Man overboard, a marathon and fear

Our first night of permanent living on the boat felt much like another holiday on board, albeit more crowded with ‘stuff’ and surrounded by familiar things from home.

Our first morning brought high drama. 6.08am in September without streetlights is dark. Our black spaniel returned to the boat from his morning constitutional and gleefully jumped from a pontoon to the black bow of the boat. He missed. Black dog in inky black water in the dark.

An avid swimmer by choice this sudden plunge into cold water startled him and was thrashing around. Being still on a lead stopped him from being swept downstream but there is only so long you can keep a dog on a collar and lead with a current tugging him away.

Well aware of the never-go-in-after-crew-overboard warning I leaned from the boat into the water to try and grab him. With fluffy dressing-gowned arms (not exactly clad for a crisis) I managed to grasp him under his front legs in the water. He calmed and I supported him whilst we formulated a rescue plan.

Hauling 20kg of saturated spaniel up from below the boat took two of us using a towel under him as a hoist. We landed him. All exhausted and totally drenched. The early morning now-smelly swimmer shook himself with glee all over us and headed into the cabin for a snooze!

At first light after a change of clothes, we set off to our first continuous mooring stop…an adventurous few hundred metres from our now-let home! We calculated the maximum 14-day mooring allowed on our licence terms would support us to manage work, caring duties and enable hubby to run his 26.2 mile London Marathon on familiar routes.

The day before the marathon brought an email warning from Canal and Rivers Trust advising us not to move as the river was in flood. We knew. The boat was rising steadily, the indicator board at the nearby lock was on red, the river flowing fast around us, and rain was hammering again on our metal roof. The night before the marathon we were out in the storm loosening mooring ropes by torchlight, drenched in minutes.

Levels rose in the dark and water thundered menacingly to the nearby weir. I thought of all who have fought to save their homes against unrelenting flood waters. Natural disasters against which we often feel helpless and rely on expertise of specialists to save us is like the flood of Covid sweeping our countries. For me it reinforces the importance of people over possessions. If those we love are safe, possessions are secondary considerations.

Two burning questions kept me awake – would the mooring ropes hold, and if they did, would we wake to a towpath or 380 degree river?

We woke astonishingly to pale sunshine and clear towpath to which we were still attached. Steve left with dry feet and ran 26.2miles for Victa, a fabulous small charity who support children with sight issues and their families. Thanks to all who ran with him and sponsored him. He’s on Virgin money giving, Steve Ingham, London Marathon if you want to support him too.

I ran too despite my meniscus tear –  ran a feed station by the boat! It was appreciated by many runners during the morning – some familiar running friends, but many new faces.

 

So the morning after the marathon by the terms of our licence if the flood warning was lifted we had to go… it wasn’t and we didn’t which was handy because Covid played another curved ball. An important small person’s pre-school closed for a deep clean for a week. So we sat tight, helped, worked, played, watched water levels and I tried to learn patience.

At the end of the week came the travel with caution email. We set off with as much alacrity, as you can with a top speed of 4 mph. We headed south, aiming to swap rivers for canals for a bit, and avoid the rumoured Covid lockdown.

This next part of our journey didn’t disappoint. It was uplifting, breathtakingly beautiful at times and that was all in 24 hours. I didn’t want to rush anything (was that the patience lesson?).

Enjoy sharing some of that beauty with us

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We now face some big questions…
Can we beat Boris and make it through lockdown areas before they lock down?
Can we make it off the river and onto the canal before more rain/flooding?
And most pressing – can we dry enough clothes before we run out?