Free Line 109 — October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 211
GRAHAM
ALEX
PAUL HANSON
STEVE
STEVENS
BENNETT
BRIGGS
back before the season ended, and that was that.
At the start of the year before, I had obtained another bigger boat, and
it was high time to get that up and running. I loved ‘Project G’, as it was the
carpiest boat on the river and perfect for one person for a night or two, but
unfortunately, my circumstances had changed. I was now separated from
my wife and daughter and living with friends. So, I now wanted something
that bit more comfortable that I could take someone else with me on and
use as a leisure boat too. This was a Birchwood 18ft Continental, which had
a lot more room and features without being too big for fishing, but it needed
a complete restoration and modifying for my own preferences, a ‘restomod’
if you like.
By then I had also been made redundant from the company I’d worked
for over 20 years. Although this was another kick in the nuts, it did allow
me to fish full time for a bit. I was right into my lake fishing on Frimley Pit
4, and I had also had a productive winter on Pit 3 – stories for another time,
maybe? But June soon came around and I had to do something. I decided
that if I kept ‘Project G’, I’d probably have got sidetracked from the other
boat with actually fishing the river and couldn’t afford to keep paying two
lots of mooring fees anyway, so I put it up for sale. It was after all a ready to
go carp fishing boat.
It wasn’t advertised for long when I was messaged by a proper angler
looking for a boat, and it was sold in quick time and went to a good home.
I actually could have sold it two or three times over. Now I had to get the
other one done. By now it was dry-docked, and I had done some bits and
pieces. It was one of the hottest years on record, which hindered as much
as helped me. If I’d have known it was going to last as long as it did, I’d have
taken it down to a bare hull from the start and made my life a bit easier, but
I enjoyed most of it in some sick way Even when the season started with the
calls and messages from friends telling me what they had caught from the
river,. including Nikk having his first Thames thirty in the shape of a 30lb
FR E ELINE 97
