A Grand Day Out 2

My Daughter Rachael and her boyfriend Chaz came to visit over the weekend. They had originally planned to go to Alton Towers but Chaz's car decided it didnt want to drive all the way to Staffordshire from Kent so Lady Elgar and Thorpe Park was the next best thing.

Saturday is never a good day to visit these places and the queue to enter the park alone took us an hour. Once inside they do have some excellent rides. Laura and myself were more than happy to wander around with Rachael and Chaz while they selected which thrills they were going to experience. The sun was out and it was lovely and warm.

Their first ride was on something called 'Rush' basically two huge swings. The queue for this was a mere 15 minutes








Their next choice was 'Colossus' a multi loop roller coaster. The down side for this ride was the 70 minute queue. Rachael and Chaz duly got into line and we toddled off for some refreshment and to sit on a grassy bank to soak up some rays.
We returned an hour later and they were still in the queue.






So far we had been in the park 3 hours and they had only been on two rides. Weekends really are not the best times to do these things.

I joined them on the River Rapids ride and we all got very wet.



With just a couple of hours left we managed to get on the 'Nemesis inferno' ride with just a 25 min queue. This is a hang in the air roller coaster with multiple inversions and a very good ride....I liked that one :)






The final ride was one called 'Stealth' There was no way i was going to ride as it climbed up to 205 ft. No way folks.

The ride starts off on the level and then accelerates to over 80mph before climbing 205 ft and then dropping again before coming to a halt.

They queued for an hour






Once of a day we were happy with just the Big Dipper at Blackpool. It seems there is no end to the extremes roller coasters can now take you to, providing of course you dont go during weekends or school holidays.

Cabin Conversions

The work in the Boatmans Cabin has finally been completed making it into our bedroom and converting our Cabin into Peanut's Nursery.

Our bed is now the full width of the cabin which then folds away during the day to allow access from the rear doors and to the storage cupboards underneath. or at least it would if the mattress wasnt too big!

Another cock up on my measuring skills meant I ordered a Mattress way too big and bulky. It my own fault for ordering it off t'internet instead of measuring one up in a shop. Never mind, it will do for a few weeks till I can order a new one suitable for use.




At least Peanuts Cabin is sorted and looking pretty good. All ready and waiting for the arrival day in July.

A Grand Day Out

We took a trip to Portsmouth in March as my birthday treat.

It had been quite a few years since I last visited, in fact it was well before the days of the Mary Rose being found and the only attraction in the Dockyard was HMS Victory so I was very keen to see the new Historic Dockyard Museum.

We arrived just in time to catch a boat trip around the Harbour as our starter and armed with video camera and still camera we were fortunate to see quite a few Warships including the 3 aircraft carriers.






HMS Victory is still for me one of those great ships that justs lets my imagination run away with itself. A period of history I particularly enjoy.

Since my last visit they have opened up more of the ship. Originally the lowest part you could visit was the Orlop Deck, but they now allow access to the Ships Hold which is a vast cavernous area in the very Bowell's of Victory.





I remember when they recovered Henry VIII ship Mary Rose from the depths of the Solent but didnt realise how much of the ship had actually been recovered.
On the television pics of the day it just looked like a few timbers but in actual fact, its almost the majority of the Starboard side complete with rudder. The remains are housed in a special climate controlled building and is constantly sprayed with preserving chemicals and wax so you actually view the ship from behind a wall of perspex. It takes a few minutes to get used to the light but it is a fantastic display and well worth the entrance fee alone.

Time was running out and we ended our tour by visiting Queen Victoria's first Iron Hulled Battleship HMS Warrior

The best part of this ship, not just its size but the fact you can wander its decks unescorted and can get into alsorts of nooks and crannies and have a really good explore.













Our final attraction of the day was a visit the Spinnaker Tower which dominates Portsmouth's skyline.

This Tower rises 170 metre's above the Harbour. Encased in glass on three walls with three levels and a Glass section of floor on the lower level.
Laura nor I have very good heads for heights but we were very brave and we managed to get our backs to the solid wall on the first level not daring to go anywhere near the glass walls or the glass floor.

I then got extreamly brave and got my video camera out and began to shuffle slowly around the deck looking only through the viewfinder so that i didnt have to actually look out of the windows for real. I was shaking like an idiot and so we dashed back to the lift back to the safety of terra firma. Coming back down in the lift Laura was laughing at me because the sweat was pooring down my face....Vertigo, it sounds so silly but its horrible.

We had a quick beer in the bar below and I checked out the video camera to see what sights I had managed to record while up the tower.

It appears all I had managed to capture was our feet climbing the stairs to the lift. In my fear I had forgotten to press record, so when I thought i pressed pause to end the recording I had only then just presses record so no video at all of us being brave in the tower of death. Doh!!

We ended the day back at the Swan and Bottle for a slap up meal.

Welsh Surf n Turf

It has been some time since I last ventured west to visit my matey Paul in Wales.
We couldnt meet up last weekend as he was in Paris watching the mighty Welsh Rugby team lose to France.

We have been close friends for the last 20yrs.
Paul managed to escape from London and return to the land of his fathers several years ago. He found an old barn in Monmouthshire which was being converted into a house and within a few months had finally moved in and settled down to enjoy the fine views across the Wye Valley.






I arrived at Pauls about half past 8 friday evening and was greated by his two dogs Wellington and Katy.
A few sherberts later in the local hostalry saw us sitting up till the early hours talking and catching up on each others news. Katy however was ready for bed well before we were



Saturday dawned bright but breazy and our plans were to drive to the coast so that Paul and another friend called Jeff could show off their Surfing skills.....in march!!!.....We loaded up the car with 2 surf boards on the roof, large bags of wetsuits 2 dogs and 3 blokes.

They both regaled me with tales of daring do while riding the surf. I was impressed and firmed up my driving with much anticipation.
As we approached Cardiff the weather had turned and was now drizzling. After a two hour drive we finally arived at Ogmore beach with yells from the dudes of " yeah, lets surf" They jumped from the car skipping and leaping towards the sea wall where spray could be seen being whipped away on the wind. They came to a sudden stop. Their shoulders dropped as they looked across at the sea crashing against the cliffs and rocks and not a square of sandy beach in view. The tide was in. Being brave sufer dudes, not fearing wind or rain, they now huddled down into their jackets and we slouched back to the car and the heater.

Paul viewing the waves




Not to miss out on their water based activities, Paul suggested another beach further up the coast. We piled back into the car and headed a few miles further west. Upon our arrival, both Paul and Jeff surveyed the waves.



All seemed well until Paul spyed the Parasurfers and realising that their image might not stand up to the scrutiny of these aparant professionals we again retired to the car with excuses of "its too windy"



One final choice...Porthcawl near Bridgend. Very unlikely to have any snobby para surfers and the boys would finally be able to impress the local girls with their skills on the boards....Not....The tide was still high, the wind whipping the spray as the waves dashed against the rocks.








The intrepid adventurers gave the dogs a run across the cliffs and we then drove the 2 hours back home and headed off to the Pub to impress the locals of our tale of excitment and adventure.
After much quaffing of ale and long tales we finally returned home and enjoyed a fantastic barbeque of huge tiger prawns, and steak...it was only midnight and the night was still young.

A fantastic weekend. Our journey to the sea, although not a surfing success was actually a great little road trip with the three of us thouroughly enjoying the day.
I can recomend the Wye Valley beers and to top off the trip, Paul agreed to be Bestman this coming september.
Back at home now and the back cabin conversion resumes tomorrow.

Emblem again

When I sold Emblem I had some engine spares for the old Gardner 4L3W

For months they had been sitting in my mates stable in Wales and then in the boot of my car waiting for the new owner to arrange collection.

Eventually I got fed up of waiting and managed to lodge them at my daughters hse in Ramsgate thinking i might as well try and sell them on Ebay





Imagine my suprise when i gat a call from Ludwig, the new owner of Emblem asking about the engine bits...It turns out he's been very ill and was unabke to reply to my messages.

At last, I pleased to announced the parts will be going to Emblem to keep her running.

Time is catching up

It seems like everthing on board Lady Elgar is giving up the ghost just about the same time it was fitted aboard.

Last week the Loo cassettes finally had enough, and yesterday the washing machine decided it no longer had the energy to run a spin cycle.

On top of that, the grill on the oven no longer wishes to grill and one ring on the gas hob has decided it no longer wishes to remain lit.


Anything else?....oh yes.....the water pump is playing up.

Not to be down hearted we decided the gas oven and hob can keep us going till next year, the water pump is still just about working so we've ordered a new one as standby incase this one finally sighs its last breath. The washing machine however has had to be replaced.

We went to currys in Slough and chose a rather nice silver dryer model within our budget which had, written on the label......"last one instock...take home today"

The lady who came to our assistance informed us, we could have it delivered tomorrow (thursday) and take advantage of free delivery which also ends tomorrow, so we said....."oh yes me old hearties"

She then handed us over to her assistant who promptly made a complete hash of the whole affair. He told us it couldntbe delivered till next week....not a big problem....but when we asked..."how about if we take it now" he said "there isnt any in stock"....i took him and showed him the label on the machine we wanted and he said" that shouldnt be on there"....yet his collegue said it was in stock and we could take it today if we didnt like the delivery date!

We eventually agreed on a date next week and he swiped our debit card and then told us it needed authorising....after several attempts at getting through to the authorising phone number he then told us our card had been declined!!!!!!
It was our boat account and we had over £1000 in CREDIT!!

He then tried to tempt us to pay with a credit card but we pooh poohed his suggestions and we high tailed it to the bank and told them the story.....the bank clerk informed us there wa nothing wrong with the card and our account was healthy.

We then decided to return home and order our choice on the internet...I typed in our post code and model number and was informed that we could order our selected machine for collection at either the Slough branch or the West Drayton branch.

Not wishing to deal with Slough anymore.....having been told by them it wasnt available......i clicked on the West Drayton branch and the message came up that it would be ready for collection in 1 HOUR!!!!!

I then spent the next hour disconecting the old machine and sure enough...we went to the West Drayton branch and collected the reserved washing machine.....we use the same account card and it cleared without any request for authorisation at all.

7PM saw the new washer installed and going through its first wash with a minimum of fuss....I must admit however, If it hadnt been for a kind chap offering his help at the boatyard to lift the damn thing, It would still be sitting in the car even now...cant expect Laura to do lifting things.

So, what was the final thing to go wrong?
The bathroom light fitting gave in......is it because everything was fitted at the same time?......who knows....is it because Lady Elgar knows peanut is on the way and she want to have everything working prior to his/her arrival?

As you mayve guessed, my work in the back cabin has come to a stop due to all the other things suddenly needing attention, except that is for the Boatmans stove which is now sitting in the shed waiting for our neighbour simon to take possession

Pennies from Heaven

Aint t grand when you suddenly have a crisis, and you have to fork out for something which doesn't fit into your budget. Then, all of a sudden you remember 'Piggy' sitting on the shelf which, for the last few months has swallowed all your £2 coins.

On counting 'Piggies' contents this morning we found we had enough to replace the 'Elsan' porta loo plus spare cassette and a new water pump.

The 'Elsan' cassette's have a large handle at the front which one pulls out in order to dump the deposit into the holding tank.

We had in total 3 of these cassettes on board Lady Elgar which mustve been about 15 years old. well, the last one finally gave up the ghost yesterday when the handle finally sheared off.

Piggy to the rescue and a quick visit to Denham Marina, coz Highline and Uxbridge are closed on mondays, and we are now the proud owners of a Thetford465 plus spare cassette.

The water pump....well....its been getting slower and slower so tomorrow i will pop into Highline and order a new pump, again courtesy of piggy.

I like Piggy Banks :)

Its still winter

Time has just flown by since I last posted.

Below is a pic of the sofa/futon/bed we had in the saloon.




We now have so much more space ready for Peanut and the Stove has once again become a feature of the room rather than just a heat source




I have to confess my time on the PC has been taken up playing an old game of mine that i recently upgraded. Its a WW2 submarine simulation called Silent Hunter 3.....very addictive and time consuming.

So to combat the time spent in front of the PC we took a trip to Reading over the weekend and visited the Hobby supermarket.

I bought some Hessian sheets and a Rag Rugger with the intention of making a Rag Rug or two. I delved into my wardrobe and removed all clothing that I hadnt used for over a year ready for cutting into strips for the rug.


Laura decided she would try her hand at Latch Hook crochet and cross stitching,

Here is her Latch Hook masterpiece so far




After several hours work she has completed half of her picture. She has, thoughout those several hours had a go at me requesting to see how my rug is coming along.....Alas, those several hours have been spent cutting and stripping clothes ready for the big rag rug event....ps...the co-op cloth bags that you have to buy these days instead of plastic carrier bags make ideal rag bags to keep your strips of cloth in.

Rear cabin has now been measured and my plan is forming for converting it into our master bedroom. Work is due to commence at the end of this month.

Peanut's next scan is 23rd Feb. That will be the 20 week scan.

Current size is a small Grapefruit

Pics

The above pics show the saloon in its original plan and the top one shows the Boatmans stove and drop down table.

In my plans Im going to try and keep the artwork from the table but no idea yet how its going to work out.

Ive now got 5 days off and work will begin on stripping the backcabin ready for the rebuild.....it all goes downhill from here

Retro fit

When we first bought Lady Elgar the saloon was open plan, with a book shelf/sideboard along one side, a fixing for a removable table on the other side and 2 single leather reclining chairs for the crew.

Within 3 months of being in board, the chairs, which were Ikea jobs and very very comfey decided to give up the ghost after their 15 year life on board LE.

Our choice of replacement was a metal framed futon style sofa bed, the main reason being it was handy for when my daughter and grandaughter visited to be able to have a decent sized bed for them all to plonk themselves down on.

The downside for us was the ammount of space the sofa/bed swallowed up.

So, With the impending arrival of Salty Jnr we today decided to go retro and return to two single reclining chairs. The space now available in the saloon is fantastic, ideal for a small baby type person known as Peanut to be able to mess around and faff to his or her hearts content.

The next job on the list is......which cabin is going to be the nursery?
Last week we spent a couple of hours in Mothercare pricing up items and choosing bits and bobs that we need.
We have two choices. Our cabin is placed centrally in the boat and is a cross bed which we put up and take down each night, but gives us 6'2 x 6' bed space in which to slob about on, assisted by a tv/dvd/free sat telly for those cold winter nights.
Now, our only other cabin is the traditional boatmans cabin at the very stern of the boat. this is complete with Trad boatmans stove and table, however, we never use the thing except for taking off our coats in winter and hanging space for washing.

So, do we convert the Boatmans Cabin into a nursery and leave our centre cabin in tact, or do we convert both cabins, the back for self and Swmbo leaving the centre cabin free as a nursery......Ill post some pics to give a general idea.


ps peanut is now the size of an orange but will remain forever peanut to his/her parents

A very Merry Christmas

The festive period is well and truly upon us.

People are getting into the christmas spirit with Job Parties ranging from office 'do's' to disco's on Thames cruisers and theamed dress-up affairs where Henry the Eighth throws a christmas turkey leg across the dance floor for effect.

Our own works 'do' was organised for last Monday which alas, Laura and myself didnt attend due to family commitments. But we heard all about the usual goings on when we all returned to work on Wednesday...to be honest, im glad we didnt go

So, We ourselves have been looking forward to our first proper Christmas, off work together.
We have 4 days off ending on Christmas day then back to work Boxing day for 5 days then off again for New Years eve for 5 days........or so we thought.

Yesterday, The management decided to inform Myself and a few others that, due to bad planning they have cancelled my days off on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, and to make matters worse.....its without any compensation!!!!!!!


IM not a happy bunny
So....in order to make me feel better and spread a little good news at this time of year it is with Great Pleasure and Happiness that Laura and myself, announce that we are expecting the arrival of our first child this coming July

Mother and Peanut (for that is its size) doing well

Roy Orbison

Original Post 28/06/08

Day 21

ITS OVER.
Our original plan for this day was to cruise down to Denham Country Park and find a little spot for 1 final barbie before doing the last 3 and a bit hours back to base camp. The day dawned overcast and very breezey and a few showers accompanied our meanderings through the locks.

At Batchworth we were aided by orange lifejacketed children who were visiting the canal centre and getting instruction on locks and boats....Geoff, one of the staff was telling Nora that when these groups were being shown around the motorboat 'Roger', the question was asked of them what they thought the boat wouldve carried in its hold. Not one of them thought of Coal, Televisions being the favourite guess. I guess not many kids these days have any concept of coal. Funny the way the world changes.

It was about 3pm as we descended Widewater lock and onto the Denham stretch, Looking at the sky we decided to plod on towards the Slough Arm.

At Cowley Peachey juction, my turn was restricted by a boat moored a few feet too close to the opening so a bit of jiggery pokery was needed to complete the swing onto the arm while the boat owners enjoyed the spectacle from the comfort of their chairs on the towpath.

Just over half an hour later saw us at Highline. We decided not to continue up to the winding hole as is our usual thing, but to tie up for a change on the outside of Herbie as Neil and Cath are heading out for the River Wey on sunday and being alongside the bank will be better for them loading up etc.

Our neighbour Lydia waved us in and kindly took the stern rope and we were promptly visited by 3 of her cats who had apparantly been missing their treats due to a lack of Lady Elgar being alongside.
All finally secure and engine shut down and shore line connected saw us relaxing with a chinese takeaway.

All in all it was an excellent trip with fantastic weather. We met some lovely people, maffi and bones by name others just as faces. Visted some excellent pubs and eating places. Enjoyed the drama's of boaters antics and behaviours which although sometimes are frustrating, they are nothing compared to the behaviour of people on our roads, and what may seem like moans by me about folk, are not really moans...just observations on different behaviours, as im sure other folk would observe on our behaviour.

Valuable hands on knowlegde was learned re the boat such as the starter problem and the prop shaft, but even those incidents all added to the enjoyment of the trip and the experience of owning and running your own boat without the need to call on expert help.
These problems were really very minor, the starter problem only being compounded by the fact we were on the Thames and had to shut down the engine at every lock.

Laura's highlights of the trip were the hundreds of baby fowl and animals that all benefitted from her tesco value bread bag, The Blisworth tunnel. Having her hat rescued by the lockie at Brentford and the memory of the Garlic Mushrooms at the Wharf Inn at Fenny Compton.

For me, just being together in our home cruising through varied and changing landscapes is enough. No bad memories and thats for sure.

The log shows the following data
Engine Hours 132
Distance 250miles
Locks 175
2 Tunnels

back to work Wednesday

Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren

Original Post 27/06/08

Day 20

The morning broke dry and lovely. Following a couple of brews we fired up and cast off, Nora working the swing bridge and 1st lock while we kept looking behind us in the hope of seeing a boat coming down behind us who we might share with. Its wasnt to be so we slowly dropped down the heavily locked Hemel Hempstead section and arrived at the santary station at Apsley to take on and drop off fluids.

A boat had decided to chain themselves up to a large portion of the services mooring so we pulled in behind them and in turn took up a portion of the lock mooring. Knowing it would probably be a long fill, I toddled off over the bridge to nip into Sainsburys for a quick top up on supplies. Rather wish I hadnt as it mustve been pension day and the checkout women were more concerned with chatting to each other about Sandra's 30th wedding anniversary than getting me through with my meagre items.

I eventually exited the store and as I crossed the bridge saw 2 motorboats going up in the lock and a couple of boats just exiting the lock above and Nora looking stressed.

Typical, we'd not seen any other traffic all day then it becomes busy just as ive been a bit cheeky and gone shopping while taking on water.

As it happens, it appears no one wished to use the services while Nora had been using them, the two motorboats decamped from the lock and headed on towards the next lock and the two boats coming down started hammering pins into the ground to tie up, so we fired up, packed away the hose and dropped down the lock.

The next lock at apsley mills was obviously in our favour and the two motors had left both gates open, probably re-living old times. I deposited Nora on the starboard side and brought Lady Elgar to a stop on the portside so we could both close a gate each. I then saw a chap emerge at the steps by the bottom gates and could see the roof of his boat just infront of the bottom gates.

Thats gonna get lively when the paddles are raised thought I and as soon as both top gates were shut, this chap began winding. he then darted across to the other paddle and began winding again, wthin seconds two loud crashes occured and I could see both gates bouncing as this chaps boat began to ram into them.

GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME. He very quickly ran back across the gates and down to his boat, then all I could hear was the sound of an engine being rev'd very hard, obviously in an effort to excape from the draw of the gate paddles. Nora then dropped both gate paddles and some normality returned and the chap managed to reverse away from the gates.

Paddles up again and gate eventually open. This chap now placed himself in front of the open gate as I was exiting. The boat was only about a 40 footer at the most and painted in camoflague. He didnt wait for me to clear but came steadly forward. I managed to just get out of the way avaoiding some very nast looking spikes that he had on the front of his Bow, Obviously used for when attacking the Carthaginian fleet.

Once Id got Nora back on board we agreed that he was obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. Apparantly, it was the spikes on the front of his boat that had got trapped in the gates preventing him from being able to reverse away from them.....what a strange fellow.

Unfortunately, no further excitment occured and we made the steady descent sharing the lock work a couple at a time. It was about half four by the time we reached Lady capels lock and our intention to moor opposite the golf course was thwarted by boats there before us so we dropped down into Cassiobury park and eventually tied up just below Iron bridge lock.

Another BBQ was set up rather quickly as the sky was darkening and the wind freshening, and sure enough, just as Nora had watered the plants and I was finishing off caramalising the Lamb chops, the rain began to fall and we shut up shop and settled down to eat while watching series one of Phoenix Nights.A very pleasent days cruising of 6 hours and 19 locks.

We are now within the M25 boundary and already the thought of having to return to work looms.

ADAM ANT

Original post 26/06/08

Day 19

According to the Log, we started up the Perkins at 11.30am after I had cleaned away the BBQ from the night before and taken down the Sky dish. The weather didnt look at all promising and there were spots of rain in the air.

Sure enough within 10 mins of setting off a couple of very heavy squalls washed everything down and blew everything about. Then out came the sun for a bit and all was calm again.

Just after passing the flour mill a heavy squall hit us again just at the same point as I saw the nose of a narrowboat come into view. The Wendover arm is very narrow and shallow so trying to see through the rain we slowly passed each other and it turned out to be Ralentando who I think we shared leighton lock with a couple of days earlier. A second boat then passed and out came the sun again this time for good although the wind gusted most of the day.

Turned back onto the main line at bulbourne junction and set off towards Cowroast armed with sausage butties for sustanance. We needed to dump rubbish and the Elsan at Cowroast and as we approached the lock I could see a boat in, about to go down. the gate then opened and it appeared that they would wait for us, which is nice, but I signalled my intention to pull over to use the services and saw they understood by the gate slowly closing.

We pulled over and tied up and were approached by the chap going down the lock.....It was our chums from yesterday on Megan, He said he'd wait at the next lock for us so it was with good company that we descended down to Berkhampstead where we waved goodbye as they stopped to visit waitrose. We didnt need the bank any more as we had solved our problem 'online' earlier.

The wind was still giving it large in gusts but the sun shone throughout. A number of large boughs had obviously been brought down in the strong winds but nothing that blocked the canal. We eventually arrived at our destination, Winkwell swing bridge and the Three Horseshoes pub and moored in the pound just a few meters away from where Lady Elgar once had an old willow tree collapse on her back in 1995.

The guide book states that the Three Horseshoes is haunted by two ghosts. A highwayman and an old lady, So after our very excellent meal we repaired to the tack room and sampled some black sheep ale and a pint of broadside. Although Nora was convinced she had her arm tweeked and saw a shadow in a corner (in a shadowey room) no shouts of STAND AND DELIVER disturbed our evening.

ABBA

original post 25/06/08

Day 18

We departed the Globe in lovely sunshine and in anticipation of the 18 locks ahead of us.

A planned short stop at Tesco in Leighton Buzzard refilled some cupboards and fluid cabinet however the waterpoint proved to be defective. It doesn't take long to leave the town behind and after Grove lock the rolling hills and fields open up again giving excellent veiws over towards Woburn.

We filled the water tank at the top of slapton lock and noticed a boat just entering the lock behind us. Goodie, if they dont stop for water we can share the climb up towards Marsworth.

Sure enough Megan and crew caught us up as we were preparing the next lock and we spent a very pleasent afternoon working the locks together. Im gonna have to start carrying a pen on the back with me so I can write peoples names down, My memory is shocking. Both the chap and lady were lovely people.We waved goodbye to Megan at Marsworth and we carried on up the seven locks to Bulbourne.

Nora steered the flight. Nothing much worthy of note except when I arrived at the third lock it was half empty or half full depending on your point of view.

I saw a couple of people at the top gates of the next lock but saw no activity to suggest anyone was coming down so I raised the paddles and emptied the half lock of water in our favour. I then saw the next lock being emptied so there was something coming down. They had exited their lock and were holding just in front of ours by the time our lock was nearly full. I think the lady on the narrowboat thought we had deliberatly emptied the lock which was in their favour as my hello was returned by the couple on the cabin cruiser but not by the Nb. Sorry folks, but it really was half an half. I still felt guilty though.

No other traffic saw us at Bulbourne and we turned onto the narrow winding Wendover Arm.
At the terminus 4 boats were in the prime positions but one of which was also moored in the winding hole which the wind managed to lay us alongside nicely. Nora managed to push the bows off and we eventually swung round and plonked ourselves in the same spot we had used last October. Nora made a lovely potato salad with scally onions and chives and I offered up the burt offerings to the BBQ Gods.The Wendover really is a lovely little canal and the moorings at little tring farm are fantastic and quiet.Slow speed on the internet here so no picsToday we start the long descent towards home.

Oh yes, MONEY MONEY MONEY. must vist the bank in Berkhampstead later