The sun was shining and despite the wind, it was a nice day for a walk so we headed up along the tow-path to do a small circular route that would bring us back - passing our mooring spot. Along the way, we encountered the usual ramblers and cyclists and it must have been the sunshine making everyone "happy" as everyone we came upon, was keen to say hello for a change. As we approached our mooring, we noticed a grumpy looking chap getting on and off his boat doing "stuff" - when we got closer we realised he was on one of the boats either side of us. This chap, looked as miserable as it was possible to be on such a bright day. It wasn't long until we were right near him and I decded now was as good a time as any to start a conversation with him in the hope of introducing ourselves as eventual new neighbours.
I can't actually remember what my opening line was - I get nervous around new people sometimes... looking at him, we'd both assumed he was going to be hard work. On the contrary, he turned out to be the nicest old chap you could wish to be moored near. Within moments, he invited me on to his boat to have a good look around at his layout, heating and solar charging systems. OK, so within a second of stepping on-board, I could tell he wasn't house proud but his genuine warmth and hospitality WAS apparent. That's the thing about most boaters... they DO care about other people and DO want to help where they can... Thinking about it though, a general capacity to care about others and willingness to do good or help out is abundant in society - It just doesn't get much airplay in the news. It's very easy sometimes to assume the worst of people or imagine everyone is out to screw you over... that just ins't the case.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few bad buggers about - but for the most part the world is a nice place to be... you just have to look at it through good eyes.
SO Mick is our new friend and I have no doubt, once the boat arrives, he'll be a great neighbour. We both look forward to sharing a beer with him in the future... meanwhile, I need to do a bit more searching for macerator toilets again... I read something on canalworld about leessan having a bit of a sale.
Until next time...
2 comments:
Why not a compost toilet?
for us or Mick's boat? - I suspect for him it'll be because it's already FULL (as in bursting) of stuff so carrying around a bucket thats full but not yet composted might be difficult - in our case, I think it will probably be for the same reason... it's not ruled out for the future though...it'll depend on how much room we have when living aboard full time too.
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