The View From Within

Boy can that galley slave whittle on. On and on and on, she never stops. Well, at last she has given me the chance to say my piece. Not before time too, almost two years it has taken me to get a word in edgeways. Two years, and I’m the one that takes them on their adventures, I’m the one they spend all of their spare time on and I’m the one that this blog is supposed to be about.

Not that I’m complaining, they do love me, unlike the owners of my next door neighbours. I like my crew to come and visit each week, even though it means I have to work harder than most of my friends, at least I get the chance to stretch my legs and I never have chance to get bored. My friends get bored sat on their berths week after week with no visitors to come and see them, I feel sorry for them sometimes. They must get cold in the winter. My crew come and turn my heating on so that I can warm through, I like to feel the heat flowing through my body, and I know that when the heating turns on at 6.00pm on a Friday evening that my crew are on their way to keep me company during their weekend break.

I was a little bit hard on my crew for the first year or so of their company, well you have to know that they are in it for the long run you see. They were very green and inexperienced, but they have stuck it out and I have grown to be very fond of them. They lavish me with love and attention and always make me feel special even if I have been a little naughty or feeling under the weather. We have gotten to know each other very well over the last few years but they still manage to surprise me with their plans and ambitions, and I still manage to surprise them with the odd spell of unexpected naughtiness.

They took me to see some new waterways this year. I loved it, the chance to run free for hours down the coast without the constraints of this river to hold me back. I loved the salty sea water thundering past my hull as we skipped down the coast at 25 knots with not a care in the world. I put up a good performance for the crew and looked after them so that hopefully they will take me again; I liked it there, Norfolk I think they called it. There were lots of funny looking, brightly coloured boats down there with new and inexperienced crews so we had to keep a look out for them and be on guard, but we all had a good time and I liked the change of scenery. I never knew there were other waterways like these ones. I have been cooped up on this muddy, shallow ditch for most of my short life, but my current crew are now showing me lots of new places, places I like and places I want to go to again.

I am not sure what they have planned for me this year, but I do hope it is as exciting as last year and that we can go away with my mate Devocean again. She is a wise old bird and keeps me on the straight and narrow, showing me what to do when I come up against strange new situations. My friend Wish You Were Here has just about finished the “testing” of her current crew so maybe she will join us on some of our adventures this year as well and I do hope we get the chance to meet up with Chrisnico again. She is very mischievous and we got up to all sorts of tricks the last time we all got together, we make a great pair of troublesome twins.

Must dash now, the crew will be here soon for their weekend afloat, so I am going to get myself ready for their arrival. I’m not sure if they have any plans for this weekend yet and I hope that the weather will improve for them. I have been rattling around on this mooring all week in this horrible wind, with waves crashing against my hull and bow. I wonder if they will remember to bring me a drink of diesel, my tank is starting to get a little low again and they must remember to fill my water tank this weekend or that will run dry.

Hopefully it won’t be so long before I get to grab a word or two with you again. See you soon,

Naughty-Cal