BRING ME SUNSHINE

摘要

Nearly 30 years ago, our family bought a second-hand Caracruiser. These boats were built in the late 1970s and are a hybrid between a caravan and a boat. Not to be confused with Caraboats .which hung on to their wheels when in the water, the Caracruiser comes with a separate trailer. The boat came with a two-stroke 10hp engine which proved utterly unsuitable as it oiled itself up at virtually every lock. The relatively cramped conditions and the troublesome engine meant that the boat spent many years on the drive unused. Eventually we bought a 4hp four-stroke Mariner outboard and this proved quite powerful enough to get us around many parts of the canal system including isolated sections such as the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal, the Mon & Brec, the far end of the Chesterfield and, closer to home, the recently restored sections of the Stroudwater Navigation and the western end of the Thames & Severn Canal. But earlier in 2019, we suffered the loss of our petrol outboard motor... if anyone has been offered a 4hp Mariner with provision for the connection of remotes and an integral fuel tank - that will probably be ours; it's almost certainly a one-off.