Friday 1st January to Thursday 31st
March 2016
Well what have we been up to
in the last three months, and has it really been just that long. We seem to
have been very busy during a quarter of the year – that is now over.
When we look back on it
there is no doubt we have been busy – busy in different ways – but busy
none-the-less.
This has been our second
year out of a marina-based environment over winter and it has been far
different to last winter.
For starters there has been
no chance of being “iced-in”, having been south of the midlands – primarily
around the London
We have taken a bit of a
holiday and flown the coop, heading off for a month in Mojacar Playa to catch up with
Paul and Elaine and seems that we dragged along Sue and Andy – they are still
there – maybe they might take up residency as well.
 |
| This shot was taken from our bed as we watched the sunrise over the Med. Not a bad way to wake up each morning |
 |
| Dear friends - so hard to come by that we want to be with them all of the time |
 |
| One of the forts along the coast - originally built to ward off the Moor invaders |
 |
| Whether you like it or not, Spain's culture and heritage has included the "sport" of bullfighting - we visited the the ring in Vera |
 |
| It is still used today - although the conditions for the bull are a bit better |
 |
| One off the bucket list was to visit Granada to see the Alhambra Palace |
 |
| It lived up to the grandeur and magnificence of the hype associated with it - combining the best of Moorish and western architecture |
 |
| With hot weather being part of the landscape, cool quiet areas such as this were in abundance |
 |
| Water was a central theme as well and whilst it is a beautiful palace it was also a fortress. The water supply coming from high in the mountains a few miles away, through some ingenious engineering |
 |
| Looking out over Granada |
 |
| We also took in Cordoba and in the very centre of the city is a magnificent cathedral, originally built by the Muslim Moors but retained and enhanced by the later catholic rulers. We wandered around its interior for a good hour and almost missed.... |
 |
| ...a full-sized catholic church in the middle. The whole building with its entire contents was worth the the trip on its own |
 |
| Looking out from Mojacar - the one in the mountains |
We have been into Paddington Basin
We have to say that we have
found the situation in London a whole lot better than it was when we first came
down last year – CRT are doing a great job of making sure that boats are moving
and not accumulating in the one area for too long – some may say that they are
not doing enough, but the improvement in being able to find mooring spots and
also not seeing loads of boats just simply stopping for months in the same spot
is to be congratulated.
We know that there will be
many (not the majority) who would see this as something infringing on their
rights to “squat” in a mooring spot and never move, but most will see it as
being fair and reasonable.
Bad luck to the former!!
We have had the chance to
catch up with family and really have had an enjoyable time for longer than we have
previously managed – when we have been further north; the downside of this is
that we have missed seeing many of our wonderful friends as regularly as we
would want to do – but life is about making choices and decisions – good and
bad with every decision but decisions need to be made and taken.
The boat has been wonderful
over the winter – sure there are things that go wrong, but these get fixed and
we move on – it has been very cosy on board – our only problem being the recent
high winds in Paddington Basin (the “wind tunnel”) – it was so bad that the
stove blew out on a few occasions, but we have a solution and that is now done.
We have purchased a new
chimney – made to look like an “H” which is used in high wind conditions
–predominantly experienced by vessels off-shore, but which can happen to us
all.
Our time in London
 |
| A walk over Tower Bridge - long on our list of things to do - now crossed off |
 |
| A visit to the Globe Theatre |
 |
| A replica of the original Golden Hind - as seen with Sir Francis Drake and a few "friends" from Spain |
The weather seems to have
been pretty mild for winter, but then again it isn’t snowing and cold every
year – we asked the locals for some verification on this and they agreed; we,
of course, buggered off to Spain to escape what might have been a cold spell –
it certainly was warmer there and we enjoyed our time immensely – sampling the
food and the local customs as well as meeting new friends.
We are contemplating
returning there again next winter – but haven’t made a decision as yet – still
plenty of time to do so.
We will advise of the only
downside of our trip – if someone was to ask us about hiring a car from
Europcar (which is the company that we used) we would advise to you (based on
our experience) to spend a bit more and go with another company.
In Europcar we found a
company that suddenly charges for damages to a car that were not present during
our possession of the car (before and after condition was witnessed and
photographed); did not want to inspect the car on return; would not provide any
proof of said damages, nor will they engage in any communication about it –
charge you, not justify it, and then not talk to you.
We are taking action to
recover all of the money.
Next time? We will stick
with Enterprise
Lastly for this time we have
wandered off to the north of England to catch up with Dot and Gordon who are
house sitting for friends in Northumberland – we were here 2 years ago with
them as well and have needed to be able to spend some time with them– they are
very dear friends and we have been away from them for too long, so we instantly
jumped at the chance to come and see them.
 |
| At the home of the Marmalade Festival - have never seen so many jars of different marmalade ever. |
 |
| Two cheeky fellows there at the back |
I think it is a credit to
the greater family of boaters and boating friends that you meet over time and
then meet and meet again that we have faith in one and another to be able to
leave our precious craft in the care of others and know that they will look
after it as their own.
In this regard we have such
lovely friends in Carol and George (wb Still Rockin’) – for our time in
Northumberland they agreed to keep an eye on Ferndale, start the engine every
day to charge up the batteries and do a thorough cut’n’polish of all of the
paintwork (this last one might not have been discussed, but I am sure that
telepathically speaking there was an understanding on my part); we, of course
have reciprocated the favour with their travels to catch up with their
wide-spread family – on our part it was disappointing not to find a suitable
buyer for them for Still Rockin’ but there will be time in the future.
Not just for looking after
the boat, but simply for their company we have have a great time with them in
Paddington and at Yiewsley as well as at Cowley over this last month or so – it
is just simply wonderful to be able to call all of our friends “Our Friends”.
 |
| Molly, Carol and George - definitely a highlight of our winter was dog-sitting Molly whilst Carol and George enjoyed a night out without the "kid"! |
Having had the chance to
have a bit of a break from the blog I can see that there are still plenty of
things to write about and I will be easing back into it from now on – I don’t
think that it will be everyday, maybe monthly or a bit more often – I will just
have to see what happens.
We have changed plans on the
next part of our adventures – we have a trip planned to see our lovely son and
equally lovely daughter-in-law in LA coming up so that has an influence on what
we can do before then.
In there somewhere was a
desire to cruise the Thames from Brentford to Oxford
Trouble is that the recent
rain has brought the water levels up along the river and we cannot plan to head
that way and still be sure that we can fly-off.
So we will now be heading
northwards along the Grand Union and visiting places that we have not otherwise
stopped to see before; we will venture down the Aylesbury Arm; see a bit more
of Milton Keynes; and other spots as we cruise – maybe places we won’t have a
chance to see again.
Later, after our return from
the US we will be heading
down the South Oxford and onto the Thames heading towards Lechlade and will
cruise the Thames heading eastwards, and maybe the Basingstoke
as well.
 |
| Again, I get to finish off with a lovely Kingfisher. This time as we cruised the Slough Arm at the end of March. |
100 Miles, 39 Locks
YTD: 100 Miles (161 km) , 39 Locks
Total: 3898 Miles (6273 km), 2743 Locks, 112 Tunnels, 45 Lift Bridges ,
167 Swing Bridges
