Free Line 109 — October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 194
ALEX
GRAHAN
PAUL HANSON
STEVE
BENNETT
BRIGGS
STEVENS
on a boat and had a mooring on a weir. As he was on the river grapevine, I
asked him to keep an eye out for a cheap boat with a cabin or a cuddy that I
could use for fishing. Pretty soon one turned up too. He was going to keep it
as tender, but with space at a premium on his mooring, he decided to sell it.
It was perfect for what I needed, but there was a proviso that I had to take
it by the Friday, in three days’ time! It came with a rusty old 70s Mercury
outboard, which wasn’t a runner, so I borrowed a 4hp Johnson off a friend,
John Merritt.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t running either, but after couple of hours’
tinkering with my mate Turtle and some basic tools, we had it running off
one cylinder. It was like an episode of Scrapyard Challenge or the A-Team,
minus the oxy acetylene equipment that seemed be in every location they
needed it. Hi fives and hugs all round! We were buzzing! Jim also lent me
his 2hp Johnson for an emergency but understandably didn’t want it used
for the entire journey. I then went and picked up another friend, Phil Healy,
at the location I was taking the boat to, so he would have his car at that end
of the journey and be able to drive home when we got there. I was staying
on the boat for the night, so I could take it to the mooring in the morning,
leaving my car at the other end. I had already booked a lift back to that the
following morning; it was like a military operation!
By the time we set off, it was dark, and I was on a boat I’d never been on
before, using a 4hp outboard running of one cylinder, tiller steering it from
the back whilst trying to look over the roof, as it wasn’t compatible with the
boat’s steering control. To be honest, it was great fun for us both, and we had
a whale of a time just getting it there. Even in the dark of night, the scenery
was awesome, and the miles between the three locks we had to go through
passed so quickly. I dropped Phil off, found somewhere safe to moor up for
the night and made a cup of tea. It was then that I realised for the first time
in my life that I was on my own boat. Oi, oi!
The boat was a 13ft dory type with a closed off cabin with two 6ft long
FREELINE 80
