Just a Welsh Mist

Narrowboat in the Rain

The weather here in the UK has not been ideal this trip. We have been able to count the sunshine in hours, and it is not that many. Mostly it has been damp and rainy. The Welsh folk just seem to accept this as normal so we have adapted and are going with the flow. We all brought rain gear and the boat comes equipped with full rain gear and umbrellas.

Wet Aqueduct Crossing

One day while piloting the boat through a gentle rain we passed another boater going the opposite direction and made a comment about the rain. He answered “This is not rain, this is just a little Welsh Mist.”. We discovered that this is a local term to refer to any rain, even a downpour is “just a Welsh Mist!”.

Today started out quite nice (which means no rain) and we made it until lunch without breaking out the rain gear, but as we crossed into England from Wales, the clouds opened and we got to experience a real “Welsh Mist” and it rained hard and steady all afternoon.

The Crew Dressed for the "Mist"

Now in a narrowboat you have no choice of inside or out for the bridge; you drive standing at the back of the boat steering with a tiller. No windscreen, roof or side curtains. You need your raingear. People on the canal just accept it and keep going, so we did the same. Our raingear worked fine, but we discovered that Tilley hats are not waterproof, and Bill and John’s “waterproof leather” Australian hats were an exaggeration; everyone’s head got wet.

I managed most of the afternoon, but I have to admit, when a crew member came out dressed in dry raingear and offered to take over, I decided that I had had enough of the Welsh Mist. Time for a beer!