Operation Dynamo.

Wednesday - it was time to leave Windsor- after saying bon-voyage to Paul & Elaine & the boy's we moved off under a drizzly sky but by the first lock it had stopped. 

In Boulters lock I challenged a skipper to a race to the next lock, he accepted my challenge readily, having two 150hp Suzuki engines strapped to the transom ensured he'd win. 

We beat him out of the lock though.

Throttling back in Cliveden deep made sure the lock landing was empty of boats when we arrived at Cookham lock... in Cookham we found a 60 foot space on rings to moor in. We had lunch on the river bank before a circular walk around the village with a quick stop at The Crown for refreshment.

Ray & Diane in Cliveden deep 

Thursday we made our way to a packed Henley - we were lucky to find a couple of spaces on the park moorings as Fawley meadow is reserved for this weekends traditional boat rally. We will stay for the show a highlight for me is always the Dunkirk Little Ships sail past, a poignant reminder of an old friend and fellow boater who was evacuated from the beach during operation Dynamo.

Thames side garden party.

Friends on the Riverbank.

Paul, (The Manly Ferry weatherman) Elaine, Sammy & Bombo came to town today,  luckily it wasn't 'kin' raining or 'kin' freezing!. 

Assorted chairs came out of the boats for a good old catch up on the river bank with tea, tinnies, brownies & scones.

Paul, Ray, Sue , Elaine, Diane, Sammy & Bombo.

Elaine with the help of her brother Trevor's jig saw created the most beautifully crafted 'Three legs of Man' which now has pride and place in FL's saloon.
                                                                                                                             

Sue & I were thrilled to receive this gift, we will treasure it always.

Pride of place on the saloon wall.

Elaine also hand made these soaps and creams

And these earrings for Sue.

 In the evening it was off to the Two Brewers for a meal and carry on the banter......

Paul, Diane, Elaine, Sue, Ray & Andy, we had seats for Dot & Gordon but their bus was late.

 It was dark when we left the pub...

Fountain in the park.......

........we were buzzed by the Windsor Hurricane. 

Changing banks.

We had a little 'boaters meeting' in the cobwebbed together cratches, it was decided that we should cruise down to Boveney lock to get rid of dumpables and top up the water tanks which between the two boats adds up to some 1200 litres, only a quarter of this is FL's, FD has a huge tank.

As is usual on the day's boaters cruise to water points the machines were in action to wash the clothing, in addition, Diane arrived at the lock services squeaky clean herself.

We returned to moor at the leisure centre on the Windsor bank, our mooring fee of £8 will now go to Windsor council instead of Eton college, the same bailiff collects from both banks.

The morning has been showery but stopped long enough for a dry walk into town and back.

The BBQ system we had on FL was one of those Cobb affairs, although small enough to be portable, with all the paraphernalia that came with it it took up a huge chunk of stowage space under the dinette seating. We kept it the first year, didn't use it, so returned it to the garage back home. Sue decided we needed the same model that FD has aboard, if we don't use it we won't know it's aboard as it packs flat enough to lose in the boat.

How can we lose stuff in a space 6' 10"wide you may ask, easy we mislay or conversely find stuff we had forgotten was on board all the time.

BBQ in a small bag.

Quiet night in for the skippers as Sue & Diane are off to the theatre to see Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper Murders by Brian Clemens.

Barbie in Windsor

Saturday we had a barbecue with a few beers to celebrate England winning an Ashes test.

Crab, prawn, cheese, olives and tomato starters followed by chicken kebab's, sausages, tuna steaks and sweet corn cobs all enjoyed in view of the castle.

Perhaps Liz was looking down on our little BBQ from one of the castle's windows with envy. She is in as the royal standard has been flying since Friday.

Ray cooked the food, Diane & Sue made salad.

Diane is a committed veggie so more sausages for us.

Sunday we had a carvery lunch at the Waterman's Arms, I had the beef which was good but the veg could of done with being a few degrees hotter. After a visit to town to buy milk we have settled in to watch the Wimbledon men's final.

Runnymede to Windsor.

Supplies were bought from Waitrose in Egham, a town I last visited 40 years ago which has changed very much for the better.

We stayed for the day at Runnymede to visit the Commonwealth Air Forces memorial, J.F. Kennedy memorial and the site where King John signed the Magna Carta. 

New additions to the area to mark the 800th anniversary are the twelve bronze jurors chairs.

Three jurors Ray, Diane & Sue.

Magna Carta

Kennedy memorial.

Commonwealth Air Forces memorial.

Both crews made the trip to the jurors' chairs and the Magna Carta, Sue sat out the rest of the tour as dodgy knees wouldn't get her to the top of the hill.

From the lookout at the top of the CAF shrine we could see clearly central London twenty miles away, Heathrow, Wembley Stadium and Windsor Castle.


Today we made our way in convoy to Windsor where we found room on the Eton bank, the deeper drafted FD breasted alongside FL. A leisurely stroll around town followed by a decent lunch in the Two Brewers and a view of the long walk.

Sue & Diane at the end of the long walk.

Moored in Windsor.

Shepperton to Runnymede with company

After a trip to the timber merchants to collect some wood, we met up with Ray & Diane at Shepperton, a pre-arranged meeting after their epic voyage around the London's sights.

Leaving Shepperton lock.

We all had a meal together with Glyn & Christine in Thames Court, the food was very good but the entertainment- a solo artist with electric guitar playing in wake the dead mode was annoying. The meal over we moved away from the din to continue the evening in comfort.

Ray, Andy, Diane, Sue, Christmas, Glyn.

After doing a couple of errands in the village we set off in convoy bound for Runnymede stopping en route to fill the water tanks at Chertsey lock.

Posing for an action shot.

The new commemorative Statue of the Queen at Runnymede.

 Mike & Viv picked us up in the evening for a Toby carvery in Old Windsor, we will have to get some exercise in to offset the last few days socialising.

Windsor to Shepperton

After collecting my package from Windsor P.O. we set of just before 09:0 0, cool conditions in the shade of clouds until lunchtime when things warmed up nicely. 

We had a leisurely cruise to Shepperton, while we were using the services we met my brother Mike and his Mrs Viv along with Viv's sister Lin on their way to lunch at Thames Court, we pulled FL back to moor and join them for lunch and a catch up.

The Eton moorings were still full when we left Windsor.

Show dogs at Windsor home park.

Naughty boys rubbish picking at Bell Weir lock

Sue, Mike, Viv and Lynne

One lock to Windsor

Just behind our mooring is Dorney lake, the London 2012 Olympic venue for rowing and Kayak. Today they were holding a triathlon event for children, so we went along to spectate, age groups we watched were 13-14, 15-16  and  9-10, we missed the age 8 group, distances are scaled according to age the 9-10's doing a 300m swim, 3km bike and 1km run.  The competitiveness of these kids was evident in all age groups.

Dorney lake.

15-16 boys race entering transition.

Girls race leaders in transition.

9-10 age group in green hats await the start of their race.

Back on the boat we set off for Windsor, we had to wait for the second lock full to get through and grabbed the last mooring in Windsor outside the leisure centre (£8).

Our bestest friends came to see us at Windsor and we went to the George in Eton, the Two Brewers and The Carpenters Arms in Windsor for a few drinks, dinner was had at the Bella Italian. 

We will see Glyn and Christine again when we arrive in our old home of Shepperton in the next couple of days.

Sue, Glyn and Chris outside the Two Brewers.

Shiplake to Boveney - River Thames

We set off at 06:00, yes 6am, Henley Regatta starts today, so setting off early would ensure we would miss any traffic queuing at Marsh and Hambledon locks - it also gave me a chance to wake the noisy oik that moored behind us last night.

It was a little misty as we set off but the sun soon broke through and it was warm for the rest of the day. We cruised a total of 20 miles and 8 locks to moor at Boveney, we didn't go through Boveney lock in case Windsor was stuffed full of boats, a usual occurrence on summer weekends. 

I had a package to collect from Windsor post office, it's a two hour return trip on foot from the mooring, unfortunately I was 8 minutes late getting to the correct collection point - I wasted 20 minutes queueing at the PO counter. It was very hot so a glass of cold cider was had at the Watermans Arms. We will have to stay till Monday morning when the depo opens again.                                                                            

 Early morning on the course.

All Saints Church near Bisham Abbey

Medmenham Abbey yours for a cool £10,000,000.

Marlow bridge

Cliveden House

Cormarant drying off.

Glyn!

Beale park to Shiplake - River Thames

 Up and away early again, through Whitchurch lock the new toll bridge is complete.

Whitchurch toll bridge.

Once  through Mapledurham lock we are at the outskirts of Reading. We make two stops in Reading, first at Better Boating for diesel (88p pl) and a gas cylinder (£27), then a stop at Tesco to stock the fridge and cellar.

Reading is getting a new £4,000,000 pedestrian/cyclist bridge spanning the river at Christchurch meadow, parts built in Rotterdam are being assembled on site, due for completion late summer.

New pedestrian/cyclist bridge.

Caversham bridge is getting a makeover so the new bridge doesn't outshine it.

I was wrong on yesterday's blog, we met another female lock keeper at Caversham lock.

Alpaca farm.

Looking upstream from Mapledurham lock.

Sonning bridge

I always think the entrance to the Kennet & Avon is uninviting.

I'm sure Sheena's Ken is hiding under one of those hats on his way to a Pimm's at Henley Regatta :)

Shiplake house.

We have moored on the EA moorings opposite Shiplake, the first night is free, that will do.