Back home!

Bev and I are back at our bungalow after almost eight weeks away, staying with Dad at his home in Ash. Still some bits to sort out before the funeral, but we needed to get home and resume something approaching normal life. It has been a life-changing experience, although not one which I am able to recommend - Bev has been brilliant, her skills on the telephone invaluable, as events unfolded. I have absolutely no idea how I would have coped without her support?
The service (celebration of Dad's life) will take place at St. Nicholas (at Ash) Church - 11.00 hrs 17th August 2016 - before the committal at Barham Crematorium. I'm in no doubt that I'm going to find it a very difficult process to navigate. Emotionally I am not the strongest bloke on the planet; the only part of this final closure, that offers any sense of hope, is the "Wake" - Dad already providing funding for this event within his will. Only when we're able to raise a glass to the memory, and legacy,  of my re-united parents will I be able to draw a line under this difficult experience and properly move on.

Travel light - the essence of the project. I don't require a barrow, nor a bivvy, for
the type of session I now undertake. I can carry this lot over a mile and a half,
should it be required, no problem!

However, the "Split Cane Challenge" has resumed, I've already had three sessions; with no fish landed, although I did lose a decent carp on Monday 8th August when a Taska Quick-link failed - the second such occurrence in two seasons! Fishing aside, it has been an absolute joy just to get back to the waterside and rekindle the enthusiasm for this project. Time is quickly running out and there's so much other stuff I must attend to before angling can return to the forefront of my priorities. I seem destined to resume the quest, for a "thirty", next season. All things now being considered, a fourth "twenty" before October would see me very satisfied with my efforts for 2016.

The Mk IV's with Mitchell 300's

The Mk IV's with Matt Hayes centre-pins

There is one other development which has assisted my cause. Alan Turner - aka "Camo" - has opened a tackle shop in Ramsgate, thus saving me the trip to Fatfish, at Thannington, should I require any terminal tackle or accessories. It is a very modest shop (an understatement! - it's bloody tiny) but well stocked with most of the items a carp angler could wish for. He's a nice guy and we seem to have hit it off rather well - being of a similar vintage? I wish him all the luck with this business venture and would advise others to support his efforts by using the shop instead of the Internet - the true test will be time.