Five canal boats in 22 years, all fanatically polished by Ian, provided some happy travelling β and a profit. It seems Ian and Michelle now have their ideal boatβ¦ but will another one come along to tempt them? My love of boating and water began way back when I was 17 in a canoe on the Bridgewater Canal; I launched it near Warrington, packed with sandwiches and a radio. I then moved on to water skiing, then bought a Fletcher Arrowflyte with a Yamaha outboard and used it on the River Weaver.
I launched it at Frodsham and had some great times but, when the slipway got taken over, the ski club fees increased.
I felt I could not give the time to warrant the extra fees⦠so what next? My wife and I spent time washing, polishing and fixing. We bought a new 15hp Suzuki outboard and then we were off. We first cruised the Cheshire Ring in the early part of the year then went for shorter weekend cruises and we both loved it.
Our next big adventure was a two-week trip to the Llangollen. The first week we had brilliant sunshine but the return trip was a bit damp, to say the least. This was comfort. The boat was lifted out at Wincham Wharf in Northwich and taken home to be seam welded on all rubbing strakes, the whole boat was repainted and it looked fab.
We had four years of great cruising on PAX then, while passing Wincham Wharf on our holidays doing the Four Counties route, a boat caught my eye β a BCN tug-style with a Gardner 1L2 in its own engine room; a fantastic looking boat called Houdini. After I pestered my wife for a week, she eventually let me put in an offer and the boat was ours. We picked up Houdini in August and our maiden trip back to Grappenhall was a little hairy as the engine took a while to stop, so manoeuvres had to be planned well in advance.
