A Boatwif in search of a boat
In the six weeks or so since New Year there have been but few boat sightings.Early in January a plot was uncovered – the Captain had conspired to take Boatwif on a secret short-notice trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. 
The plot was discovered, but the plan went ahead.Remember the floods? The River Avon was swollen well beyond its usual limits as it made its way downstream to surround Tewkesbury Abbey. 
(Photo from The Guardian, January 24). The bandstand in the park opposite Stratford’s theatre stood as an island; 
any pedestrians wishing to take a rest on a park bench would have had very wet feet, legs and probably lower body too…No boats were moored on the opposite bank; no trip boats were cruising under the Tramway Bridge 
; no novice rowers were zig-zagging across the river (unlike in this scene, 29th May 23). 
River water over-topped the bank by the ice-cream kiosk. 
From the bridge over Stratford Lock could be seen a water level marker, the river distinctly in the red, in flood. 
The navigation miles and locks sign beside the lock were a reminder of watery travel and long-distance cruise plans… 
Though three narrowboats were tied up to the winter mooring pontoons in Bancroft Basin, 
the wide beam restaurant boat usually moored near the lock opposite the pontoons was missing… Where was it?There it was, lashed up beside the other commercial boats at the far end of the basin beside a safer higher mooring point. 
As dusk fell the theatre’s frontage was floodlit. 
And this was what the Captain’s plot had been about – a surprise wedding anniversary dinner followed by seats for The Fair Maid of The West in the Swan Theatre.
What a joyous occasion it was, live musicians performing pub-style before the show. 
The play was set in the 1590s in two different West Country pubs and a Spanish taverna – and also on board a very convincing ship. (If boats couldn’t be seen on the river outside the theatre, there certainly was one inside!) Liz Bridges, the kind-hearted landlady, is a powerful mover for social good whose background helps her manage an international incident. As ever live music during the production, ingenious stage sets, clearly delineated characters laced with pathos and humour made it a totally engaging production. 
A repeat Stratford stroll the following day showed the waters slowly receding from around the park bandstand and the water level at the lock indicator a little lower too. 
Back at home the serious business of dismantling Christmas decorations got under way – somewhere on the table, high and dry among the Christmas tree ornaments, were several miniature boats… 
By late January it seemed sensible to pay a visit to Cleddau. There she sat, hunkered down at her pontoon, dry inside but cold. 
There were jobs to do and plans to make. The life jackets were brought home for checking; 
the door to the inverter cupboard was detached for ventilation grilles to be fitted.Four days later there was a return visit – life jackets put away, cupboard door reinstalled 
– AND a little cruise!Red duster attached.Tiller arm and tiller pin fitted. 
Engine brought to life.Mooring fenders removed.Centre ropes attached.Mooring lines untied.Forward, forward the boat was moved… 
Her stern free of the end of the pontoon, the bow was turned right. Forward she moved, towards the dry dock, oh, fifty feet or so. 
Reverse thrust applied.Cleddau slowed to a stop, then shuffled backwards. Backwards, about 70 feet.Then, forward gear again and a right hand swing to glide back into the empty space. 
It had been a perfect manoeuvre, so where was the crowd of appreciative gongoozlers? Nowhere! As is always the case when tricky things go well there were no witnesses... Conversely, if a hash is being made of a boating move there’s usually a crowd watching, assessing, maybe even empathising!The “little cruise” was hardly a boating trip, more a three-point shuffle successfully completed!With the bow now nudged against the bank it should be easier to tackle the cleaning and repainting of the front deck and gas locker… 
Time ticks on – and on a January morning Boatwif felt an urge to check out a local boat. About a 35 minute walk away, in a farm pond, this little boat had been discovered during a 2020 lockdown walk. (Photo from 8th May 2020) 
Had it been fit for an owl and a pussy cat, Boatwif had mused then. . Perhaps not, since its off-white colour was definitely not ‘pea-green’…!Over the fields Boatwif went, past the tractors and the open-sided barns 
and onward to the next farm. The pond is far less visible now, the footpath has been realigned and thick fast-growing laurel bushes screen the pond. But it was somehow reassuring to peer through the greenery and spot again the tiny vessel… 
February – time to go west: Beds, Bucks, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and then over the Severn Crossing, under the Prince of Wales Bridge, to gain access to Wales. 
Within three hours another significant road bridge was espied - the Cleddau Bridge spans the Cleddau Estuary to connect mid and north Pembrokeshire with the south of the county. 
It was late afternoon, the sea was choppy and visibility from Hobbs Point in both directions was limited. 
Next day, however, from a viewpoint beside the Cleddau Bridge, the Irish Ferry could be seen, loading vehicles and passengers at the Pembroke Dock terminal before departure to Rosslare. 
South Pembrokeshire is a spit of land, a peninsula surrounded by the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Would road trips provide any glimpses of boating activity? Not at Freshwater East. 
Not at St Govan’s Head (where the small lumps moving around Church Rock stabilised as rocks in an ebbing tide). 
St Govan's Chapel. 
Was, as tradition said, St Govan pursued by pirates here? Did he hide successfully in the cleft in the rocks, before living out his life in prayer and contemplation…? 
There was no sign of pirate ships on the horizon or nearby, although a trio of students perched on a rock shelf were busy sketching the scene…No boats either at Freshwater West, where conditions were right for several surf boarders and one brave paddle boarder. 
And that was that – time to head back east...The rains have continued to fall. Properties hereabouts beside the River Great Ouse are sandbagged; there is flood water debris on the footbridge over the river at Kempston Mill - and the (fairly) new John Bunyan trip boat mooring pontoon is completely under water.Wouldn't the sight of a boat moving serenely on water in the next few weeks be a fine thing indeed!
