Monday 13th July to Thursday 16th July 2015
Today was a bit of a catch
up day - Sue and Andy needed water and elsan use; we needed to empty cassettes
as well; we had a full load of washing to get done, so nothing else for it but
to cruise a mile and then return back to Windsor.
There had been a bit of
drizzle around and sadly it didn't go away whilst we were cruising, emptying
and filling - it really only stopped when we returned.
There is a certain feeling
that you get when the water tank is filled and the cassettes are emptied - as
Andy said "a certain satisfaction that things are right".
He is right - suddenly these
jobs do not need doing for at least a few days (or more - hopefully) and we can
relax.
Later that evening Diane and
Sue headed off to the theatre in Windsor
The following morning -
Tuesday - Diane and I headed off to Windsor
Castle
We had wanted to see St
Georges Chapel again and also Queen Mary's Doll's House.
Luckily for us that we had
visited on Saturday and seen The State Apartments then, as today they were
closed for a function - we had some pity for the people who had made the journey
only to be told that this large part of the castle was not open - some went in
anyway.
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| Yes, she was at it again - taking illegal photos inside St.George's Chapel |
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| Candles lit - this time for Lauren and also for Diane's dad |
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| The figure of St.George slaying the dragon located in the chloisters of the chapel |
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| Apologies about the photo quality here - all done surreptitiously - this was interesting - Admiral George Cockburn died in 1853, yet somehow made a diary entry in 1860 - from beyond the grave. This was amongst an exhibition we saw when viewing the Doll's House - Diane was eagle-eyed spotting it. |
We were away from there in about 2 hours and back towards the boat - along the way we mugged a couple of people - namely Elaine and Paul who were just on their way out for a walk with Bombo and Sammie.
Once back at the boats, with
Sue and Andy aswell, the chairs were out, the kettle was on, Sue was whipping
up a batch of cheese scones, chocolate brownies were there and the talk was
happening.
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| Ever the perfect host - Andy making sure of the teas |
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| enough said!! |
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| Paul at home - outside, T-shirt and shorts (and those bloody crocs) - oh and a beer as well |
 |
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| Caught !! - Sammie getting a treat |
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| Steamboat Willie (aka Alaska)... |
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| ...and the duck |
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| No, not a new breed of waterfowl, this is the new Olynmpic sport of synchronised river swimming with tote bag in tow. These three were on their way upstream as we sat and watched. |
We spent a very enjoyable
couple of hours chatting away and waving at passing boats.
Later on, we all trekked up
into Windsor
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| At dinner and generally at large |
They had very kindly made up
a table for us when Sue had rang earlier to book - all of their larger tables
were already reserved.
The meal was completely
complimentary to the rest of the evening and without too much alcohol being
consumed. Fortunately for some of us the return leg was now downhill and we
made it without too much problem.
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| no more to be said about this |
The next morning I looked up
from my work - quite early in fact-not long after 7:30am to see a familiar face
at the window with a pair of legs behind - the face elonged to Sammie and the
legs to Paul - hadn't they been to bed - way too early for them, but here they
were to bid us farewell as we would be moving off soon enough and they would
also be on their way into London for a week.
As usual it is always hard
to say goodbye to them and we shall miss them until we see them again.
It took both boats a bit
longer before we were all ready to set off - the first mile we already knew
from our brief outing on Monday but after that it continued to be new territory
for Diane and I; we are enjoying cruising along the Thames
- more than we thought we would.
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| Our erstwhile companions - Andy and Sue |
Finally calling it a day at
Cookham, Andy made a sudden course correction as a mooring spot was found -
Festina Lente fitted quite nicely and we again breasted up to them.
Sue was quickly into gear
and to use Paul's terminology the "Flat-Bread Floosey" was quickly at
it again in the kitchen whipping up her trademark filled flat-breads for lunch.
We all ventured for a look
at the village of
Cookham
A boat in front of us
suddenly came to life - well at least the engine did and boy didn't it half
smell - not just the sudden burst when it first starts but horrible burnt oil
fumes that continued on - we had to close all doors and windows which made it a
bit warmer inside.
Diane and I eventually
went outside to sit and enjoy the evening dusk and a cuppa; watching the sail boats
and a few rowers on the river - how much better can it actually get than to take
pleasure from all of this.
The engine suddenly ceased
it's brief active life at just before 8pm and the odourous smell dissipated, we
sat for a bit longer before the bugs eventually annoyed us enough for us to
return inside.
Next day we were once again
heading off before 10am, not that we had set any time to be moving - just what
happens on the day seems to be OK for all of us.
More new sights and places
to cruise past; more locks being operated for us; more cruisers to frighten in
the locks (not really).
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| Cliveden Hotel - perched on the hillside overlooking the river |
Passing through Bourne End and who should we come across but Sue and Vic on No Problem - Vic was busy holding onto the boat, whilst Sue was off accosting some poor defenceless marine hand (sorry Sue, I am sure it was all innocent enough) - unfortunately we were not able to stop.
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| not too many building photos but I liked the look of this one - even if it a hotel now. |
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| a chance for some quiet reading at the end of the garden |
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| Sharing a lock and carefully holding the slimey chain |
A brief stop immediately
after Hurley lock for some elsan dumpage and before we knew it we were heading
down the rowing course at Henley-on-Thames; I am not sure how far we had
intended to come but it seemed to me, the night before that we would be just
short, but here we were.
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| Henley bridge |
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| Where's the guy holding the ladder in case it slips in the wet? |
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| Picturesque Henley |
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| Blimey!! - look at theprice of diesel here at Henley - and that is just the domestic rate; but if you think that is bad.... |
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| ...spare a thought for the "poor" old cruiser pilot - unleaded is way cheaper from the local garage and just using a few jerry cans from the garage would help to pay the bill for all of the gin |
Sue was confident of finding
mooring places for both boats, but that looked less than certain as we were cruising
through - a Festival of Traditional Boats is taking place here this weekend and
these things usually mean everything is full - but true to her word there were
spaces beyond the bridge (well almost a mile past) where we were not breasted
up - Ferndale with her fat bottom was out a little bit but not too far.
After we had finished
mooring formalities, I spotted Andy sitting on one of the benches there and
quickly grabbed a couple of beers and we had a bit of a sit and a chat in
amongst which, Sue and Diane decided that they needed to hit the shops.
It wasn't long before Andy
got a call from Sue with instructions from Diane to measure my head, which we
managed to get done - you never give much thought to the size of your noggin'
that much, well at least I don't, so it surprised me when the final figure came
out at 60cm (you can change it to inches) - that seemed a bit different to what
I might have guessed.
After the beer we each went
back to our respective boats - I always have some work to do and with the
peace and quiet at this time (as I also have in the early mornings) I tend to
concentrate better, but I was still looking at boats going past.
I had got through a fair
amount of what needed doing when a narrowboat was going past - blue in colour;
windows as normal and waiting to spot the name - Mary H - hang on, I know that
boat and there on the stern were Linda, Richard and Muffin.
They had cruised a long way
to finally catch us - there sometimes is a nice feeling to being stalked.
They were also lucky in
finding a mooring spot right where we were - immediately in front.
By the time I had got out,
Andy was already on the job with their centre-line in hand.
Of course once they were
moored up suitably, Sue and Diane arrived - all the hard work was done girls!
Diane looked and looked
again - there was quite a bit of a gap between Festina Lente and Mary H and she
felt that it was a few inches deeper there than where we were perched out a bit
from the side, so dutifully Ferndale obliged with moving down a bit and she was
right again (does she ever get tired of it?) - we were closer into the side.
I still wanted to finish a
bit more work - I know what the next few days will be like so it is nice to be
ahead a little bit, so I went back inside; I could hear that Diane and Linda
were chatting away.
Diane came back in and we
had something to eat; I did a bit more and we eventually finished off the
evening outside again much the same as the night before enjoying it, Diane
trying to take selfies of all of us with the iPad - succeeding in taking
shots with 3 of us in the background (4 including Muffin) and her occupying much
of the foreground - the better ones were immediately posted to Facebook.
With most of us keen to see
a bit of the festival we will most likely remain in Henley until Sunday
morning, and that will give us a good chance to look around this much talked
about town - Diane is armed with her famous walking tour map and script.
The only downside of where
we are is the TV reception - we cannot get ITV4 so alas there will be
inconsistent viewing of leTour - a few visits to 'spoons with their WiFi will suffice - a heavy price to pay to
see the (bike) race - although, barring any complete misfortunes, it looks like
another British win.
22 Miles, 8 Locks
YTD: 562 Miles, 326 Locks, 12 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges , 13 Swing Bridges
Totals: 3456 Miles, 2447 Locks, 110 Tunnels, 36 Lift Bridges ,
164 Swing Bridges
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