Most definitely still here!

Life is just so busy! 2 growing girls, busy job, full family life, old boat to look after, there just isn't enough time to do blog posts! However a couple of factors have moved me back to the laptop!

Firstly after a year off we're back to the Henley Traditional Boat Festival at the end of July so busy sanding and varnishing! The old girl won't be perfect but she'll be respectable!

Secondly and perhaps most significantly History!!

As I've written before we have a patchy record of Annanetta's history. A few years ago I was able to track done members of the Chaston family who owned her in the 60's and then the Brazil family in the late 1940s. Things have moved on!! In fact in one amazing week we independently had 3 different contact points with the previous lives of our lovely Annanetta!

Initially I had an email from a Peter Clements. Peter's Uncle and Aunt Charles and Peggy May were the proud owners of Annanetta during the 1950s. We ended up having a great chat over the phone as Peter, now 85, shared his memories of Annanetta for his childhood and kindly sent the picture below (amongst others) of his Aunt Peggy on board! Such a great picture showing Annanetta's teck laid deck covered, we believe, in the 1970s. Also on zooming in we can see that the brass binnacle compass and the wheel are still the same as we have today!

Then almost the next day I received another email from a Charles Conquest that nearly knocked me off my seat! Charles' father Ted Conquest was the skipper on Annanetta 1940 to 1941 as a member of the Royal Marines! He was tasked with protection of the Blackwater estuary from German E Boats!! Charles was off on holiday and we haven't had a chance to fully connect but wow, what a turn up.

Then about a week later, while unfortunately I was away for work, a narrow boat pottering up river hailed my wife Emma asking if this was Annanetta! Turns out the gentleman asking,, Simon Emms, is the nephew of Peter Emms from whom I bought Annanetta 22 years ok.

Well how about all of that!? What a remarkable week that was, with I suspect and hope more to come!