I was more than little chuffed when I received an email a while back from a lady working for the very popular monthly newspaper, "Towpath Talk", asking if I would like to be featured as a character in her regular column "Characters of the Cut". Of course, I said yes please!
It felt odd, being interviewed by email, but it seems to work well. I've just received another batch of questions to reply to, and some photos have been requested, too.
If you're a boater in the UK, or just interested in boats and the canals, then I highly recommend "Towpath talk" to you.
We came back to Kantara a few days ago, this time to spend some quality time with her. It's been too long since we did that. It's blowing a hoolie today, sending waves across the marina pond, and throwing the boat around quite violently - Storm Kathleen, I'm told - so it's been very much a stay in day. But that's just fine. It's good to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet, and the comfort and character of Kantara.
There have been a few little jobs to do, too, as always; checking the diesel for bacterial infections (negative), doing engine checks (positive), and identifying those places on the hull where paint needs attention(sighs). That goes onto the to-do list for the next time we're here. Along with washing the paintwork yet again!
Cruising? I wish, but my arthritic hip isn't yet up to the heavy work involved in cruising, though I do believe it's getting better, and it shouldn't be too long before we're back out there on the cut.
There are very few other moorers here at Yelvertoft at the moment, and few of the boats are out. I suspect that they're waiting for better, settled weather, and, of course, many of them do only cruise when they're on holiday. It's a real privilege to be retired and able to travel whenever we wish.
We came back to the house today. Even if my hip had been up to it, Storm Kathleen was making leaving the marina impossible. We know that because we watched some brave moorer give it a try! We tried not to laugh! We failed. So did he.
We're very fortunate to know Colin Rowe, a guy who has done a range of technical jobs for us over the past decades. It's also good to know that he's entirely trustworthy, so that he can do work on Kantara when we won't be there. The job this time is the replacement of our domestic water pump, which runs on for far too long after the taps have been closed. A simple enough job, but I'd much rather he did it than me!
Okay, I'm off now to do my hip exercises!
