Lisa 1972

Lisa 1972

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

I think 1972 must have marked a low point in the Ahab family fortunes.

Capt Ahab, Matilda and Dr D

Till this point each boat seemed to be a progression on the one before, but now it was back to earth with a bump!

We hired Lisa for an Easter week on the Monmouthshire Brecon Canal, but for some reason I always think of it as the Brecon and Abergavenny. Maybe time has seen a shift on the canal 's name.

Friends and family

Lisa was a poor old craft costing, I think, £25! We got what we paid for.

An uninsulated and unheated fibreglass cruiser is not what you want for a sleety easter in the Welsh hills. It wasn't then and it isn't now. As I recall, there was no escaping the weather, there wasn't even a place to eat inside and all meals had to be taken round a collapsing table in the cockpit. If the precipitation got too bad there was always a pram hood arrangement, but without sides it offered little in the way of protection.

The dining room in "snug" mode

Looking at the photos I can see an attempt was made at creating a makeshift emergency exit on the front deck, but beyond that the boat had little to comment it. I am amazed that Matilda agreed to come on any future boating holidays, or maybe that is why the quality of boats we hired took a sudden turn for the better from that time on.

Capt Tom at the help

One notable feature of this trip was the presence of visitors in the shape of my grandparents (Tom Cooke is steering in some shots) and a Mrs Wiseman, a longstanding friend of the family from Leominster.

The dining room

I fear that my one experience of the Mon and Brec  was, how shall we put it? Ah - the phrase "sub optimal" captures it well. The photos show it was very pretty but nothing looks very good when you are cold to the core.

Cold - but pretty.

Not one of the great cruising trips and sadly, one I have never repeated. I have read many glowing reviews of the canal and I must try and re-explore it again one of these days.