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I was eating sausages when it hit me

Updated: Jul 16

I go to breakfast at the Ice Wharf Wetherspoon pub whenever I can. I love it. The view of the canal plus sausages is a winner. Can't be beat. 

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I was eating there on 12th June. 

It was pre-the acceptable drinking time of 10:30 in the morning so there were only a few people around. I say hello to a guy who has just come over the bridge from the other side of the water and he replies "Do I know you from somewhere?"


"I worked in Camden for 5 years drawing portraits"

The dude looking at my instagram
The dude looking at my instagram

"Yeah ! He says"


We share our tales of woe and I tell him how hard it is to make a living as an artist in some elaborate way. He suggested I do portraits by the canal. I have hang-ups about this - red tape and being stopped. He told me about his lifestyle which sounded pretty good.


He says casually 'Get a boat', like I've got 20 grand in my back pocket! He told me you can get them on the cheap.


That night I was so excited I couldn't sleep until 3 in the morning. I was looking for old Fishing boats on Gumtree. One of them was perfect.

I went to see it that weekend and drove my Dad down with me.


It was a shit boat but it didn't stop the guy trying to sell it to me. We were both standing in 3 inches of water on the rotten decking, me holding my shoes and socks in my hand having just said 'I probably won't buy the boat as I don't think it should have water at the bottom like that'. His reply: 'It's a good boat, are you sure you don't want it?'.

Southend Sinker
Southend Sinker

I went to go and see another and although it was pretty, it was too small to serve my purposes of being an art gallery.

Aye, she's a beauty
Aye, she's a beauty

It dawned on me that it was going to be too expensive to get a gallery boat.


I decided I'm going to build one myself...



 
 
 

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