Posted by Jock on January 30, 2007 at 17:32:42 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: East Coast Passage was The Swatchways) posted by Lyn on January 30, 2007 at 16:13:26:
In brief. The John and Mary had deteriorated while used as a houseboat. The difficulty of finding a job prompted Clarke to move barge and family further South. The voyage started as a pleasant cruise, but as weather conditions worsened, the barge began to leak badly, while Clarke became more and more exhausted. It appeared likely that the barge would founder or be smashed up on a sandbank, but Clarke managed to bring the vessel safely through the storm into the calm shelter of the Walton backwaters.