same thing happening again, the
suggestion was made to use a long
length of rope between the car and
trailer. That way, the trailer could be
lowered much further into the water,
allowing the boat to fl oat off easily
while keeping the car dry. “The fi rst
time we tried it we were in Plymouth
and it worked brilliantly,” says Matt.
“Sue fl oated off to berth the boat,
leaving me with the simple task of
driving the car and trailer back up to
the top of the slipway and parking it.
As I stopped, out of the corner of my
eye, I glimpsed the rather startling
sight of a boat trailer rolling slowly
past me on its own, a very familiar-
looking boat trailer... I’d completely
forgotten that this time it wasn’t
attached directly to the tow bar!” With the refl exes of the long-
married man, Matt quickly realised that when the rope went
tight, it would swing the trailer in an arc, straight into the side
of Sue’s precious white Range Rover – something unlikely to
be conducive to marital harmony. Diving out of the driver’s
door, Matt fi gured he could stop the trailer hitting the car.
As it happened, he didn’t need to since the car, still in drive,
immediately pottered off of its own accord out of harm’s way.
Another desperate lunge and a save worthy of a Premier League
goalkeeper saw Matt bring the car back under control before
any damage was done to property or marriage, and fortunately
without an audience. If someone had caught that little escapade
on a camera phone, it would have gone viral!
IT’S ALL ONE BIG ADVENTURE...
Another potential disaster was averted on the River Severn. “Living
in Somerset, we’d often visit the coast where we could see two
islands out in the River Severn, Steep Holm and Flat Holm,” says
Sue. “I’d always thought that it would be great to visit them. They
used to both be occupied, but now only Flat Holm island is, where
a chap looks after the island’s lighthouse. With permission, you’re
allowed to visit and with that organised, Matt, my daughter and
I set off with the intention of picnicking on the island we’d only
seen in the distance before. We arrived, anchored off and infl ated
the very small dinghy we keep on board. The idea was for Matt to
row my daughter ashore and come back for me. It’s an area that
has some of the highest and fastest
fl owing tides in the world and as Matt
prepared to cast off, we began to wonder
whether he would be able to paddle
against it. At the last moment, we
decided to tie a long line to the dinghy
while he tried – it was a good job we did
as I’m not sure we’d have ever seen him again!” In fact, Matt
did eventually make landfall on his own by tying together
every line they had on the boat and ranging him across the
current, but the picnic idea was abandoned. Another time...
A brave attempt for the Scilly Isles from Newlyn was thwarted
by sea conditions. “After soaking the second set of clothes on our
fi rst attempt, we decided to give up,” says Matt. “The second day
we got up really early hoping to fi nd calmer conditions but about
four miles off Lands End, it was clearly getting too rough and we
decided that discretion was the better part of valour.” Another one
for the ‘one day’ list.
But the mishaps and failed attempts were just a small part of the
adventures, far outweighed by the successful ventures and intrepid
experiences. Matt recalls an interesting trip to Cardiff. Arriving at
high water and locking through the Cardiff Bay Barrage, it wasn’t
until they left that they were treated to another example of the
extreme range of the Severn tides. “The lock keeper opened the
lock and as we came out, all we could see was vast swathes of sand
and mud. It looked like a wet Sahara Desert, with just a tiny trickleThe mishaps were just a small part
of the adventures, far outweighed by the
successful ventures and intrepid experiencesTRAVELOne of the more spectacular
houseboats spotted on their
cruise up the River ThamesCruising past the infamous
cliffs featured in the BBC
drama BroadchurchExploring the idyllic
Cornish harbour of
PolperroMatt prepares to get
wet while launching
Dilligaf in Dorset