Sunday Roast and Fishing.

Hi Friends.

I can officially say I will not be watching the 3rd Alien film after a restless night. I sat and watched the 2nd Alien Film with Keith last night, and whilst I did not think it was to bad, I could feel my adrenaline level rising. I did not sleep well and Keith said I was moaning a lot in my sleep. I know that I woke up sweating from head to foot, which had nothing to do with the Menopause. I gave it a go and now know it is not for me.

So here we are Sunday has been and is now almost gone. Having done some of the boat jobs yesterday. Today I wanted to get both chimney's cleaned out ready for this Winter's fires. Having taken Paddy out for his morning walk up the towpath. I got back to the boat where Keith was cooking Egg and Bacon on Toast. There is something very nice about the smell of Bacon cooking first thing in the morning. Breakfast over and my dirty clothes on, I was ready to get on with cleaning the chimney's. I opened the back cabin doors and found a fisherman had set up his gear at our stern. I soon realised when I stood on the back counter that we had another fisherman at the bow as well.

We were hemmed in by an open fishing competition, which began at 10.15am and would go on till 3.15pm.

Undeterred by the fishing match, we got on with the job in hand. I found our chimney brush and swept the saloon stoves chimney, which was actually all that bad.

The back cabin stove was a different matter. I had to take the chimney off of the stove and take it on to the bank to clean it out with a crowbar. Keith held the chimney whilst I welded the crowbar. It has to be said that I do not have great aim when doing with hammer's etc, and I missed when I rammed the crowbar down the chimney. I caught Keith on the hand, which made him winch a fair bit. I am amazed he did not say the odd naughty word. Maybe that was happening under his breath. I took over holding the chimney and let him chisel off the tar, which had gathered. We got the chimney as clean as we could and I then put it back on the stove. Keith then pushed new fire rope in around the top of the chimney. It was a job well done and means we can have a fire whenever we want now. I looked like I had been down the Black hole of Calcutta, so had to have a good wash. I bet the fishermen thought we were mad.

I made a coffee and we stood on the back counter watching the fisherman at our stern. It was not long before we got into conversation with Andy. He was taking part in an open fishing competition. I found it very interesting and learnt a lot about fishing in competition and what it takes to be this competitive. The rod he had cost him over £2,000 alone and then he had all his other gear. It is an expensive hobby. Last week he was taking part in the National Fishing Championships on the Trent at Nottingham. We were chatting away and he then got a bite. Straight away he knew it was something big. With lots of care and concentration, he landed this 14lb 8oz Carp. Along with the Carp he caught some Bream as well, but it was only enough to give him 2nd place, as they downed their rods at 3.15pm, a man came along and weighed each catch. No win today for Andy,never mind.

By watching Andy fish, it gave me a greater appreciation about how difficult it can be when boats are coming past and how rude some people can be on boats towards fishermen. Andy asked a couple of boaters if they would stay in the centre channel, and they were both pretty rude to his polite request. They did not seem to know why he needed them to stay away from the offside. It was because he did not want the mud churned up to much, but they both took offence without any reason. I know there are issues between fishermen and boaters. I have posted a couple of times about disrespectful fishermen, fishing in places they should not be. But competition fishing is different. These people pay to fish in the competition their peg cost them money, today it was £20 a peg. So they have as much right to be on the canal as us boaters do. Not only are they very polite, they also take great care to look after the fish and the surroundings. We always slow down for fishermen and are polite to them as well. I remember a few years ago when we were cruising, a fisherman asked us to speed up, because the water was to clear and he had not seen another boat all day. We duly obliged and I hope he caught his fish. I treat people, like I wish to be treated myself. The boaters who were miserable today should be ashamed of themselves. With the competition over with Andy packed away his gear and thanked us for our hospitality. I have sent the photo's I took of the Carp to him, as he said "No one will believe he caught it".

Did you see the news about the Carp which died on the 18th August. A mirror Carp weighing 32kg passed away at the age of 45. The fish, named Two Tone for its unusual colouring, was caught around once or twice a year by anglers and less than 50 times in its lifetime. Two Tone was due to be buried alongside the lake today.

During the fishing competition, Keith and I decided to have lunch at The Globe Inn. We both fancied a roast dinner for a change and we were not disappointed. I had roast Turkey with all the trimmings, and Keith had the roast Beef also with all the trimmings. it was like a Christmas dinner. There was four veg and three lots of potatoes, plus a Yorkshire Pudding. It was an extremely good lunch, washed down by a pint of in house Cider and a point Old Speckled Hen. It certainly set me up for the afternoon of fish watching and dish cloth knitting. We are going to have a nice night in, probably watching a DVD again, but NOT Alien 3.