A float on Miracle - 20ft narrowboat

Jan 3.
**
**The gales came in last night.

Miracle is tied to the Norwegian’s 50 footer as I only have one mooring pin.

In this weather, one will not suffice.

I can’t pretend I got much sleep last night.
Even with a full water tank and our good ballast it doesn’t take much to be bouncing about.
She is only 3 tons after all.

The only time last night when the straining of the three mooring ropes and the swaying of the bed wasn’t at the fore front of my mind was when at quarter to 12 I got a phone call from home. For those 15 minutes only the cheery and slightly rum slurred words on the other end mattered.
I laughed with them, we joked.

I promised my sea faring uncle, that yes, if he came to London I would most definitely take him for a ride about on my narrow boat. No doubt he has since looked up narrow boats on line and discovered they are no relation to his own 20 foot hobby sailboat "Goose" or the sleek lined elegance of the champion vessel they race in the coastal regattas the men in my family so heartily enjoy.

It’s hard to say which of us was more nervous last night being pitched too and fro in the river.
By 7am I’d probably had 3hrs sleep.
Duckie scratching at the door finally got me up. So violent were the winds that I didn’t notice that someone had stepped onto Miracle. In calm weather the weight of a person stepping onboard causes an unmistakable lurch.

As I opend the door to allow Duckie out, the Norwegian apologised for waking me.

*You may have noticed you’re bouncing about a bit. *

Understatement.

*I’ve just tied you with my ratchet strap. It should be a bit more stable now. *

And it was; until at 9am.

I heard the strap snap and fall against the hull. The boat is back to swaying. I am in the shower. Happily, the advantage to a tiny shower is, there's no place to fall. I knock about a bit, two inches or so and quickly end the shower.

The rain is coming in sheets with the gales.
The clouds are racing east.
I decide to finish my coffee.
My hair is still wet from the shower.
There are still three ropes holding me.

Then, I put on my waterproofs and gloves and go out to inspect and hopefully fix the ratchet strap which up until now had stabilised Miracle nicely.

I know the theory behind a ratchet strap.

Standing between the boats, foot on each and heaving back and forth in the cold lashing rain, all of this logic does not combine to help me find the solution.

**The strap is in two. **

The hook is bent and I can’t see where it may have been attached before bending.
I give up.
I go to my stern and grab my fourth rope.
I tie it as tight as I can manage between the swells and come inside.
I ring my gloves out in the sink.
I ring my hair.
I muse why it seemed so essential get dry after my shower today.

I’m going to have to ask the Norwegian about the ratchet strap, he uses it to secure his motorbike onboard so it’s an essential piece of kit for him.
I hope I’m just being daft and its not broken.