The GIG and IWA National - August 2004
We had never attended a Great Internet Gathering (GIG) and as we felt it was time to go to the IWA National again we decided to take Gamebird down south for a couple of weeks. This would also enable us to get a canopy fitted. The entry forms were sent off and we kept our fingers crossed that Iain would get the time off. It almost worked as he got nearly enough time off but it meant that we travelled down on the Friday after Iain had done a night shift. Still, with plenty of stops we reckoned we could do it. We did, but it was a horrendous journey. Firstly, the boat was not towing well but this was remedied by climbing aboard and moving some stuff around. Then our old dog, Mirk, who had been a bit hangy during the week decided he wasn't feeling very well and when we stopped he showed signs of an upset tummy. Then there were the road works at the Thelwell viaduct which held us up for two hours. By this time we were getting concerned that we wouldn't make the slip at Kings Bromley in time to fill up with diesel before they closed at 5. We had an empty tank and flat batteries (from the Scottish Boat Show the week before) so we needed to get diesel to run the engine to charge the batteries... We got to Kings Bromley at 5.05 having left home at 7.20am. They said that if we launched quick, we could have diesel and I don't think Gamebird has ever jumped off her trailer so quickly! We got diesel and water and set off for Fradley where we stopped for a bar meal. After eating, we moved through a few locks and moored in an isolated spot and crashed to bed. Boy was Iain tired!
We were awakened at 4am with Mirk. He was now very ill and it was obvious he needed to get to a vet sooner rather than later. Thank goodness for my WAP phone which enabled me to get the details of a vet in Burton on Trent and as soon as it was light we set off. When we got to Barton Turns, Elanor kindly drove me and Mirk to the vet where we left him. I really didn't expect to see him again but thanks to the treatment he received he recovered a bit over the weekend and we took him back to the boat on the Monday, with strict instructions to rush him back if he deteriorated again. Many thanks to Molly who thought she was just driving me over to speak to the vet and who ended up having a rather large dog in her car. I am glad to report that Mirk continued to improve and is now back to his old self again.
We enjoyed an excellent weekend at the GIG and it was good to be able to put faces to the names we had "met" on the internet. We were both very touched to be awarded the Syd Arkless tankard for the most noteworthy journey to the GIG and it was nice to chat to Mary, Syd's widow afterwards. We had met Syd several times on our way through Hopwas. The weather stayed warm and dry for the weekend but it started to rain on Monday when everyone was leaving. We boated as far as Stenson that night and we were serenaded by the rain on the roof. Next day, we continued to Shardlow where we decided that it was not a good idea to venture onto the Trent (which was running fast) and we met up with my cousin Kate there. We went to a Daystar performance that evening before retracting our steps on the Wednesday. By this time the batteries were almost back to normal. We got to our mooring at the Festival on Thursday and we were pleased to be with the group of Sea Otters. However, we were too far away from the Festival site for Mirk to walk there and it was a long way for us to keep going back to check on him so we negotiated a mooring much nearer. Just a few boats behind Copperkins in fact. We both enjoyed the Festival although we probably drank too much and didn't eat enough proper food but we did meet up with a lot of old friends. We watched the Illuminated boat parade from Copperkins and enjoyed an evening with Peter, Elaine and Co. Silly Policeman indeed!
We left the Festival on Monday and after having an enjoyable evening with Roger and Margaret at Alrewas were at Fradley all ready for Wilsons to fit the canopy on Wednesday as arranged. Unfortunately it wasn't quite right and it had to be taken away again to be modified. We moored at Kings Bromley that night ready to make an early start for home the next day. After a good retrieval we had a much better journey home, taking a couple of hours less than the journey down.
It had been good to be able to take Gamebird down south and we both enjoyed meeting up with friends old and new. It was a novel experience for us to be able to do some laid back boating as we usually find that we have to do long days to get to and from events. I could get used to shorter days