One of the silent, heavier than air machines, caused me to wake up at 4.55am this morning. It was too early for tea; I dozed off again only to a suffer repeat performance at 5.25am. I wonder if the local supermarkets sell ear defenders?
Later, we looked out of the window to see a pair of Pochards swimming slightly faster than the persuing Canada goose, nature is wonderful.
After breakfast, I sorted out the gear for boating on the river. The anchor sits on the cabin slide shackled to 30 feet of chain, which is contained in a Tesco bag. The anchor warp is attached to the other end of the chain and runs snaked along the cabin roof and tied to the T stud. Lifejackets dusted off and the boarding ladder prepared.
We moved off down the gauging locks and moored up above Thames locks to wait for the incoming tide, which should allow us to leave about 12.45pm. We chatted to the lockie and the time just flew by. Soon, we were entering the lock and were let down to river level; the gates opened and we were off.
It was a bright sunny day with a breeze rippling the water, perfect conditions for a narrowboat. The views along this part are beautiful, Ham house set perfectly against the background of Richmond park; plenty of well designed shapley boats moored along here. At Isleworth, we saw Firemen, sorry, Firefighters familiarising themselves with their inflatable dinghy and small outboard.
The interesting floating hut near West Hammerton seemed larger than I had remembered, it was, however, still afloat. Evidence of the perils of a falling out with your boatbuilder perhaps.
Arriving at Teddington lock, the new, simpler traffic signals were in use. These are traffic lights, no amber, no flashing arrows, just a red and a green light. We were directed into the launch lock which had been prepared for our arrival.
We bought our 31 day visitor licence, marginally more expensive than two years ago, but a lot cheaper than a gold licence.
We moored above the lock and chatted to the girlfriend and the Australian owner of Maori, a lovely wooden boat that was built in North Wales and which he is in the process of restoring. He is under no illusions and is not afraid of amount of work required.
