Heyho shipmates!
Cheers to Iris & Cliff, Jenny & Penny plus Anne-Marie & Pierre and all our followers . .
Well, a bit of a fraught day… a few cock ups, a few pompous gits asking us “if we know anything about boating” but also some jolly decent folk, especially the Red Boat going up to Northampton who shared a few locks and had a Dad who cycled off to prepare locks & swing bridges – thanks! Hope we meet you again. We also met the folk on Eliza Jane – who were keen to visit Tesco’s with us but when they heard it was a Tesco Extra, declined! It turned out to be a HUGE Tesco and 24 hr too … more on that story later …
So, we left the outskirts of Aldermaston and had about 10 miles and 10 locks to do … but first . . 0730 and Roger, the Cabin Boy (aka Chris) delivers “tea in bed”! Trained at last.
not too many photos as we were too busy catching up with the Red Boat and getting stuck on weirs . . bumping into lock gates etc
Here’s the M4 rolling overhead
Fobney Lock with the treacherous weir flow entering from the right
and on into Reading . . the infamous County Lock with a nasty weir but in these hasn’t-rained-for-5-weeks days, it’s all very calm . .
Adagio and the Red Boat (sorry, never found out their name)
Nice photo of Chris at the helm and also Viv operating the double paddled locks
and on into the Oracle shopping edifice much to the bemusement of shoppers
and then out onto the Thames (Reading was a hole – the book said “it doesn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for boaters” and they were right. Shame, because they could make it so much more). Still, we pushed on and out onto the Thames:
Delightful mooring (using a stake and 2 trees) and oddly only100 yds from that Tesco! But being the Thames – it was shielded by trees.
you do get somewhat different types of craft here . .
here’s one for J&P – black swans with red eyes and beaks
and if we drink any more gin – so will we!! Thanks to Viv for a delightful Spaghetti Bolognese and oh look a bottle of Rioja …
Nigella at her best (note Tanqueray in foreground)
Off up the Thames towards Oxford tomorrow