Warren the pumpout man chugged by unexpectedly – luckily R was on the ball and caught his attention as we had need of his services. I also wanted to check he operated south of Berko for when we move on. He seemed in no hurry so I gave him a coffee and he told us how he ended up with his, to say the least, unusual and unique occupation. Over the years he has done many things but a few years ago fell in love with a boater so ended up living on the canals. He saw a niche market in dealing with human waste and went for it! I, for one am grateful as I am sure are many other boaters!
RR then arrived to look at our leak, sent by James who is still under the weather. RR had an Aqua Vac with which he quickly and efficiently extracted approximately 200l of water from underneath the floorboards. No wonder the boat was listing and I was in danger of falling out of bed closely followed by R – it wasn’t our imagination that the boat has been on the tilt! That’s the good news. Unfortunately he could find no cause for the leak, although that could be good news if the problem rights itself. All to do with water being pumped under pressure even when the taps aren’t turned on thus increasing the likelihood of a leak. We now have to keep the electric water pumps turned off when not using water and mop out the shallow well at the back where the water collects. Eventually this should dry up, the pumps can then be left on and we hope the boat stays dry with no further listing.
What was really interesting was hearing RR’s story. He used to live North but came south to be near his granny who needed help. He married and had a daughter but sadly this ended in divorce. Wanting to ensure his daughter still had a nice home he walked away with nothing, only to see his ex wife sell immediately sell the family home and downsize. Meanwhile he now lives on a 38ft narrowboat, seeing his daughter twice a month. HZe is keen to be a more hands on dad but that involves him buying a bigger boat so his daughter can stay over. The only affordable option is to buy a boat in need of refurbishment and on top of his fulltime job, make all the necessary improvements. Again and again as I hear these stories of what a parent is prepared to do to help their child I am humbled, realising what a steep hill many have to climb.
As we have decided to move on tomorrow it is farewell to Berko and I have to say I feel rather sad as I have grown fond of our mooring and the people around. Our new neighbours who R chatted to yesterday were sitting on the stern of their boat as we passed by so we fell into conversation as I was impressed to see them sitting outside with a glass of wine when it was quite chilly. This was normal for them as they like to watch the world go by. They moved onto their boat 10 years ago and said they have never looked back, much preferring it to their London existence of a flat in Notting Hill.
We were on our way to the allotment to see if we could find Clive and thank him for his kindness to us and say goodbye. Infact we found him outside his house repairing something. Half an hour later with darkness descending we left armed with another bottle of apple juice and in the knowledge that should we return to Berko we will be welcomed with a cup of tea, even venturing into his house, should that kind of behaviour ever become the normal!
We ended the day joining a Zoom advent evensong at St Andrew’s, our home church. For them it was the culmination of a day of prayer physically in the church, where individuals, or bubbles had a 45mins time slot to pray for all that is going on in the world. Listening to the first advent carol was like a soft light illuminating a dark path with the promise of something wonderful at the end of it. As we move into the season of advent and come to the end of our second lockdown I am sure we are all praying for better days to come where normal human interaction is possible and families and friends can once again be together.
NarrowboatTLC 