Snapped Lines, Escaping the City and differing perspectives.

Sorry - this is going to be a bit dis-jointed...   The world is still bonkers and (being trapped in it) I fear the bonkersness may be rubbing off 😀

You'll recall 'Ellis' chugged up into Leeds the other week so as to be able to visit friends and continue prepping the boat for the forth-coming guest season.    The river was nearly into flood when we locked through into Granary Basin...  and once in there, we discovered very little in the way of water... OR mooring spaces.  Hobsons choice meant I had to tie up alongside between the Hotel and the Candle House - the problem here being the ledge that sticks out - it's fine when there is plenty of water AND the level is stable...  alas, when the level is NOT stable, you HAVE to leave very slack ropes to avoid the boat being tipped over/sunken.

It's not ideal.

Still,  knowing the ledge is there is better than not!

Having tied up and checked the weather forecast - WIND was coming... Anyone who has ever moored in Granary Wharf knows that WIND is a major problem ... the towering buildings all around funnel it down to ground level and cause havoc - what the forecasts say are 45 mph winds are possibly double by the time they slam into the boats moored down below - it's scary.  IT's MORE scary when you can't tie up tightly cause of aforementioned ledge and fluctuating water levels.

Why? am I waffling on about this? - well, in true Granary "wind" style, we took a major battering - for like 4 days and nights... 1 st of which, included the centre line (which I never normally use to moor with) snapping at Midnight ... the result of which meant the boat (on slack front and rear lines which had either been undone or undone themselves in the storm) began a scary journey across the basin - LUCKILY another boat had noticed (I was in bed trying to drown out the banging and clonking noises from the solar panels) - I DID hear voices above the wind and on poking my under panted body through the hatch, spotted Adam and an unknown other boater both desperately trying to pull Ellis back alongside via the front line.  Between us we got her back in and then securely re-tied front and rear lines - Adam having ashed up the bottom gates down to the river in a bid to keep the level from falling any further. The wind didn't let up for days and as the river was in flood, we were trapped in anyway.  Suffice to say, 4 nights with little sleep -punctuated by 6-7 times a night external trips in my pants to wedge bits of wood under the panels back in that had been ripped out by ferocious gusts.  AS soon as the river had dropped, I made a dash for it down to Clarence Dock - JUST as an overstaying CRT employee had buggered off (I have spies with a view)...  THAT trip was dodgy though as the river was going back in to flood again as we left Granary...

It was nice to be plugged in again AND along side floating pontoons I could tie up to night and tightly...

Having spent a couple of nights there, had supper with friends (I'm going to miss terribly) and also met a writer of 'erotic fiction'... I'll report back on his works at some point -  we departed and began our journey once more.

Leaving Granary, a chap was either practicing escape from being locked down, or measuring for new windows!

I suspect it may be for window guards to "keep folk on lock-down"...

By the time we'd got through Kirkstall little lock, we came across this boat that had been abandoned last year and now sunk... NOT in the most helpful of places... I wonder how long it will remain here.

The locks here was more fun than usual - lots of folk around "bored" - including one rather daring chap trying to skateboard down the locks... I videoed him.

He had cut his hand and was bleeding...  it irked me to have to stop and give him some first aid and bandages...  if I hadn't, he'd probably have ended up wasting resources in A & E...

Writing of A & E - I listened to a podcast earlier of an interview with an A & E Consultant... who was pleading with people to stay in doors - he DID stress anyone with  cold like symptoms.... NOT because everyone who contracts  Covid-19 WILL die but because if they pass it on, TOO many people will need help (ventilators mainly) at the same time and he didn't want to have to "choose" which 1 person gets put on one and the other 7 ... which perhaps die'...it's all about being able to cope with the numbers 'poorly' at the same time.  whilst 95% of people will survive 5% of a large number will overwhelm the care-givers... and I GET that... 

The trouble is - SOCIETY has already gone past the point of common sense in regards their USE/ABUSE of A & E anyway ... folk spending 4 hours 'waiting to be seen' with something that could have waited until the Docs opened the following morning etc... Folk have become TOO used to being able to TAKE and not give.

All this "if in doubt go see your doc" mentality (NOT relating to Corona virus) HAD created a nation of SELFISH folk who abuse the services provided - even before this current situation began.  

In those terms it makes sense... the trouble with 'people' is that in today's "age" we have become so self aware and developed a sense or "right" to live, we perhaps think we are more important than we really are - MOTHER Nature has other ideas.  

Hearing about peoples suffering is awful - the poor folks dying off as a result of contracting this virus is awful...it's probably more worrying for people who have pro-created - their (understandable) fear and feelings of wanting to protect those they care about must be overwhelming.  Sensibly staying home if you have even a hint of cough is perhaps a good idea ... keeping a couple of metres away from people outside is also perhaps a good idea of a way to slow things down...  

Like I said, being on a boat, except for dealings with shop-keepers and the like, sometimes you can go weeks without being close to anyone.  I don't fear for my own mortality/well being ...  I DO feel for the shop workers, medical staff etc who don't have much choice in their proximity to people...  I do fear for folk having to travel on public transport rather than just be able to get into a car and make their Journeys -... you can't STOP an entire planet from living... but I suppose governments around the globe have to take the approach that you CAN  stop it dying quite so fast!

Until Next time...