…..and finally the weather was good, the boat was respectable so it was off to the cut. It has been a long time since Mostly Harmless got to blast her engines out on the canal.
Mr Physics was in charge of getting us out of the marina and a turn to port to travel to the stables, one of the horse changing places when there was a rush to get passengers from Edinburgh to Glasgow in just under seven hours.
When you get on the cut it is like the canal water gently washes away all the worries and concerns, and all you can focus on is the comforting quiet hum of a deep engine ticking over without strain and the birds calling a warning in the trees. Suddenly, because you are on a boat, people stop along the towpath and want to wave at you. Funnily, you want to wave back! Now would you wave at someone as they walked passed on the towpath? No neither would I: so why the urgent desire to wave and be recognised when slowly cruising on a boat at walking pace? It is lovely to make people smile. There isn’t enough traffic on the canal so that a boat is still a rarity, although the number of hire boats has increased thanks to the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. Talking of increased traffic, as Mrs Physics was dropped off on the pontoon to take some photos of Mostly Harmless to show she really was moving a Black Prince hire boat came under Townhead Bridge. Capturing the two boats passing on this stretch of the canal is unusual.
Mrs Physics, carefully guided by Mr Physics brought the boat back home to the marina, just as the wind was picking up. You can’t begin to imagine how hard it is manoeuvring 17 tonnes of 2.1 m wide, 17m long steel when the wind hits you side on. Vector addition really is seen here. Mrs Physics even got compliments about how she carefully reversed on to the pontoon and switched off the engine without crash, bang or screams. Mr Physics will never know what that encouragement meant. So maybe after several years I am getting the knack of this steering. I wish I could do a helmsman course to prove it.
I hope all you students doing exams are working hard, but also getting time to relax. It is vital to recharge your batteries (literally in the case of Mostly Harmless), switch in to the world around you and put life in context.
Well chilled! Now I can start catching up with all the work that needs doing!
