Crick Marina
Along with thousands of others we looked at the weather forecast for the weekend and decided that Sunday was the best of the three days to visit Crick. Arriving at Junction 18 we found ourselves in a long queue, some of it caused by congestion as the result of a breakdown on the M1 southbound carriageway, but most it due to heavy show traffic. It took a long time to negotiate the roundabout, where there was some confusion, but eventually we got into an orderly queue along the A428. After one-and-a-half hours we finally got into the showground and then met the mud! The marshalling staff were doing a great job, because by midday the car parks were quite full, the mud meant that many cars, including ours, had to be pushed into a space.
A sea of mud
No wonder we didn't have much grip!
Getting into the site from the car parks was no problem since there were no queues. We celebrated getting into the show with a Cornish Pastie and sat and watched the Old Grey Dogs play bluegrass.
We then toured the pavillions and I went mad and bought a replacement Buckby can. The can from our first boat Bertie was decprated by Ron Hough and was given to me by Maggie for my 50th birthday, some 17 years ago. It has for some time sat alongside its larger "brother" on the roof of Albert.
Bertie and Albert cans in better days (2008)
However, like its owner, it's beginning to show its age; its paint is peeling off. I think the very cold weather in spring 2013 must have really taken its toll. Our new can was from Sue Woodward from Long Buckby Wharf. We admire her work a lot and look forward to placing it on the roof next to our "Albert" can. Sue suggested that it may be one the last cans she decorates.
Our new Buckby Can
We toured the static (that is out of water) boats, looking at their steel work (some of which was somewhat less than perfect), and then visited the floating exhibits. The boats in the marina were creating a lot of interest with queues to go onboard.
Busy on the showboats
Among the showboats there were a few historic boats including President and Raymond. Kathryn Dodington from Stoke Bruerne was helping to display the Canal Museum's working boat Sculptor.
Kathryn on board Sculptor
After bumping into a number of our boating friends, and visiting some more stands, we decided to take advantage of the Waterways World VIP pass and visit the Vintage Tea Room. Even inside the team room tent it was muddy, with the staff wearing wellies; they still managed to serve a delicious cream tea.
Friendly service in wellies!
We were joined at our table by a couple and got talking about boating adventures, as you do. The conversation then wandered onto boat names. Since their boat had a Welsh name I proffered the trivial fact that as an Englishmen I had two years of Welsh when at school in Cardiff. As the conversation moved further on we discovered that I had attended the same primary school as the husband, just a few years apart: what a small world!
