Just moving right along

Tuesday 4^th October to Friday 7^th October 2016

Mooring at Teddington means being fairly close to the wier there and consequently a degree of background noise – we were exhausted again on Monday night and did not hear a thing as we hopped into bed – awaking reasonably refreshed on Tuesday morning.

A bit more work completed and then time to cruise away; another lovely sunny day again – are we still in England – we keep hearing of bad weather further north, but for us it has been quite lovely indeed – we know that it is a bit cooler, but it is sunny!!

We needed to have a reasonably quick stop at Kingston – Diane wanted to get a few things that she hadn’t found and I needed to visit the HSBC branch there – whilst we were cruising to Limehouse on Sunday, I was walking the towpath and came across a debit-card lying there. I called the bank on Sunday evening to advise them, they cancelled the card and I needed to just drop it into the nearest branch – hence a stop at Kingston.

A bonus was that on our way back to the boat we found a quite large asian supermarket which we hadn’t been looking for but we picked up a few more ingredients that Diane wanted to use in the Japanese pancakes that she has been making – they taste better than the ones in Paddington Basin and just as good as the best we have been used to.

After an hour stop we pushed off and as we neared Hampton Court Palace a cruiser coming towards us but a distance away, was winding and then mooring up on the moorings there – imagine our surprise to find when we got closer that the cruiser was the ONLY boat moored there – we had never seen it like that before – pity that we didn’t want to stop there.

 

...still known as the "Selfie-Queen"

Our planned destination was around Shepperton. It was only about an hour and a half away and with the day as pleasant as it was we enjoyed the time outside on the water and the wind sweeping through our hair.

Up through Shepperton lock and around the island we moored up at “Chersey Meads” right behind Still Rockin’ – well fancy that, it was almost as though we knew they were right there – wait a minute, we did – Diane had seen on the blog and had texted to Carol that we were on our way.

A cuppa on board with both George and Carol and another couple (Colin and Rikki) who were building a wide-beam – so a chat about various things on boats for cruising the Thams and canals – Colin and Rikki were more attuned to sea-going craft.

Later on, George did the honours with the BBQ, and a great job he did too! We enjoyed a lovely evening with two very lovely friends and honoured we are to be able to say that.

 

A Master Chef lesson for me from George (the master)

for everyone to see - Diane with salad - it certainly amused Carol

We needed to move along the next day, so at 9am we waved farewell to both and we were off again – not so much as a tight schedule but one that we wanted to keep moving now rather than having to stress later if we got tight with time.

 

The start of a lovely sunny day

Approaching Staines, we spotted a familiar vessel – No Problem XL – we pulled alongside, Vic appeared but there was no Sue – she was off visiting to Les and Jackie (nb Valerie) – our best wishes go to both at this time.

Anyway we chatted with Vic or a little while – he still delights in stirring up Diane and it works every time – he was looking decidedly well and enjoying the bit of sunshine that we happened to be having at the time.

We needed to be off and said our farewells to Vic and left him to enjoy his day.

The wind was picking up and after transiting through Bell Wier Lock (with the grumpy lockie) we moored up about a half mile further along.

Diane had done the washing whilst we cruised and thought the lovely little breeze (read that at blowing a gale) would dry it quick smart – well she got it hung out, but wasn’t game to leave for fear that it would disappear – so she spent an hour holding onto it and was looking quite pleased at the end of the hour – it was all dry.

 

Diane had the windswept look but she was glad to have the washing dry

A walk into Egham was rewarding – we found a ship’s decanter in a charity shop for a fiver – now we have three of them. Free coffee at Waitrose, something to eat and then back to the boat.

Whilst Diane was away on her week of cruising the Med. (and leaving me on my own) there were a few shows that needed recording so that she could watch them when she returned, so we needed to start catching up on these programs – always good to do on a blowy evening.

She spent Thursday early morning (after 7am) in bed with her usual coffee and wrote a form of plan for our cruising – Thursday meant that we would be heading to Oxford, so now I knew where we were heading and head off we did at around the usual time – which is between 9am and 10am.

Sadly the weather was not as brilliant as it had been, but the sun was out at times; there were a lot more boats on the move today after the previous days windy weather. Many of the locks we have been through have been on self-service, so whilst I controlled the boat, Diane opened the sluices and watched me bobble about.

 

Always nice to get that first look of Windsor Castle

We found a lovely mooring just beyond the main mooring area – just outside the river-side gym – and here we plan to spend a couple of days – a planned rest day, and a chance for shopping (me thinks!).

No sooner had we finished tying up the ropes than the mooring sherriff was passing a slip of paper towards us (all filled in) and seeking some payment – bloody quick if you ask me.

Unfortunately,  I was not quick enough to count out a large amount of small change to make the payment, but I did so on Friday.

 

Two Queens together 

It was nice to not move for a day and a perfect early start to the weekend (well a day early) – we managed to get the shopping done (for some clothes).

More catching up on recorded programs; the winter duvet has appeared from its summer hiding place – a sure sign of what will be coming when we start heading northwards.

We found it just cold enough on Friday night to light up the Reflecs for a few hours – just to take the chill off the air, but after a couple of hours it seemed pretty well warm enough.

23 Miles, 8 Locks

YTD:  667 Miles (1073 km) , 380 Locks, 10 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4462 Miles (7181 km), 3079 Locks, 122 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

Slow and then Go !

Sunday 17^th July to Saturday 23^rd July 2016

Well the moorings here are free for the first 24 hours and thereafter it is £5 per day – we had been here for two days, no-one had appeared to collect the money, so we thought we should make a quick slow run for it.

We didn’t make it very far, just 1 lock and 1 mile before we decided that the moorings at Chertsey Meads looked pretty good – so we stopped – barely an hour’s running time on the engine (half of which was just battery charging).

Diane had work inside the boat to do – she had started ripping off the wallpaper and the the underlying insulated wallpaper in favour of painting it all.

The bedroom has been done and now her attentions turned to the rest of walls.

Whilst all of this mess and mayhem was happening, I decided that I would be best served outside the boat and so the mushrooms were targeted – bare in mind we have had the boat for 6 years and not once touched them – they would now be polished – or at least remove the lacquer layer and the tarnishing.

It was a satifysing 3 hours work for both of us and the effects were noticeable.

 

Here are two panels that were done earlier, the light blue walls
are cleaner now and a bit brighter too..

...and match the rest of the decor

As I have mentioned a few times previously, some of our cruising agendas have revolved around being at certain places to take advantage of some specials from certain eateries.

Monday being a popular one with Diane and with a Slug and Lettice just up the river at Staines we were heading there – just 5 miles and 2 locks – but we came foul of it all!

Apparently at certain selected locations (Staines included) they were not having the 50% off food special – Diane found out after ordering and paying – we still stayed and enjoyed the food a lot (well 50% less)

We managed to catch up with the annual Swan Upping, which is conducted along the Thames between Sunbury Lock and Abingdon Bridge.

 

Not the main Swan Marker, but notice the feather sticking out of his cap

Still not the main man...

...here he is, the Swan Marker, David Berber

The stop for lunch - there seemed to be about a dozen boats in the extended
flotilla for all of this - most seemed satisfied with the journey for the
free lunch

The weather has just been too fabulous lately and with an increase in temperatures again, the heat was starting to get to Diane (and to me – a bit). Inspired by Julie and Tony (nb Damper Van) and Dave (nb Cockney Sparra II) who all cooled off with a dip in the Thames (a fair way further upstream than we were), Diane got her kit off (but put her swimmers on in place) and took to the water(s).

Cooling off in the river - now to get out of there...

The mooring place in Staines was new and a bit higher out of the water than normal.

Only after getting in and cooling off, enjoying the water, did the thought then turn to getting out – a suggested use of a mooring rope with a loop in it did not work as expected; trying to simply lift did not work either; but we had spyed an old shopping trolley (already in the water) at the end of the moorings and with the help of a couple of young girls we managed to get Diane out – still she was a lot cooler than before she went into the water.

 

...shopping trolley to the rescue - gotta be thankful for
the yobs who put it there

Tuesday arrived and today we out did ourselves with the shortness of the cruising – just 45 minutes total engine time – including a lock – and made it all the way to Egham.

Again the sun was out in it’s glory and we headed off into town for a few things and came back to the boat to cool off – just get out of the sun.

Later on we did hang our legs over the side and splashed around in the water with our feet.

Sunsets always seem a bit nicer along the river

We had no definite plans about exactly where we wanted to be or go at any stage – just to further explore the Thames and moor in places where we had not moored previously; so on Wednesday we made it to Windsor and caught up with Dave and Sue (Cockney Sparra II) as well as Tony and Julie (nb Damper Van).

We caught Sue and Julie at the pub, but we didn't tell Dave and Tony about it

We eventually moored on the island and had a very peaceful day and night there.

Diane received a text from her cousin asking if we were around anywhere local to them (Watford area) and would we be able to look after their house whilst they were away – things need attending to on a regular basis; as they had very kindly looked after our boat whilst we were away (in Mojacar) for a month, it is only fair to return the favour – “when are you going?” – answer “in 10 days time”.

No problem – so it was quick turnaround time and head back the way from whence we had come – on Thursday we made it to Weybridge to moor up as we had before – a return journey of one day to replace the four leisurely days to get to Windsor.

We contacted Brentford and Teddington Locks regarding passage times and booking the boat in – all sorted for Friday.

Friday was a long day but a bit of a break in between.

Approaching Kingston bridge

We made it to Teddington in short time, but with a 5pm locking-out, we had a bit of a wait, which was not bad at all – a leisurely lunch was involved and I got some work done as well.

Come the time and engines were started all around – 5 boats in the lock and drop down the 30cm or so and we were out – just a few minutes to get through.

None of us had done the journey this way – closest were ourselves who at least had gone into Brentford lock – so we knew where we had to go.

It seemed that the tide was on the very high side - we saw many places along the way where the river had flowed over to some of the normal pedestrian areas and in one place it was around parked cars.

the river was up a bit - here at Richmond...

...and here as well - fortunately by this stage it was on the way down

It was a fine and very uneventful trip; sunny skies with intermittent cloud; we got to see a few things that we had missed out on the trip up to Teddington last year.

Approaching towards Richmond with these lovely buildings looking down upon us

And Richmond itself

Not sure of this building but liked the look of it

But then came the time to do the turn across the outgoing tide, then back into the flow of water, followed by the final part making it into the channel.

At last the entrance, as highlighted by the "silver" sculpture
 - take the channel on the extreme left

And we made it safely

On this scale we had not experienced anything like this – in the end the “fears” of any danger were dispelled – sure the tide did take us along a bit, but we simply upped the revs on the engine and made it across, around and into the channel safely and with no problems at all.

Even the increased revs (up to 1700) were low compared with the maximum of 2300 rpm that we have done on the Ribble Link during that crossing.

(I now feel ready to tackle Teddington to Limehouse, which we would like to do sometime this year – it time permits!).

Brentford were ready for us and we locked through in a single minute (levels were about the same) – the lockie only needed to record our numbers and we were done.

We teamed up with nb Mill-Girl (Eric and Charlotte) for the Gauging Lock.

They are both from Manchester way (connected with the Worseley CC) and haven’t been down here before – we suggested a couple of more locks and a couple of miles where the moorings are usually good and there is a good pub – The Fox at the bottom of the Hanwell flight).

They accepted our suggestion and so we moored as planned – headed for the pub – they were planning to eat but we simply had a drink in mind, so when their meals arrived and our drinks were gone we let them get on with their meals and we explored a bit more of the area – not having had the chance on other visits.

We were planning to head to Yiewsley and Eric and Charlotte were going into London – so naturally, in the morning, we hit the locks “running” and had cleared all 8 locks in just over the hour – we bid them farewell at Bulls Bridge where a Tesco shop was their concern and ours was simply to get a few more miles under the stern.

A farewell to nb Mill-Girl and also to Eric and Charlotte - thanks for the journey

They are a very nice couple and easy to talk to with the loveliness that we have found so clearly present in most people from the north of England. We wish them well for their time and travels in London.

We made it to our planned stop and moored up, safe in the knowledge that our goal for later in the week would easily be met.

It would be nice if the excess in the daily heat could be toned down a bit and get back to something like a normal English summer – I miss a bit of rain and cold – but I know that millions of Brits rely on this current spell for their yearly dose of Vitamin D, sunburn and BBQ’s.

51 Miles, 27 Locks

YTD:  471 Miles (758 km) , 300 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4256 Miles (6865 km), 2999 Locks, 116 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges

Get-Togethers, Goodbyes and Good Luck

Thursday 7^th July to Tuesday 12^th July 2016

There had been some serious texting that had taken place the previous evening between Diane and Sue and others – a phone call being the final part of all of this – arrangements were being negotiated; travel times carefully worked out; watches were being synchronised.

All very military procedures worked out and an early dawn movement carried out.

All hush hush and on a need to know basis – which of course left Andy and I out of the loop – we didn’t need to know, we simply had to follow orders.

Shortly before 8am, it was engines started; fenders raised and ropes untied – we headed off – firstly a 180^o manoeuvre to head downstream; one lock to stealth our way through.

The church at Marlowe..

Marlowe bridge

The restaurant "The Compleat Angler" in deference to the author of the book
- Izaak Walton (1594-1683) who was from Marlowe

saw these as we passed by and thought - not for me - an open window at night
and the sound of all that rushing water - I would be up all night

A bit quieter here but probably out of our price range

Letting the current take us, engines on virtual tickover to reduce the noise, we crept along until out prey was in sight.

Only trouble was that Diane had been texting to Carol on Still Rockin’ of our approach, so we had a welcoming party ready for us – we reached the objective 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Objective reached - Vic at the front checking out the invaders

George at the back making sure there are enough fenders

Festina Lente breasted up to Sue and Vic (No Problem XL) and ourselves with Carol and George.

It was a lovely get together, be it a bit early for some but with the sun trying to get through the early morning cloud cover, it was starting to get a little bit of warmth in the air.

Still Rockin’ would be moving off this morning and this would be probably our only chance to see them for a while, as well as Sue and Vic; we had never moored near here before, so Diane and George had spoken the previous evening about us taking their spot.

Anyway, it didn’t take long for an inspection tour of No Problem XL; for the kettle to be put on; and for the welsh cakes and biscuits to come out – we all gathered on the aft deck of Still Rockin’.

A little later nb Holderness (Tony and Helen) were approaching – a quick U-turn from them and they managed to moor up at the back – the cruiser had just left.

So the numbers swelled to 11 – if only we had a set of stumps and a bat and ball.

 

from left Carol (with Molly), Tony, Helen, Andy, Sue, George, Vic, Sue (other Sue), Diane and Betty

I have said it before, but it is get-togethers such as this that stick in your mind and make this wonderful life even more fulfilling.

But all good things must end – Helen and Tony were off and not long after so were Carol and George.

FL pulled in at the back – us at the front – Sue and Vic were staying an extra day to get things delivered and some things seen to on their boat.

By this stage it was approaching lunch time so a visit to the pub was not out of order – enjoyed lunch, sitting outside in the sunshine; the girls decided to walk into town afterwards and we all got together later on.

 

Lunch time and out on the deck at The Spade Oak

Coffee time!!

The following morning Diane and I took a stroll into town so that she could show me the place – I think the idea of fresh pastries had also crossed her mind.

After our return to the boat, everyone was awake and we thought it appropriate to head off about then as well, so goodbyes all around and both FL and Ferndale headed downstream – what a lovely time the previous 24 hours had been.

FL were ahead of us, as we had stopped for water – they found moorings at Dorney Lake – the site of the rowing events for the 2012 Olympics – in fact very good moorings.

There seemed to have been some kind of corporate events day on at the site – involving physical activities – the last being running – we caught the end of it.

Diane and I strolled around the lake in its entirety – Sue, Andy and Sue’s mum Betty returned to FL.

At Dorney Park - the sculpture at the back is a sun-dial - though we
couldn't see any results on this cloudy day.

It's a bloody long way to the finish line at the other end

It is quite a way around the course – up and back as well as the extras – about 5km in total.

Later on we sat outside to just simply enjoy the day – I think it was mainly tea that we were drinking but whatever it was we did just relish the chance to relax.

Next day we separated, Sue, Betty and Andy would be stopping in Windsor whilst we would head further along heading for Staines – again we hadn’t been there before so another place to see, that we would not otherwise have visited.

Windsor Castle - very majestic rising above the river..

...perhaps less so, from the other side...

...still for me, I would take this little cottage - private moorings and all

Down the way we came across the flotilla of Dunkirk boats making their way up to Windsor for a day of boat trips for people at a well-to-do function. Next week they would be heading to Henley for another gathering of vintage boats

Not in the same class at those above, this dragon boat and crew were out
for a bit of practice

The moorings outside the Slug and Lettuce were recommended to us and as they were free we took one.

As a public service advice notice - this is not the way to attach mooring lines - all lines should ALL be around the bollards -
but here in Staines it was the accepted mooring technique as we saw cruiser after cruiser adopting the same method.
Would have loved to have seen the effect if the fence had been not quite so stable.

Along the Thames, Staines would be seen as another typical late-developing town – there may have once been some sites worthy of note but these (if they were ever there) have either disappeared or been forgotten – it is a town like many others around the country – at least we got some shopping done and free coffee (Waitrose) – a market of sorts in the centre.

Although the moorings had been recommended, we had forgotten that we were there on a Saturday and that S and L whilst a nice place to eat, it is a late-closer (1am) – so we had a much-interrupted sleep – not helped by some idiot who jumped on the roof and back off again.

We then stayed up until the patrons had all left – the lights being on in the boat deterred any others from our boat, but we saw other boats further along receive similar treatment from guys with too much alcohol in them and too little sense.

The bad behaviour was not restricted to the guys, with one woman (could not call her a lady) deciding that she needed to pee – so with knickers around her ankles and dress hitched up around her waist she did her business – her friends helping her re-dress and support her intoxicated body – not a nice enduring memory of Staines – sort of lived up to it’s name.

Not really wishing to stay any longer we were off again, this time making for Shepperton; along with Dot and Gordon (nb Ewn Ha Cul) we had booked to cruise along the Basingstoke.

D and G had indicated to us that there were some good moorings at Shepperton around the side of the original course of the river – before the Desborough Cut was made.

Of course, they are desirable moorings and a bit confusing – we worked it all out and managed through luck to grab the last mooring in the correct location (some of the length is NO MOORING and some 24 hours).

With no-one else moving and both Ewn Ha Cul and Festina Lente fast approaching there was only one option – they both breasted up – fortunately we were on rings and therefore no problems with any pins loosening overnight.

 

Three boats breasted up - we were still less wide than the two large
cruisers that were here earlier

enjoying Dot's famous pasties - at least Andy was smiling

Adding more glitter and glam to the boat was this dragonfly
courtesy of Dot's skills - thanks Dot and worth every penny

I am not going to repeat Diane's title to this picture which she
put on Facebook - which referred to the uppermost character

Trouble x 5 and there is Gordon the chief mischief maker at the back

Diane made arrangements with the Boots chemist to accept a prescription; made arrangements with her surgery to send it to Shepperton; we walked around the area; sat outside and enjoyed some more tea/coffee/red wine/cider – decided that we would spend an extra day – afterall we were the last to arrive – had to adjourn to FL to escape the rain for another get together.

Part of Diane’s aforementioned arrangements included posting a letter to the surgery – I of course “got volunteered” to go up and post it – but I was especially touched that Andy and Gordon thought that they should act as escorts/guards on my sacred duty – so we headed off at about 6pm on our entrusted mission.

This walking to the postbox and guarding work can become quite thirsty work so naturally we had to stop along the way back to take on refreshments – but I suspect that the girls knew what we were up to – can’t get anything past them.

On the Sunday we had received word that there were problems on the Basingstoke and a call on Monday morning confirmed that the locks at Brookwood were out of action – with no guarantees of when they would be fixed (despite some not-too-confident reassurances that it would be only a couple of days) we reluctantly cancelled our passages and received a full refund. The main problem for us was that with a non-refundable passage along the Wey we could end up just doing a few miles on the Basingstoke and need to return without seeing the canal in its full splendour.

Early mornings have become the usual for all of us now and Tuesday was no different – we untied from everyone else and were away about 8am – but not before there was much hugging and kissing (and that was just the guys) – FL were heading west again – we were heading east.

Down through two locks and a few miles – our new objective were the moorings outside Hampton Court Palace – these are also much sought after – imagine our surprise when we found a huge choice of where we could moor up – so we did.

One other reason for the early start was that there was a reasonable chance of rain (and not the light stuff either) – weather predictions were spot on – just as we headed out for a walk, it came down – luckily Diane has been known to have an umbrella or two on her person.

We had already been to the Palace so it was other things that we wished to do.

This precipitation wouldn’t stop us from crossing the bridge and have a bit of a wander around East Molesey for a bit.

Wet days are not to be sneezed at – they are meant to be enjoyed in a different way – and walking in the light rain (as it had now become) without it being cold was equally enjoyable to a lot of other things we could have been doing.

It is still nice to return to the dryness of the boat and the relative warmth (i.e. without the wind) – but we had had a lovely couple of hours and just doing not much at all.

The moorings here are free for the first 24 hours – so tomorrow it would be another day of cruising – but the plans were for a short day.

  

32 Miles, 13 Locks

YTD:  408 Miles (653 km) , 271 Locks, 4 Tunnels, 14 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4157 Miles (6651 km), 2970 Locks, 116 Tunnels, 59 Lift Bridges, 170 Swing Bridges