Wednesday 23 April
Thursday 24 April
Friday 25 April
Saturday 26 April
Sunday 27 April
Monday 28 April
Tuesday 29 April
Reading
Reading to nr Windsor
nr Windsor to Hampton Court
Hampton Court to Limehouse Marina
Limehouse Marina
Limehouse Marina
Limehouse Marina
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Will we miss this?
Just as we departed Reading it started to rain - perfect timing! The bow thruster was put to some unnecessary work to test it and - what a difference. I have come to the conclusion that the old one was already at death's door when we bought Starry Night. There is just no comparison. Our section 9 dues were paid at Sonning lock - £59 for three days. At Hurley lock we were forced inside to shelter during a really heavy downpour and just managed to stay dry. By Marlow we were into parakeet country; at the beginning of each season we notice that they have spread further west. Then the sun came out and the afternoon was glorious if a bit windy. The lock keepers are all very unhappy about their new contract conditions being imposed by the EA: their lock cottages being sold out from under them, forced redundancies and so on. The prospect of more and more unmanned locks outside peak periods, against a background of a steep increase in license fees and a disgruntled work force is a good reason as any to quit the Thames while the memories are still good. We had long conversations with a number of lock keepers who wished us well on the Broads. We wished them well. It is a terrible shame what the EA are doing.
Laleham Boat Yard - one of our favourite sights along the Thames
Hampton Court seen from the back of Starry Night. Spiffing gates.
Up at 05:00 to catch the tide at Teddington. There was a clear blue sky but is was very cold. We were through Teddington by 06:15 and almost immediately into a thicket of rowers. We didn't get clear of rowers until Mortlake. Breakfast was had en route while the loan auto pilot did its work and so far without complaint. The real test will be in a few days time though, so chickens are not yet being counted. London was very quiet and with hardly any trip boats about the water was not too agitated. By 09:30 we were tied up in our berth at Limehouse. Forty winks were the order of the day, and Mike was just collecting a nice bunch of Zs when woken up by a very polite policeman (river variety) wishing to interview the skipper. This was a routine check under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. I invited him on board and we filled out his questionnaire. It was all very polite and friendly, but why us? Well, he was on his rounds and the lock keeper mistakenly said we were heading onto the Netherlands later that day - perhaps that was a trifle suspicious! On their form there are boxes to tick for ethnicity so we would nicely boost the white Caucasian count - no, it couldn't be that! In the afternoon we went to the Tate Modern to see the retrospective of sculpture by Munoz.
Luckily we fit under the bridge near low water
Saturday afternoon crowds along the South Embankment by the Globe Theatre
Who put that there?
Maureen went into town to do some shopping while Mike moved the car from Reading to Brundall near Norwich. Leaving the boat at 08:40 it involved a trip by bus across London from Limehouse to Paddington (No15 door to door) then train to Reading and taxi to the marina. Drive for three hours to Brundall, breaking tooth on the way on a BLT sandwich! Train from Brundall to Norwich (late due to points failure). Then train to Stratford and DLR to Limehouse returning to boat at 18:05. Not much change from £60 just on train fares never mind dental work!
After breakfast we got a set of detailed weather forecasts for the rest of the week. As usual things have changed. Tomorrow is less promising now, but things get better at the end of the week. We have booked a locking out for 08:30 tomorrow morning planning to get an up to date forecast at 07:00 and then to cancel if we don't like what we see. It's rained pretty much all day. In the afternoon we went to Canary Wharf to get in some fresh food for the next few days' sea voyages. More pieces of Mike's tooth broke off during dinner prompting a visit to the local dentist "UltraSmiles" (five minutes walk and visible from our mooring!). Amazingly they are open for business to 10.0pm. I could see they were in from the comfort of Starry Night! So at 8:00pm I was able to walk in, see the receptionist and make an emergency appointment for tomorrow, for which I am very grateful. Dread to think what it will cost! Fate has decreed that we are not going tomorrow.
The route from Limehouse to Canary Wharf on a sunnier day
Copyright © 2008-2009 Mike Hawkridge