Well, here we are back again!

Friday 1^st January to Thursday 31^st 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 area.

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 and out again; hovered around places and avoided stoppages; kept our doctors appointments and cruised as well – there seems to be nothing more invigorating that a wee cruise on a cold day with the sun, hopefully, out to provide a bit of inferred warmth on your back.

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 was again pretty good -

 

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 before truning back onto the canal and mooring the boat before heading off.

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

Our time is about up.

Monday 9^th November to Sunday 15^th November 2015

We are still moored up in the general Paddington Basin area, having started the week around in the basin proper and after moving out of there and now find ourselves outside the entrance to Paddington tube station for the completion of the filming for the film.

Today (Sunday) is the final day and we will be free to move as necessary tomorrow but haven’t decided that we will be moving – simply based on the weather outlook at present.

So what have we been up to in this last week – well quite a bit actually, making good use of where we are moored.

 

Diane was convinced that the guy in the centre was Matt Damon -
but he was only the stunt double

We’ve been off to see the National Gallery; continued to do our walking down to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park; been down along Oxford Street; up along Edgeware Road; continue to discover more about the Paddington area and surrounds – feel like we are almost locals with the knowledge we have of the locations around here.

 

The Assumption of the Virgin - Francesco Botticini
at the National Gallery

saw this old barrow at one of the local markets off  Edgeware Road -
that would be the one with the wheels

Managed to see the “concertina” bridge open and roll-up in Paddington Basin; we met up with Gary and Carolyn from nb Inca; we had Caroline from nb Sonia-Louise drop by on her way home (their boat hasn’t been built yet but at least it is named).

Nicely moored up at Rembrandt Gardens - a truly top spot

Diane has loved being able to get a morning coffee direct from Costa – it being barely 50 metres from the boat.

 

Assuming the position for her morning coffee

The weather has, on-the-whole, been fairly good but as anyone who has been to the basin will know, the buildings create a wind-tunnel effect and that has been quite strong at times. Mostly it has been dry but a few days of rain have appeared (and gone).

Where and when we head next we will make a final decision about tomorrow. All we know is that we will be heading west and then north through Uxbridge at some time over the next couple of weeks.

One last thing that I very much need to advise about – anyone interested in buying a really top boat should look here -  nb Balmaha  - she is a great boat and worth a look. Having been on her a couple of times and enjoyed the company of Mo and Vanessa, we can recommend it very highly.

Hardly back long and she leaves me – stranded!!

Friday 30^th October to Sunday 8^th November 2015

It has been a “funny” 10 days since the last blog and the delay hasn’t been due to nothing to write about.

The most important thing to happen is the Diane made it back to the boat, all the way from LA.

She even had to catch the express from Heathrow to Paddington all by herself.

There have been a few times whilst she was away that we have both said that we will not be doing this travelling alone thing again for so long – 2 months has just been too long – well that’s what we are saying now but who knows what circumstances may arise in the future.

Anyway she is glad to be back and I am glad that she is back – I can now save some money on the cleaning, not to mention the cooking.

But mostly I have missed her gentle persuasive ways – some may call it nagging – I myself would never mention that word – especially anyway near where she could whack me.

We are currently moored in Paddington Basin after a week directly outside the Paddington tube entrance; we will be moving back to there sometime during this coming week for another week - it is all to do with the filming schedule.

The basin at night - so brightly lit that we have had to put
up "black-out"curtains in the bedroom

Have not seen this before - the pedestrian bridge
at the end of the basin open.

Every Thursday - a small international food market - we will
be back next Thursday

By arrangement with CRT we have some priority moorings allocated to us for this period of time and making full use of them as well.

 

Our moorings had something to do with filming taking place
around here - the boat is in the film - we are not - the big guy
in the centre is the director Paul Greengrass

Just a small part of the crew and equipment

There has been plenty of chance for us to do a lot of walking and a bit more exploring around this part of London and also seeing sights that we have previously discovered.

We have “endured” Halloween and wandered around to see the decorated houses and strange people walking around like living dead.

 

Wisely, to avoid any confusion, she left her broom back on the boat

Saturday mornings have taken on a new adventure as we seem to have ended up down in Kensington Gardens each time, but we have really enjoyed the feel and the lack of too many people – that can easily be destroyed if we venture too far near to Oxford Street.

The Italian Gardens in Kensngton Gardens

 

Xmas decorations have gone up in Oxford Street

Outside the British Museum...

...and inside too

The Sunday roasts have been variable to say the least – the first at The Sawyers Arms just near Paddington Station left a lot to be desired – quality-wise and price-wise; whereas the Weatherspoons (The Tyburn) at Marble Arch was incredibly good and at about half the price.

We found ourselves with some time on our hands so off on the tube we went to Kings Cross, a bit of a walk to The London Canal Museum – for Diane to buy a pen to replace the one that she liked a lot but gave to her Dad when she saw him.

After this we took a walk along the towpath to Camden Markets where, despite the rain, we had a good look around.

On our way to Camden Town tube station, we spotted these in a shop

 

Star Wars boots...

...and shoes

a tribute to Star Wars – not sure that they would be used as intended – at least not at £195-£250 per pair.

Further on we boarded the train to return us to Kings Cross; Diane noticed it was going the wrong way (Northern line heading south) so quickly said to get off – which I did – well trained that I am.

I turned around to see this figure still inside the train with doors closed and train moving, waving goodbye – only back a few days and she was deserting me – it must have been something more than what I said.

Anyway at Euston I got off the train and found her immediately so we could get back on and with no more problems we made it back to the boat.

1

Sunday 4^th October to Thursday 29^th October 2015

This is a catch up blog, simply because there has not been a hell of a lot to write about; I want to get things up to date because tomorrow Diane will be arriving back and I am sure that there will be a few more things about which I can write.

What has been happening?

It has mainly been a case of an overwhelming workload from work – new projects coming up constantly with restrictive completion dates so it has not left much time to do anything else, especially when there is a need to keep moving.

As most would already be experiencing, the weather has now started its movement towards winter – nights are getting colder, but we are still enjoying some quite sunny days.

Pleasing to note that all of the jobs have been completed – all that is left to be done is the last bit of tidying up and a vacuum around.

I have been oscillating a bit between Uxbridge and Willow Tree Open Space, but as of yesterday late morning I am now in Paddington Basin awaiting Diane.

Very lucky to find a spot – originally I had planned to moor out at Bridge 3 but it was absolutely packed out, so as I needed to wind somewhere I carried on just to check out the basin when I spotted a boat coming out – they informed me that tghey had just left so a space was available – so it was grabbed and here I am.

No sooner had I moored up than I was approached by a guy asking me would I be around for a while on the boat - I am always skeptical and suspicious when people ask questions about personal things but in this case I was very much so.

He saw my apprehension as I answered that I would be around and then spoke about being involved with some filming for a movie which would take place in and around the basin, and that they needed 5 boats to be available as background.

I was still a bit suspicious, but he then raised the topic of compensation for our time.

After an hour or so he was back - the director was happy with the boat - they were paying a substantial amount per day and he would be just another hour whilst he prepared some contracts.
Further on and in reading through the paperwork, it became apparent that they were not just some rag-tag mob but Warner Bros. and would be filming the upcoming new Jason Bourne movie.
Having made sure that I wasn't signing the boat over, I placed my mark in the appropriate spot.
The money would cover all of our envisaged expenses for the next 4 months – all

without having to do anything much at all.

  

Diane is currently in Los Angeles with Mitch and Sara; after a stopover in Auckland to visit Rebecca; she did leave Sam behind in Melbourne.

I think that Diane is planning our next US holiday whilst she is there – so I will have to wait and see what the schedule is when she returns.

It will be so very good to have her back – I may even chain her to the boat to stop her going again without me.

34 Miles, 9 Locks

YTD: 848 Miles (1365 km) , 527 Locks, 14 Tunnels, 11 Lift Bridges, 16 Swing Bridges

Total: 3742 Miles (6022 km) , 2648 Locks, 112 Tunnels, 45 Lift Bridges, 167 Swing Bridges