Ahhhh ...'twas a gorgeous sunlit day ....
And for all those wondering ....yes we all broke down in one way or another..... the vicarious Bo*&^llocks of seagulls suddenly deciding they didn't want to play
H-A, with his beautifully polished and impeccably presented ...um ... non runners..<<snigger>>
Mrs H-A and the little H-A's particularly long suffering with Dad's attractive and shiny,....but non-operational toys... (but the boat DID float )
But H-A, armed with no more than a std pull cord, and a right arm that Schwarznegger would be proud of, pulled himself relentlessly 5 nautical miles upstream, barely raising a sweat
Charles L ...when he finally got
THE THING going,... with the wierdest sky-blue Heath Robinson lash-up of bits ...1/2 jet engine, 1/2 traction engine, bolted to the stern of a decked over plywood slipper
Quite amusing as he sped past us all ... like a crazed dwarf in a match-box tray. Roll-up fag adhered to bottom lip burning up at a rate of a metre per second
40 TPI doing grand service as mother hen to the breakdowns, tugging us ...me particularly ...out of weeds, the current, and other associated river hazards
I was particularly grateful to have Rick aboard ....y'can never have too much ballast...

..but a great help on the helm when 'dipping' the mast to get under bridges
My old vessel, the TeaBag, very handy design really ..when it's all gone ping-tong, to be able to securely spear the bowsprit into the rushes, so one can calmly panic over the next step to recover your street cred, cursing the lump of alloy dangling frustratingly silent off the stern
Neal...errrr... an ON, OP, 2xSD, F, 3xSJP, LLS, 2xFV, FVP, FPC, CPC WPCL, WSC, and a few eggs hatching, hopefully