All stop and finished with engines

Back to Longwood 

September 2017

This really is the end of the line. Martin joined me on Monday morning and together we moved the boats through Whittington and Hopwas to Fazeley where we used the water and elsan at the ex CRT premises at Peels Wharf. A notice informed us that the property had been bought, but it all looked shut up and empty. I did wonder if the water and elsan points would continue because having slops emptied on your premises wouldn't be everyone idea of a good neighbour.

 Redevelopment at Castle Vale

Then it was up the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to The Dog and Doublet, mooring up with time to pick some sloes before tucking into some steak and ale pie to keep us going. On reflection its better to moor below the lock to so have the benefit of a noise shield because the nearby motorway is a bit loud above the pub.

My crew for the trip home

We consulted the map and decided that even with the butty in tow, it was possible to get back to Longwood in one long day. That meant the alarms were set for 6.00am and we were on the move before 7.00am, passing through the first of about 35 locks leading to the Wolverhampton Level at Aldridge.

Whilst we started out in thick fog, with the Curdworth Tunnel emerging from the mist, it had all burned off by 10.00am and then continued in glorious autumnal sunshine. Locks and miles passed and we soon found the fields of Bodymoor Heath giving way to the urban sprawl of Minworth and the ongoing redevelopment of the Cincinatti Milacron site.

Tame Valley Canal

At Spaghetti Junction we veered off the bustling mainline (we had seen 3 boats) and started into the remote "northern reaches" via the Tame Valley Canal. This canal was one of the last to be built and shares many design features with the Shropshire Union, including some spectacular cuttings and  embankments. The big obstacle is the Perry Barr Locks which are generally well maintained but are used so little that many have sides covered in hanging foliage.

By rights the area at the top of the locks should be an ideal place to pause for the night. There are several houses nearby and CRT offers rubbish bins, toilets and even showers. I popped into the block and was staggered by the cleanliness, I doubt that they are used very often. I think that there is an elsan point but the door has been painted recently and I couldn't get it open without resorting to a screwdriver from the boat. The big downside is the unfortunate tendency for criminal activity. Only last month a new boat arrived at Longwood with its  windows smashed having been left unattended in the area for a couple of hours.

Perry Barr Locks

Then you are into the spectacular cuttings and embankments in the Hamstead area, one minute enveloped in a tunnel of trees with bridges soaring overhead, and then you are flying above the rooftops with views over Sandwell to the hills of Dudley. This is unmistakably a BCN waterway, with its distinctive narrows built for the collection of tolls. It's impossible not to feel a touch of the pioneering spirit when towpath walkers observe that they havn't seen another boat for months. We passed at the end of the school day and were more than a little relieved to leave the footbridges behind us.

Hamstead Cutting

The cool of the evening was upon us as we turned into the Rushall Canal and the last three miles of our journey. The canal became narrower, shallower, and more weedy with the navigation channel just a little wider that the boat. You have to keep the the centre line or you are in all sorts of trouble.

The Ganzies started well enough with all the locks set in our favour, as had the Perry Barr flight. In truth I think most of the locks leak empty. 

Rushall Bottom Lock

But then we reached lock four and it all went to pot. This lock in a cutting is tricky at the best of times, with its lopsided subsidence meaning that the gates always close by themselves - more a problem if you are descending single handed. We entered the lock and found that in spite of their habit of self closing, the offside bottom gate wouldn't close. It would swing to within 4 inches of the bottom liner but there is jammed. We opened and closed, closed and opened and after an hour of prodding around we called CRT for assistance with a keb. We had a cup of tea and with darkness approaching we were about to pull the boats out of the lock and wait for the light tomorrow. But then I rattled the gate in frustration and it juddered into place, more or less.

A gap too far

We didn't mess with the gate again so filled the lock as fast as possible and got out at the top before calling CRT with the good news. Only today I met another boater who had come up the flight and had problems in three locks one of which necessitated CRT support.

The light had completely gone as we set out on the mile pound, a straight and shallow waterway which is so full of lily pads that you have to creep along the centre, no easy task in the pitch black. The two top locks aka The Moshes were ascended in the dark and we abandoned the boats at the boat club two hours behind schedule.

The butty relieved of its load

The following day was spent shuttling between boat and home, moving the huge amount of stuff back to our house for the winter. Removing all that weight from the butty over the past few weeks has revealed a line of Thames weed, and by the end of the process this was nearly 4 inches wide at the front. No wonder it was hard to tow at the start of the season.

And there is one final twist to this tale. As I moored the boats up for the winter I checked over the engine and when I tried to start it again - nothing. No lights, no alarms, no starter motor. Its as though there is no starter battery at all. All the connections seem ok so maybe the old starter battery suffered a complete collapse, odd but at least I have 6 months to sort it out.

Huddlesford Heritage Gathering 2017

Huddlesford Heritage Gathering 2017

September 2017

Huddlesford represents for many traders, ourselves included, the last event of the year so there was something of an end of term feel about it all. For some it represents the end of a busy season and some welcome time away from the "circuit", but for others it marks the springboard for paid winter jobs.

The event is run by the Lichfileld and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust and hosted by Lichfield Cruising Club, using their grounds and clubhouse as a base. The aim of the bi annual event is to raise both funds and awareness for the ongoing restoration of the Ogley Locks section of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, better known as the Lichfield Canal.

Being late in the year, the event is particularly susceptible to adverse weather. On this occasion it was largely dry, albeit on a very damp base laid down during some rainy days just before hand. The weather was overcast and at times damp on the Saturday but the sun shone on Sunday which swelled the crowds and lifted spirits no end.

For us this is our "home" event, with our house just a few miles away. This meant we had access to our car and we immediately found ourselves making a transition from boating life to winter time home life, spending time at home, seeing home friends and even attending committee meetings (me). 

The weekend was somewhat curtailed for Helen as she had to leave immediately after the "church in the field" had finished to be with her mum. This left yours truly alone manning the stall with some tea, water and some sandwiches to keep me going. Thankfully Tom, a fellow member of Longwood Cruising Club showed up bearing a pint of beer and a much needed opportunity to attend to the other end of the drinking process!

Sunday was the better of the two days from a trading perspective, an experience shared by most of the other traders lifting the overall outcome to around average, which isnt bad for such an out of the way location. The location did also present a few challenges, notably in terms of the facilities available. Traders tend to arrive a couple of days early to get everything set up, which for many meant five or six days on site. The tank of water can be made to last and whilst rubbish couldn't be disposed of at the club, this could reasonably be stored for disposal at he next CRT site. However, elsan's cant be made to stretch and disposal of contents is a must. The club has an elsan point (which I used once) but then discovered that visiting boaters were not permitted to avail themselves of the facility, even early in the morning before the show opened. As a result one cassette had to be hauled to our home and another was toted on a 15 minute drive to Fradley Junction. All this was hugely irritating when a perfectly usable elsan existed just 100 feet away! I have to admit that this exclusion for visiting boaters irritated me, probably more than the inconvenience justified. If the on site cess pit is too small why not hire a "cube" along with the portaloos as other festival organisers do? Gripe over.

Talking of locations, its main downside is the proximity of the railway line which crosses the Coventry Canal at this point. You do kind of get used to identifying the difference between the thundering roar of the Pendolinos at full stretch, the rattle and clank of the container trains (16 or 32 carriages) and the booming din of the diesel powered bulk carriers without so much as a glance but its difficult to get any sleep for the first night. But like most things you get used to it and adapt so after a couple of nights the trains were largely consigned to background noise.

My Sunday was therefore confined to the stall and I simply photographed what I could from the butty, but to be fair most of the world seemed to cross the bridge and so fall into my field of vision.

By 6.00pm on Sunday I pulled the covers over the hold and instantly the rain started, continuing all night and picking up to a deluge in the wee hours, turning the towpath into a quagmire. Martin joined me on Monday morning and together we moved the boats round to the Dog and Doublet at Bodymoor Heath, ready for a major push back to Longmoor on Tuesday.

CRT Meetings - a double dose

CRT Annual Public Meeting and National Council Meeting

September 2017

Yesterday was a day of CRT meetings starting with the fifth Annual Public Meeting, this time held in The Gatehouse at The Bond and then after lunch the half yearly meeting of the National Council, also held at The Bond but this time in the smaller conference room overlooking the end of the Grand Union canal.

Alan Leighton closes the 5th Annual Public Meeting of CRT.

The Annual Public Meeting is a regulatory requirement for a charity and is an opportunity for the Executive team to present a "state of the nation" address, which shares progress and issues with anyone with an interest to listen. On this occasion the Trust has moved into the digital age and broadcast the event live via Facebook. 

The National Council is a collection of all interested parties, some elected and others co-opted plus the 10 Trustees who are the legal guardians of CRT. The underlying role of the Council is to appoint the Trustees and, in the event of something going wrong, to un-appoint them. However but the main day to day role is to see what is going on across the Trust and therefore offer insight and input from the various user groups perpective. Essentially, as an elected member of the National Council representing canal related businesses I have a seat at the table and the opportunity to engage with the powers that be to define the direction the organisation is going and ensure that matters of concern are at least considered.

As ever with my "CRT jottings" these are the things which struck me during the meetings, but they are in no way comprehensive minutes.

The Public Meeting was opened by Alan Leighton, Chair of the Trustees who is a pragmatic, no nonsense sort of guy who is good at cutting through the crap and getting things done. His summary was that CRT has had a successful year but there is still much to be done. His particular focus was on improving the relevance of the Trust in a future environment, broadening its appeal and acting as a catalyst for change, particularly in urban environments where we are able to make a positive impact outside the waterways community.

The Trust said goodbye to three trustees who had served their maximum periods in office and welcomed two new faces - Sue Wilkinson and Sir Chris Kelly. Don't be put off by the "Sir" - he was a senior civil servant and getting a title seems to often be part of the end of career package and whats more he was, for many years, a boater himself. The new appointees offer particular skills the trust will need in the coming years, including experience to help to renegotiate the government grant - discussions which will start in just 4.5 years time.

Richard Parry walked us through the income and expenditure of CRT which has broken the £200m threshold for the first time. Essentially 25% comes form the Govt grant, 25% from boating, 25% from property investment income, 13% from utility transfer contracts (water, gas and telecomms) and the rest is from charitable donations from one source or another.

There was also a fair bit of information about the now closed final salary pension scheme defecit which has grown due to actuarial recalculations and lower interest rates. The Trust has recently added £5m to the scheme and we were advised that relative to many other UK pension schemes it is in good shape. The Trustees are maintaining a close watch on this potential liability.

Given the dependence on the Grant and a natural government desire to cut such payments, getting the Trust in a strong place to renegotiate it is of paramount importance. We can therefore expect to see an increased focus on the non boating partners in the coming years to ensure that any suggestion that the grant will be cut is resisted in as many quarters as possible. The focus of the presentations therefore tended to be outside the boating community. This outward looking approach was apparent in the choice of Heather Clarke as presenter, specialising in measurement the link between waterways and well being. 

Specific boating issues were covered in the question and answer session including:

• The benefits of local Engagement Officers 
• Offside vegetation issues 
• Canal bed profiling - no policy to exclude wide beams
• EA transfer to CRT - on going but less appetite from government at present
• Fishing - a key user group which brings many young people to the waterways
• Towpath space - on going education issue. 

I appreciate that this may suggest that CRT is more interested in the general community benefits of the waterways rather than as a navigation authority, but this is probably a correct focus if we want to retain that £50m grant from the Government. At an operational level CRT is navigation organisation through and through and its our job to ensure that this core priority is not lost.

The National Council meeting continued from the Annual Public Meeting. An explanation about how the Trustee selection took place was offered, focussing on what the individuals will bring to the board and why the number of trustees has been reduced from 11 to 10 (charity best practice). The Council elected the new and continuing Trustees by a show of hands.

There was than a short presentation about an ongoing governance review which is taking a critical look at how CRT is governed. 

This started with the Waterways Partnerships with the review completed in July and is now being considered by the Trustees. Outcomes not yet shared.

The Trustee Board review is on going and will be complete by the next council meeting in March 18 (I think).

There was also small group discussion about the possibility of a review of how the National Council operates. Various ideas and observations emerged, including starting with a questionnaire. These ideas will be collated and considered by the Trustees.

There was a presentation about Digital Marketing including its origins and how it is being embraced by CRT. My take is that CRT isn't exactly at the bleeding edge (beyond the cutting edge) in this area, but it is moving forward particularly in its attempts to engage people outside its traditional boating circles.

There was also a presentation about Hydrology which was a great interest to the nerdy part of me. They explained how CRT manages 74 reservoirs which represent some of CRT's highest risk assets (and also represent a large proportion of this winters asset repair spend).

They revealed how models are being run for various climate change scenarios and reflect the CRT interpretation of the UK water risk audit. 

Drought and Flood represent the Trust's highest risks. This led to the production of the October 2015 strategy paper. The current focus is flood risk management and it was pointed out that lowering water levels, and emptying reservoirs to potentially accommodate flood water is a trade off against drought resilience in the drier summer months.

This led to a presentation on Water Transfer opportunities which are currently being tendered for. This would involve government capital spend (not CRT money) and an annual revenue stream for channeling water supplies from wet areas to the drier south east via the canal network. A good example is the existing transfer of water down the Llangollen to Hurleston or the movement of water from the River Severn to Bristol vial the Gloucester and Sharpness.The outcome of these 19 tenders will be known in 2018.

There is also ongoing work on the use of canal water for heating / cooling via heat pumps.

As you can see, over time the various specialist presentations give the National Council a broad view of the operations of the Trust and help them make informed contributions where appropriate.

Whilst matters can and are raised in this forum, most if the nitty gritty issues are thrashed out in the smaller working groups, like the Elected Boaters meetings and the National Advisory Groups (NAG's). The Licensing consultation is the current focus of attention and phase three is about to start.

Please share this as widely as possible.

Journey's End

Arrival at Huddlesford

September 2017

For those of you who have been following our progress over the last five months (and I know that there are a lot of you) I am sad to have to say that this post marks the end of the journey.

Huddlesford at last

Today we did our final day's travel together, moving the boats about 12 miles from Rugeley to Lichfield, ready for the Huddlesford Gathering this weekend. On Sunday Helen will be leaving the boat to look after her mother who will be having surgery, leaving Martin and myself to get the boats back to Aldridge via the Birmingham and Fazeley and the Tame Valley / Rushall canals.

Autumn colours

Autumn is pressing in and cold claggy mornings are becoming the norm, which means setting a fire as part of the wake up routine. It was still cold and damp as we left the boat to deliver a supply of Elderberry Vinegar to Mike and Kit as Mike is still suffering from the lurgy. Then it was into town to say hello to Mark and Justina in their new shop, The Sewing Shack, and much to my surprise I found they sell parrafin wax, a key ingredient for some home made fire lighters we want to experiment with.

Approaching Fradley

By the time we set off at 10.30 the sun was out and, for the first time in weeks, we were obliged to don sunglasses and hats. The Trent and Mersey was busy today and I think I had to let at least four boats past, but somewhat irritatingly we passed three of them later on as they had tied up early. I can now see how we manage to keep up with the pack - it's a case of the tortoise and the hare. They may all zip along leaving us to plod at a steady 2.3 mph (so the Waterways Routes App tells me) but we are relentless. We just keep going and always eat lunch on the move - which means we seem to cover the same number of miles as everyone else over the course of a day.

Near Wood End Lock

We had lock keeper assistance at Fradley where we did pause for water, rubbish, and elsan and, just as we set off again, we stumbled across Martin and Margaret of nb Erin Mae. Martin and I are longtime friends and followers of each others blogs. I somehow managed to beach the boats around a small sea otter and had to offer apologies as I sorted out the mess, whilst at the same time digging a few jars of preserves for Martin and Margaret. Strangely the boat was firmly aground when I was on it but floated free of its own accord when I jumped off - I just can't figure out why that may be!

Dave Baynham

The weather stayed warm and dry as we passed under the busy A38, a sure sign we are nearing home. The stretch into Seethay was deafening but the noise dropped away dramatically as we reached Kings Orchard Marina and saw the familiar face of Dave Baynham (nb The Robber Button) leaning against the fence waiting for us.

A celebratory bottle of fizz to mark our journey's end

And then it was the final mile into Huddlesford Junction, site of the forthcoming Huddlesford Gathering, a bi annual event hosted by the Lichfield and Hartherton Canal Restoration Trust and the Lichfield Cruising Club. All the moorings are marked out but for the first time ever, we are the first to arrive. I know from Facebook that a gaggle of traders are pounding their way down here from Tipton, so I don't suppose we will have the place to ourselves very long. Its an odd location, one minute gloriously quiet and the next the actual canal is shaking as Pendelino's scream past at over 100mph.

A final joint selfie in the sun

As this was the last day of movement for the pair of us, the day was rounded off with a bottle of bubbly, celebrating the end of a remarkable and hugely enjoyable five months afloat. 

Rugeley

Rugeley

September 2017

After yesterday's rains the ground was awash and the Trent had risen and was flowing fast at Great Haywood.  

Misty morning in Great Haywood

I sloshed my way back to the Elsan point at Anglo Welsh and was dismayed to discover a huge pool of non or ultra slow draining slurry in the ground level pit. It was unclear if this was due to misuse or, more likely, the holding tank had filled with storm water. I didn't envy the Anglo Welsh employee who would be charged with solving the problem.

We were off and away by 9.00am, dropping through two locks on our short hop to Rugeley, our destination for the day. The run was pleasant and the warm sun in my face made me realise just how long it was been since we cruised beneath anything but leaden skies.

Autumn colours

In all out years of boating we have passed through Rugeley many times but we have never actually stopped on the visitor moorings. But today all that was to change as we had several bits of business to conduct, the most important being to meet a writer for Camping and Caravan Club magazine. 

They have got a bigger butty than us!

We arrived in time to do a shop at the adjacent Tesco store, have lunch and then I took the washing across town to the launderette. You seem to meet the whole world in launderettes which is one of life's great levellers, as we gather to watch out smalls dance their merry way to cleanliness. On this occasion I was joined by a gentleman who emanated a steady whistle and duly introduced himself as "whistler". It turned out he was also a boater and in our ten minutes together provided a potted life history of his years on nb Sawdust.

Haberdashery and Haddock!

I returned to find Helen in deep conversation with the writer, Ali Ray and we spent a pleasant couple of hours exchanging foodie related stories, as well as discussing the important matter of Artisan Gin manufacture. I think she said that we would feature in their October or November edition, so hopefully we will get to see a copy in the near future. 

By the time I got back to the boat Facebook announced that I had been spotted in Rugeley High Street, following my phone on the way back to the boat. These Google Maps on phones are great, just as long as you can keep a signal. Mark and Justina (Grand Rosettes) had spotted me passing their new haberdashery shop which, by co-incidence, is almost next to the Albion Chippy who produce very nice and reasonably priced fish and chips.

Staffs and Worcester revisited

Staffs and Worcester revisited
September 2017

Travelling the Staffs and Worcester has had something of a homecoming feel about it. For many years the route from Gailey to Great Haywood was something we did several times each year, and often as part of a weekend break which took us to Tixall Wide and back.

Would you believe it, but its at least five years since we covered the eastern half of the canal and its certainly the  first time we have towed The Jam Butty along its winding route. It was therefore very familiar but at the same time I have had very little idea of the time it would take to travel. In the event what used to take us one long day was covered in two modest days, a slowing down which has more to do with our appetite for hours at the tiller than slowness through the water.

We were relying on Gailey having a working elsan point and were more than a bit miffed when we discovered it closed for refurb work. I do wish CRT would provide a holding tank as a temporary stop gap for these repair works. The run into Penkridge was to the usual accompaniment of the M6 and all along the route we were being tailed by nb Helen, but who were never quite fast enough to catch us in the pounds. 

We paused in Penkridge and, for the first time, walked into town. And what a lovely little centre it is. We restocked on provisions as a good sized Co Op, bought some great bacon, sausages and pork pies in a real local butchers and, on the suggestion of the crew of nb Helen, visited the agricultural supply company on the far side of the main road. This place does a great line in work wear suitable for boating and two pairs of trousers were purchased as well as a warm top for Helen. 

After we restarted we were surprised to see nb Helen again on our heels - they must be gluttons for slow travel! No sooner had I left the town than I thought that the engine was misfiring with erratic lumping and bumping. This got worse and worse till a moored boat told me that a rock concert was in progress at J13, and the bass lines were the cause of my mechanical concerns.

Not long after we came to Teddesley Boat Services and I was most surprised to see what appeared to me the bows of Lady Hatherton peeking from the shed she occupied for so long. But as I looked closer it appears that the wooden hull has morphed into steel. I doubt that this is an aquatic case of alchemy so can  someone tell me if this is a reproduction of the venerable inspection launch, and if so what happened to the old one I last saw five years ago.

I was keen to be well away from the M6 as I was from the music festival, so we progressed to beyond Acton Trussell, and just short of Deptmore Lock, sharing a peaceful mooring with nb Helen who finally passed us, by 200 yards!

Sunday dawned clear and bright but we seem to be getting worse and worse at starting out. In fact we were so late breakfast became brunch (bacon and sausages form Penkridge butchers) and we didn't get going till 11.30am. Stafford boat club was surrounded with visiting craft and most bore the insignia of RN, so I guess it was a meet up off the Russell Newbury owners club. I don't know if they have an informal collective name, but "The Old Thumpers" wouldn't be too wide of the mark.

Stafford turned into Baswich and it was great to see some evidence of work on the ground for the Stafford Waterways Link - I am not sure how this is going, but I have always felt it is something of a dark horse restoration project. Then it was Milford and to Helen's huge relief I found a crab apple tree loaded with fruit. For weeks I poo poo'd the idea of picking on the GU where the trees were prolific, but foraging opportunities have been a bit thin on the ground around Birmingham.

Creative play house at Baswich

The good weather left us as we crossed the River Sow and from then on it was brollies and waterproofs with squall after squall hitting us, till it settled to steady rain as we crossed Tixall Wide. The plan was to get to Rugeley for Morrisons and the Launderette, but as the towpath filled with water I took the expedient option and pulled into a convenient 70ft gap just after Great Haywood junction. Rugeley will still be there tomorrow!

Days of industry

Days of industry

September 2017

A trip up the Shroppie wouldn't  be complete without a visit to Industry Narrowboats at Stretton Wharf, birthplace of The Jam Butty. 

Stretton Wharf - Birthplace of The Jam Butty

We have a standing invitation to pop in and our progress northbound the day before had already been noted. On this occasion the visit was with the specific purpose of foraging down their driveway where all sorts of seasonal goodies were promised, and we were not disappointed. We picked a huge bag of cooking apples, a smaller bag of rosy red eaters, sloes for sloe gin, rosehips for rosehip jelly and quite amazingly, three kilos of late red plums which were clinging into the branched by their fingertips.

The fruit foraged at Industry Narrowboats

One snag occurred whilst harvesting - my extendable fruit picker decided to jam in the retracted position and refused to open up. I tried everything but in the end asked to borrow their workshop vice which did the trick. Whilst I was in the workshop I couldn't help but see Canis Major up on the blocks. Canis Major is a shortened GU motor built in the 1930's and is noteworthy as she was the last boat converted by  Peter Keay of Walsall. 

Canis Major stripped to the bare bones

I have to admit that I have a real fascination with historic boats in the "raw", and they don't come much rawer than this one. She has just had her wooden bottom removed and her knees are exposed with great holes cut into her sides where new steel is being welded into areas which must have been paper thin. The is a fine craft, unusual in that she still has a wooden top conversion and her old Lister engine waits patiently for the next phase of her life. 

No bottom but nice lines!

Industry Narrowboats specialise in the old and the unusual and its always a delight to have a look round the yard and see the projects they have on the go. Perhaps the most interesting are the odd "bits" of boats hanging around, a habit which of course led to the birth of The Jam Butty four years ago made from two back ends welded together.

An unexpected encounter with Halsall

Our return through Autherley Junction was delayed as the coal Boat Halsall's bows edged into the junction bridge hole just as I was coming out of the stop lock. Brian McGuigan was at the helm and took the setback in his stride. He backed off a bit and I kind of jack knifed round his stern with both of us busy taking photos of each other! I got the impression he was rather taken with our little butty and credit goes to him for the photo of me getting our pair out of the weeds opposite the junction.

Brian McGuigan's shot of me

We pressed on to Coven and a good meal at the Fox and Anchor which used to be our local when we moored at Calf Heath. The food was good quality and washed down with a couple of pints of Proper Job.

Pendeford in the later afternoon sun

Friday was another industrious day after a very late start. The red plums were prepped and turned into a couple of dozen jars of Cinnamon Plum Jam. At the same time the butty had a good sort out, clearing up the mess after the rain impacted shut down ant Netherton.

Those plums in their new format....

The late afternoon was spent making the short hop from Coven to Gailey, passing Hatherton Marina at Calf Heath which was our home mooring for so many years. I certainly don't need a map for this twisting waterway, every curve is indelibly imprinted on my memory.