Gooooooaaaaaaaalllll !!!!!

Tuesday 3rd February to Wednesday 4th February 2015

As Tom (nb Waiorou) explained, the sound of an approaching boat cutting through the ice can sound like a gunshot, it can also sound like the ping of a high tension cable.
And so it was on Tuesday morning that we could hear the imminent approach of nb Alton (with Brian and Ann Marie aboard).
At the first sound, I exited out the back to see where they were, but no sight of them - such is the distance that the sound can travel with such clarity.
When, only a few minutes later, the same sounds arrived, again I went out - this time they were on the curve at Clarence Mill; still 100 metres away.

The ice was easily 1" thick as they broke through with care - no problems for any of the moored boats.

A wave, a quick chat, and spying Brian below whilst Ann Marie was at the tiller - they were on their way home, sitting higher out of the water than their outward trip.

We resisted the temptation to follow them and wind at the next available place and come back facing the other way - it would most definitely involved someone (that would be me) stabbing a large pole at the ice to break it so that we could wind.
That wasn't gonna happen.

That was about the only excitement of the morning - cannot really count a trip to the Co-op and Brassingtons as much more than the usual - except that we were the cause of a sharp stop by a car as it revved towards the pedestrian crossing.
We were on the crossing when a car came out of the side street right near the crossing - we cannot understand the need to rev the car so much to get going when there were no other vehicles around - maybe she was running late for a chat with the girls.
Anyway a sudden stop; a serious glare in her direction; winding down of the window and profuse apologies - something about the glare of the sun.
I think the crossing was not new and if the sun was so bright then why the rapid acceleration if you cannot see properly - unfortunately I didn't recall her hair colour.

Mens night out later - Paul and I had tickets for the 4th round FA Cup replay between Man United and Cambridge at Old Trafford.
We were thinking that an hour and a quarter to get there was plenty of time, since it is usually only 40 minutes at peak time.
Unusually there was bumper to bumper traffic on the A34 - this continued as we approached the M60 where the satnav was suggesting we should go. A bit of inspriation and we decided that another route might be worthwhile - minutes later a traffic report advised that the M60 (anti-clockwise) was closed due to an accident - lucky escape for us.
As the time neared for kick-off and the ETA was fast approaching that same time we had visions of missing the game - I still needed to actually get the tickets from someone who would be inside the ground at kick-off.
As Paul parked the car, I raced off toward the ground and just as I got there, the ground announcer advised that kick-off was put back 20 minutes because of heavy traffic and I found Ralph with the tickets.
Paul arrived shortly after, relieved with the news and we made our way to our seats and enjoyed the atmosphere; the noise of the fans from both sides; and the 3 Man United goals that put them into the 5th round.

A Man United corner ....

...punched clear by the Cambridge goalkeeper....

...just minutes later.. a chip from van Persie....

...a header by Marcus Rojo and just about go past the defender
on the line and into the net!
GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL

The trip back was somewhat more relaxed; less anxious; and much quicker.

Over the road to The Spinners Arms for a couple of pints - eventually we were the last ones out on the other side of midnight.

Wednesday was a crappy day - I don't mean anything by that other than we had 2 cassettes to empty and once again we are indebted to Paul, who is so hard up for something to do, that he is up early and with us by 10am to drive us and said cassettes to the services at Bosley Locks.

Anyway we are very grateful for his help, and after disposing of everything we headed back for a cuppa and back to the boat for lunch and continue on with some work and generally not much else for the rest of the day.