A Humble Jumble

Well what a disappointing boat jumble it was this year. The quality of the stalls fell well short of our expectations and the majority of traders were not willing to haggle or barter on their prices. We didn’t buy anything from our shopping list but we did pick up a few items we will use throughout the year, so all was not completely lost.

First up we bought a pair of oars for the dinghy from the Burton Waters stall. When we bought Asbo, our dinghy, one of the oars was missing, so we removed the one remaining one. Now that we have a pair we can paddle around as well as using the engine. We will also be able to get back to safety should the outboard engine decide to breakdown at any time. For £7 it was rude not to buy them when we really did need a pair. They will need some slight modifications to make them fit the integral rowlocks on the dinghy but that isn’t going to be too difficult a job, so come some better weather we will modify them and fit them.

Our next purchase was some new sea fishing gear. I needed a new rod and Liam’s rod was getting a little shabby and beaten up so we bought a new pair of rods and a new reel for my rod grabbing a great deal with the two rods and one reel coming in at just £25, less than the ticket price on the reel. We didn’t even feel the need to haggle with this chap, he did it all for us. We expect he didn’t want to take all of his stock back home with him. The rods are heavy enough to tackle some sea fish but also light enough for everyday use on the river catching pike and other larger coarse fish. We also bought some new feathers and lures so the fishing tackle box is restocked and ready for the coming season. Now we just need to catch the fish, not always as easy as it sounds.

We also stumbled into some new and old friends throughout the morning and had a chance meet with Simon, our narrow boating friend who accompanied us on our trip to West Stockwith last November. This was a great chance meeting as we have bought his 3kW inverter which he no longer needs or uses. We have been after a larger inverter to power the kettle and toaster so this was high on our list of this year’s jobs to do. Our original plan had been to buy a 2kW version but this one has come up at the right price and at the right time so we will have this one which will give us a little extra in reserve should we buy any higher powered electrical goods. We now just need to pick it up next weekend and install it in time for our Easter holiday at the beginning of April. More jobs to tackle in the next few weekends.

This may not have been our most successful visit to the Boat Jumble but we did still walk away with some good bargains and some useful items. The items we were looking to buy will have to be bought from elsewhere, most probably Morton Boats, who always have as good deal for us anyway.