This is a bag – as you can see it is a bag of coal, or rather, was a bag containing coal. Once we had used the coal, I redeployed it on the stern deck, where Helen or I stand at the helm. It was there to try and keep some of the mud (see previous blog) off the deck as I am getting tired of cleaning it.
A couple of days ago it was rather windy, and the wind took it away – into the canal. It was gone before I got a chance to stop it and there was no way of going back to reclaim it. We don’t like leaving such things in the canal as they are a hazard – they get wrapped around prop-shafts, fouling them and meaning someone has to remove their weedhatch and grovel around in the cold, murky water to remove it from the prop. However, there was no chance to reclaim it on this occasion.
The bag, it seems, had other ideas. I was at the helm, approaching a lock when I noticed Helen pulling something out of the canal. From a distance, I thought it looked familiar and it was, indeed, the self-same bag. The really weird thing is – this was two days later, and seven locks further on down the canal. It would seem the bag was very keen to be reunited with my feet!
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