| Ten Bob Note | ||
In the beginning: In September of 2005, my companion Rhonda and I went on a touring holiday around China. Normally, we travel to far away places over the Xmas period so as to get away from the UK during the holidays. With children all grown up and doing their own thing, going away traveling over Xmas was very attractive to us. We both wanted to see China before the Three Gorges Dam was completed so that we could see the gauges before they were completely flooded. As the weather in China is not at it's best over Xmas, we visited in September. Anyway, after 3 weeks and goodness knows how many plane, boat and train journeys we had been on, we returned home needing a holiday!! Over the years, we have both often mentioned that it might be fun to try a canal boating holiday in the UK. As a present for Rhonda’s birthday at the end of October 2005, I booked a canal boat for a week on the Grand Union. We lived in Hertfordshire at that time so Wyvern at Leighton Buzzard was a handy choice for hiring a boat. We hired a 40 foot cruiser stern boat called Marigold. We picked the boat up on a Friday afternoon at the end of October. After loading food, wine and dogs (Archie and Mabel, our two jack Russell’s), we were given a quick lesson that consisted of navigating to and through the first lock nearest the Wyvern yard. This we did with some trepidation as neither of us had ever seen a narrow boat close up, never mind having been on or driven one. After the first lock, we were wished good luck and were waived off on or merry way. We traveled north for an hour or so before mooring up for the night. Almost from the off, we found that the best plan was for Rhonda to operate the locks while I drove. This has remained the way that we operate to this day (February 2007). Rhonda doesn’t feel confident enough to steer the boat into and out of locks on her own yet. One day perhaps? Anyway, we both loved it right from the start which is just as well because in such a close and confined space, life could become unpleasant if one party loved it and the other didn’t!! To cut what could be a long story short (ish) we cruised up to Bugbrook in what was lovely weather for October. Mooring up for lunch along the towpath, I fell and injured my right hip quite badly. I was stepping on to the gunwale to reach onto the roof to retrieve the center line. I was wearing wellies (remember we knew nothing about boating and what is the best footwear). The boat was about a foot from the bank. I put my right foot on to the gunwale and sort of pushed myself towards the boat with my left foot while straightening my right leg. As I was coming up to having my right leg straight, by boot slipped off the gunwale. I went down between the boat and the steel pilings. My right hip caught the edge of the pilling with my upper body landing horizontally on the tow path. The heavy landing knocked the wind out of me and I lay there on the bank for a minute or two until I could draw breath again. Rhonda looked out of the window and I could see her face turn white when she saw me lying on the bank. I managed to pick myself up but could not put much weight on my right hip. I managed to get the boat moored up and got myself inside for a shower and to dry off. At first I didn’t think too much about my hip, I thought that if I rested it for a few hours all would be well. This was not to be the case. Some years ago, in my youth (I was 49 in 2005) I used to do a lot of dirt bike motorcycling and used to fall off at speed and often from a great height. I used to just pick myself up, kick the bike straight, get back on it and carry on. I used to end up a bit black and blue but apart from that, the falls never bothered me. Anyway, I WILL cut this story short…. We got the boat back to Wyvern for the Friday morning return time with me steering and Rhonda doing everything else as I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg. Copious amounts of wine were needed every evening for medicinal purposes you understand. On returning home, I went to the local hospital where I was promptly x-rayed. This was the first time I had been inside a hospital for some 20 odd years and I must say that I could in no way fault the treatment I was given. The X-rays showed nothing broken but there was a lot of trauma around the hip joint. All in all, it was a further 10 days before I could walk without a walking stick and even today, I get the odd twinge from it. Moral of the story – it is very, very easy to injure yourself doing the simplest of things around a boat, especially in the wet. It certainly opened my eyes and I am much more careful now. I religiously try and follow the 3 points of contact rule when walking the gunwale, 2 hands and one foot or 2 feet and one hand in contact with the boat at all times. I have also invested in a good pair of walking boots with grippy soles. So, did the adventures and accident on the hire boat holiday put us off boating for ever??? Absolutely the opposite. Even with the accident, we both loved the experience and freedom of living on a narrow boat for a week. |
||
| Previous Page -|- Boating Home Page | ||
Material Copyright © 2007 Ernie Williams |