I AM on the cold Trent & Mersey Canal at the moment, moored by two hire boats, with both of the hirers new to the game, but who have had enough, writes James Henry.
Their respective spouses (sorry about the description but you never know these days what relationships people are to each other) are complaining bitterly about their fellas choosing to hire narrowboats in the snow.
Not happy bunnies
One wanted to go to Spain again for a bit of sunshine, whilst the other is bemoaning the fact that he chose to waste a week of, it seems, their 'precious free time' out in the cold and wind on 'a stupid canal'—her words. Not happy bunnies just about sums it up.
Anyway, one of the fellas agrees he made a bad decision, so at this very moment has gone forward to a winding hole that I pointed out to him, where he can turn and get back to base, only being out a day. The hirers in the other boat, now being well away from base are ringing up and cancelling the trip, the lady told me having their son come and fetch them home. They are abandoning ship!
Shorter season
I get the impression from others, hirers and boat owners alike, that this 'global warming' is far from their liking for an holiday on what after all is a very cold environment when the 'northerlies' blow!
I have noticed that over the past few years the inclement Spring weather is seemingly shortening the boating season, as there are far less boats about for a late April than there were in the past, but of course as so many of us know, there are fewer boats about altogether.
Getting older
Someone mentioned that people getting older (and the locks getting harder) means they are giving up boating, and there just are not others taking their place. I expect this relates to the boom years, when I remember such as Liverpool Boats turning them out on an assembly line and over a hundred other smaller builders churning narrowboats out, even coming in from Poland and marinas springing up like mushrooms. But all alas long gone, with boat builders felled like ninepins and now empty berths galore.
But in addition to an ageing boating population, any boater facing weather like we are having now or days out in the rain will soon realise the downside of boating, which of course is hardly helped with the now too often stoppages making a mess of any holiday plans and surely playing havoc with the suffering hire companies.
All in all a sorry picture, certainly not helped by our particular 'Nero' playing whilst 'Rome' burned...