Well as promised here is the first instalment of our trip so far, now we have Wi Fi..

Pyrford Marina is in an idyllic setting, set amongst the chaos of the M25 and the mad commute to and from work. Not only do the guys care for T42, and lots of other Sea Otters there but it’s also a short walk away from the Anchor pub, which is right by a lock and narrow hump backed bridge. So whilst drinking your pint of Westons cider you can gongoozle  ( an official term for the watching of narrowboats, the more gongoozlers there are the more likely somebody is going crash ! ), but also watch cars and vans trying to squeeze across the bridge.

Ray decided to set up T42 on the trailer for an early depart, which made it exciting for Hazel climbing in and out on a ladder, especially after said Anchor pub and Westons…. No we didn’t tow it with the Fiat 500, but as usual these cars are perfect for the UK. Cheap to run and easy to drive down some of the narrow country lanes.

Some of the towns Ray trailered T42 through had very narrow streets, as he said he just looks at the vehicle blocking him and says I can’t reverse and waits ! Some half an hour after we arrived at Wixall Marina in North Wales T42 duly arrived and was launched, with some difficulty in the windy conditions. Because she has a flooding keel which holds 2.5 tons of water launching usually involves waiting whilst this fills, but as Wixall has no floating pontoon by the slipway she was pushed off, caught the wind and all my attempts at steering failed ..

Some pole work by Ray and ropes by Hazel soon saw us moored up safely. We decided to moor up for the rest of the day and continue sorting things out whilst I tried to regain by confidence…..On a 26 foot boat everything must be stowed away or chaos ensures quickly ! Next morning we set off down the Pees branch till it joined the Llangollen canal, and then headed towards Llangollen itself. My confidence returned as T42 handled really well, everything worked, and it’s easy to manoeuvre around other boats and sharp bends.

 

To be continued……