Our girths may have increased during the lockdowns of the last year, but this post is not about that type of tyre! It is about tyre fenders.

Back in 2016 when we moored at Kings Marina in Newark for the winter, we visited the Boat Jumble sale at Newark show ground. Not everything at a boat jumble sale is second hand, I believe we bought some new rope. But what we did find on one stall was a couple of wheelbarrow wheels, the perfect thing for mooring on the Shropie where the underwater shelf can be a nuisance. Local boats all have tyres on their roofs and we’d been wanting a pair for a while.

At £6 for the pair of wheels this was a bargain. They have served us well through the years since then. They have deflated at times, been repaired every now and again, but it was time to give them some serious tlc, the rubber now perishing at quite a rate.

Mick found a company on line who had the right size of tyre and inner tube. Tyre and Tube . Not as cheep as the originals had been, but worth it.

So on a sunny day last week Mick laid the new tyres and old wheels out on the wall in the sun, hoping to make the job easier by warming up the rubber. It helped a bit, but was still a struggle.

But now, all pumped back up, we have two new tyre fenders. We just need to be able to go cruising to be able to use them.

However instead we’ve got ourselves a ticket for the Virtual Crick Boat Show. It’s free. There are boats on show, Crick Radio (playing songs from headline acts of years gone by), relaxation videos, Narrowboat video Channel with Andy Tidy offering history of the waterways, boat sales, chandlers all the usual stuff you find at Crick. However you won’t need to queue for refreshments and they will be considerably cheaper.

We’d been hoping to go to the show this year as we’ve not been for a number of years. At the moment there is a possibility the show will run later this year, but for now the on-line version will have to do. If you do go, don’t forget to vote for your favourite boat.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 new tyre fenders.