempting to pull him up onto the footbridge, we couldn’t move him an inch. He had neither the strength to climb back nor pull himself up onto the bridge, so he just hung there till he inevitably fell in! As he hit the water, everyone (it was a busy summer afternoon) cheered, totally unaware that he did not know how to swim. You can see me leaning over in my red jacket and black rucksack, watching the farce unfold. When he dropped in, it quickly became apparent to me that he couldn’t swim, so I raced down to my boat, untied it as fast as I could and punted it over to where he was flapping about, I quickly put the pole out, resting over the side of the boat, putting all my weight over my side of the pole to maximise it’s stability, our soggy, half dead friend grabbed the end of the pole and we managed to pull him into the boat and his mortal coil remained on this planet for another day.
Where we are now
So our service is fortunately proving as popular as ever, and with this website going up, we will be focusing on our online promotion….the 21st Century beckons! Just remember, our broad selection of ever changing musicians means no two trips are ever the same, and with Regents Canal in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and even winter, each season brings its own charm so you can never take too many rides! Especially considering you can take whatever food / drink you want along with you! The Music Boat is always the thing to to do when a day out is in order….
