Day 3 Middlewich

23/4/2019

Life afloat has an erratic charm. Around the next bend in the canal may be the most glorious flowering cherry,  or a ramshackle boat whose journey becomes inextricably linked to yours, at least for a few hours. Or fate throws into your path a fleet of historic wooden boats, many steam powered, leaving your captain in ecstasy. 

This is all today's story, the dish accompanied by an offer to syndicate Santiago,  lock assistance from Will (a fine bargee), dumpling making. The spice of life one could say.

Back to the ramshackle note. The boat was a plastic/fibre glass white-ish motor cruiser, with grandad in charge, half his brood of grandchildren aboard, the eldest around 12. Grandad himself no more than 40. Festooned with large fenders to protect itself from 20 tonne steel canal boats, or stone locks, the boat became a cork stuck in a bottle as the water exitted a lock. Cries, children distressed, ropes pulled, Cap'n JJ assists, lock re filled, boat unjammed, fenders raised,  children re loaded.
My sympathy for grandad in his efforts to care for his grandchildren diminished when several locks later we found the boat moored on the reserved lock operation site, necessitating heroic manoeuvres ro avoid either sinking it or ramming the lock gates.

Now a glass of merlot to hand, the dumplings nicely rising, it only remains to persuade the Cap'n to down his tools (fender fixing, smoke detector checking),  and sit down for dinner.

And wonder what awaits us tomorrow.

PS the 'wich' refers to salt

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