I have been wandering round on various canal history web pages at the same time enjoying a nice mug of Lady Grey tea. I enjoyed reading the history of the Wooden Canal Boat Society on their web page entitled "Where the Wooden Canal Boat Society came from". It's something of a poignant read about the last wooden canal vessels of our waterways industrial heritage. But I was sent into a "tea down my nose" chuckle by the throw away comment "By this time "Sarah" was stored underwater because of her reluctance to stay afloat." Sometimes people say things that I wish I had said. Have a look at the site - if you have not visited before, it's well worth the read.
Yesterday, we had a visit to Fossdyke near Lincoln to look at a prospective boat purchase. We had looked online at the brochure, our only issue was, could a washer dryer be retrospectively fitted. We knew the boat had a large-ish bath fitted. So we thought we might remove the bath to put in a small shower and use the extra space for the washer dryer.
Over the last few months, we have looked at a very large number of boats (some were real frogs) that were up for sale. The prices that were being asked for boats whose provenance was somewhat suspect was amazing.
We were both very impressed with the boat. (if Mag's face is anything to go by - you will have to wait a week for the smile to fade) She gave me that certain look and mouthed "it's wonderful". On the way home, I asked the question, what would you change? The answer was an emphatic "nothing, I just love everything about the boat including the couple who own it." Now, I don't want to disappoint her. So I must try to speed up the retirement process so that the wherewithal to purchase the boat can be put in place.
We went out to a St Patrick night celebration at the Boat Club. It was a great "Irish craic" evening out. With girls and boys from a dance group, demonstrating "Céilí" tap dancing or step-dancing as immortalised in riverdance. Which is full of rapid leg movements, whilst the body and arms are stationary. The evening was rounded off with a folk singer, doing a few Irish "fun" ballads and a sing-a-long. Including hilarious Irish drinking songs, poignant ballads about the Irish struggles. And as is typical with the Irish, a party that ensues after a guy kicks the bucket. I love paddys night even if I have to go back three generations to find the ancestory.
Later......
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