It was just after Christmas. One morning I got to the basin to find a CRT work flat drifting about. I captured it and tied it up abreast of Lilith. Obviously someone had been having fun untying boats for a CRT tug and pan were also missing. I was told that they had drifted away past Walk Bridge out of sight. One of our volunteers alerted CRT to this situation. Nessie tried to bring the boat back, but couldn't get on board.
About a week passed, then a CRT crew came looking for their work boat. I helped them to take it back to the towpath side.
Shortly after they'd tied up the tug and pan appeared and described a graceful pirouette around the basin. I captured this one and put it alongside Lilith in its turn. Time passed. I was busy trying to make the heating work on Hazel . I got a 'phone call from a CRT man at Standedge tunnel. They intended bringing their electric trip boat down for a docking at the marina and could we look after it whilst waiting for its turn on the dry dock? I explained that we were already looking after one CRT boat and there wasn't really room for another, but I'd do my best. He took the index number of the tug and said he'd contact the relevant people. Apparently it should be on the Macclesfield canal.
When the trip boat, well, sort of two really, a push tug and butty, turned up, Hazel was over at Dixon & Smith (motor engineers) of Dukinfield where she had got frozen in after having her batteries charged. The tug and pan were now against the wharf, so the trip boat spent a couple of nights alongside Forget me Not.
By the way, the whole caboodle of this set up is about 76 feet long, but there was only one of the 32 locks that they passed through on the way down from the summit where they had to split the butty from the tug to get through.
On Monday we had Airbnb guests booked. I had at last got the heating working but the boat was a mess and had to be cleaned thoroughly. I met the CRT men and let them on to the wharf to collect their boat. They brought it across the aqueduct (struggling with the depth) then ran into ice. The skipper used to captain an icebreaking tug on the St Lawrence Seaway, but Dukinfield ice was a challenge for this square bowed boat.
Aaron moved Hazel back across the aqueduct through water cleared by the trip boat. Aaron, Lisa Rowbotham and I spent most of the day preparing for our guests.
In order to comply with CRT requirements we have to take our guests on a trip. As Forget me Not's gearbox is still in bits this had to be a human powered trip.
In the morning Kim and Aaron came to help. I bagsed the easy job of steering this time. Kim bowhauled for a short distance until the towpath ended.
Aaron took over, shafting past Cavendish Mill
and into the Asda tunnel.
At the far end Kim took over again,bowhauling.
At Eli Whalleys we winded with Aaron on the shaft
and Kim hauling on the stern line,
Then it was back through the tunnel
and past Cavendish mill to tie up, the other way round, back at Portland Basin.
