Sticky Valley

We made the decision to stay in Newport until the next weather window which is tomorrow. I feel we need to move on now as Newport could well be another 'sticky valley'. We give this name to places where travellers arrive and seldom leave. I guess most of you know the term. Sowerby Bridge was the first place we called 'home' on a boat and is a very sticky valley. We have many good friends who still live there on boats, their dreams of a nomadic life given up for the convenience of the town and it's opulence of good drinking establishments! The local term for such people in Yorkshire or certainly the Calder Valley is 'offcumdems' i.e. those not from the local area. I have no idea how it's spelt as I am sure it can't possibly be in the Oxford English Dictionary! I guess that is what we have been ever since we left West Yorkshire 'offcumdens'. Goole became our next 'sticky valley'. Although we were determined not to get stuck as such. When Martyn was offered a job at Goole Boathouse it meant a lot to him. It was an opportunity not to be passed up, a chance to learn more about boats and get paid to do so. Goole might not be a bustling cosmopolitan town but it gave us the opportunity to learn about tidal rivers and cruising in waters with commercial traffic. It also allowed us (or Martyn) to build a narrow boat that would eventually provide us with the initial funds to buy and rebuild Elephant Daze. I can't mention Goole and learning without recognising the invaluable advise and help given by many of the good friends we made there also. Without our time in Goole I'm not sure we would be here now doing this trip!
We feel very comfortable here in Newport but is is very clearly a 'sticky valley'. After day two Martyn remarked that there appeared to be a lot of 'Robinson Crusoe' lookalikes. I hadn't picked up on this initially but started to understand what he meant almost immediately. It would appear that in order to own a boat in Newport you must look like you have been marooned on an island for 20 years or more! I would guess that the place is full of boaters who have set off around the world (or maybe just the coast!), hit the Isle of Wight and found Newport. It's not a bad place to end up either. You have all the shops you need, access to the sea, peaceful surrounding and.... mud?! The Isle of wight for me has been a big surprise. It was cool to be in Ryde and have all the scootering memories but we have also found some lovely places that we will certainly re-visit should the opportunity arise. Bembridge with it's houseboats and beautiful beaches, The Folly Inn - for spectator sport and certainly Newport, for a reason I can't quite put my finger on. This Island has a very nice feel to it. The people are friendly, the harbours are lovely and the prices for mooring are fair! I will be sad to leave, but leave we must. Southampton and the Elephant Boatyard is calling, as is the launderette! We will leave here at silly o'clock tomorrow to get high water back out to Cowes and across to the mainland. The other advantage to leaving early is that there shouldn't be any crazy racing going on (it is Cowes week!)! The last thing we want is to have to negotiate the racing boats as well as the ferries! Hopefully we will exit while all is calm and make our way towards yet more mud up the Hamble.