Frightening fire onboard! Treats and making a living afloat.

The small 24 ft fibreglass cruiser behind us had a fire onboard on Sunday afternoon. The first I knew was clouds of what looked like yellow smoke billowing across the towpath – it turned out to be powder from a discharging fire extinguisher.

The new boater on board fortunately was OK and so was his boat. He attempted to fill up his methanol stove without realising the pilot was alight, and inevitably things caught light. That resulted in him automatically throwing the flaming fuel from him, setting fire to more of the boat. He was extremely lucky, managed to get everything out not into the water but the towpath and followed up with a fire extinguisher. Raised heart rates all round but fortunately no one injured and Misspent 1 remains afloat.

I’ve gone round and checked our fire blanket and fire extinguishers as a result as I think have most of us along the canal here after Sunday – a salutary reminder to do so.

Do you remember trips to your parents and coming away with the car laden with food? Sometimes it’s nice to know some things don’t change, even when you totally change the way you live! Steve was away at the weekend on essential duties allowed in lockdown but returned on Sunday after the drama was over with a huge basket of goodies – thank you Mum! We will enjoy a delicious weekend of Easter treats.

The sun which followed a quick flurry of snow this week has been welcome. Coming with March 29 lifting of restrictions it’s led to so many more smiling people catching up with family and friends on this already busy towpath. The nearby Mercia Marina must be emptying a bit too from the steady stream of boats of all shapes and sizes emerging.

Walkers, boaters, paddle boarders, canoeists, kayakers , runners and cyclists alike have enjoyed the abundance of riches on offer within a mile of our current mooring at Willington. Towpath traders make a towpath walk a delightful and a vibrant experience at the moment. Of course it’s ever-changing as boats move on and new traders arrive.

To our left we currently have Alan and Tina on nb Wobbly with ice creams, fudge and soon – candy floss. Their ice creams have just launched for the season and as discerning tasters we, friends and family can vouch for their utter deliciousness. They aim to be in a flotilla of narrowboats later this year travelling across The Wash, and maybe serving ice creams en route!

Their fudge is available in a multitude of flavours – great for taking on a long walk or enjoying at home. Candyfloss is new for them this year and will be up and running as soon as the dome arrives that stops the boat and its inhabitants (Alan, Tina, 2 cats and a collie) being pebble-dashed with spun sugar.

To our right we’ve been grateful for Sylvie and Ben and their dog Badger on The Holm Oak. They enable us all to be more sustainable and knowledgeable with their eco friendly household and beauty products and well researched information. They offer many products in refill form which is brilliant and provide bottles if you can’t. We now have several once empty gin bottles with new labels saying – not to have with tonic – as they contain eco friendly washing up liquid or washing liquid! (I’ve stocked up in case we don’t see them for months…and it gave purpose to several empty bottles).

Sylvie also makes beeswax wraps and covers, and after April 12 will be selling her unique handcrafted clothing and bunting which we first encountered after Lockdown 2. Between them this enterprising couple also create beautiful handcrafted wood and macrame plant shelves and hangers. They are heading to Fradley for Easter weekend and then perhaps onto the Shroppie heading for Llangollen when restrictions permit. When you find them make sure to see their amazing feature window crafted from oak by Ben and finished with stained glass panels which they made under the guidance of former boater and glass expert Bonnie Brooksbank at her Purple Stained Glass Studio in Loughborough. Bonnie’s workshops are fabulous – I personally highly recommend them. Like me, you will find you can make things you never imagined under her skilled tutelage.

For a while, moored near Holm Oak was the cafe boat Holly recently started up by Joanna and Victor Gould. Their YouTube channel means thousands have already had a taste of their life if not yet of Jo’s great cakes and coffee.

Half a mile further on past an oak wood towards the white metal footbridge over the canal to Mercia Marina is the mooring of Boat Street. This is a cafe boat with hot food, cakes, snacks, hot and cold drinks and trips too. Chris and Kim have backgrounds in the esports sector and NHS. They’ve made a huge success of their cafe business despite the pandemic which put an abrupt halt to their trip enterprise. Our loyalty card with them is well used and their Cumberland sausage rolls are already justifiably legendary. They will be the one boat we’ve encountered who will still be trading in the same spot – all of the others need to move on once lockdown finishes but this is Chris and Kim’s base. They are trialling a new location this week just into the marina which looks like a great place.

As soon as lockdown allows, with their boat master, Boat Street will be running licenced, catered trips – they’re already taking bookings. I can’t think of a more relaxed way to get together with family or friends you haven’t seen for a while on a boat, gently cruising the Trent and Mersey Canal, out of Mercia Marina, along through Willington, over the historic and beautiful Dove Aqueduct to Horninglow Basin and back. It’s one way to meet up with family and friends – you don’t need to get wet or cold, or sit draped in blankets and the boat can take 2 groups of 6 or one group of 12 in a Covid secure way.

By their very nature, floating traders are always changing as they come and go. There hasn’t been so much of that during lockdown but movement is now underway. Latest arrivals have included nb Yorkshire Lass with an astonishing array of fenders, doormats, rope dog toys and an assortment of creatures. We spotted snakes, spiders, snails, and dogs!

It’s been a real positive of lockdown, having all these trading boats on the towpath around us. Not only have we been able to buy their goods but we’ve really enjoyed getting to know may of the traders themselves – fascinating people whose enthusiasm and passion is infectious.

Empty gin bottle update: Thanks to responses from last week and Holm Oak Trading we now have 2 x candle holders, 1 eco washing up liquid container, 1 eco washing liquid container and 1 fairy light holder. I would add these are bottles collected over recent years – not just the last 6 months living aboard!

Coming up next week: Lasting lessons of and from nature. An exciting new major purchase -will it change our life on board? And our last week in lockdown at Willington.