Boaters and Birthdays

The thing I find wonderful about the canal community is that when you meet strangers there is always something in common. The conversation starts with boating and then often progresses to other things. Depending on how much liquid refreshment is available the conversation may degenerate to "human functions" or ascend to greater heights such as the philosophy of life!

Whatever, a gathering of 40 or so boaters is rare and is an experience not to be missed if invited. We felt privileged to be invited to a giant banter in honour of one of the Canal World Form members who celebrated a significant birthday at the weekend.

John is the active member so knew the alias of those present and identifying the real person behind the name was great. We had a really good evening. Our thanks must go to "Moley" for having the birthday and to him and his family for arranging and hosting the evening.

The entertainment was great, particularly the Tudor musician and to all those forum members we met and chatted to - thanks for coming and we really enjoyed meeting you.

Just a quick mention of our visit to the NEC for the Caravan and Boat Show. We were glad that we had free tickets as there was not much there for the narrowboater. Just a display of boats from 4 builders, the IWA stand and very limited chandlery exhibitors.

However we went for specific things and picked up some useful information. I marvelled at some of the motor caravans, both their size and the way they were packed in. As for the boats, some of the sea going vessels were impressive and exhibited imaginatively. However even if I was a millionaire I would not be buying one - I get sea sick!