Waking early nowadays usually produces an early start to boating; today was no exception as we moved away at 7.10am. On the approach to the first lock, tied to the last bollard on the lock landing was the boat that hit ours yesterday. At least his behaviour is consistently inconsiderate.
All of the locks except the last one were set against us, but it was a bright morning and watching the wildlife whilst waiting, is one of the pleasures of the canals. This morning, we saw a Mallard, with an egg in her mouth. I thought that it was pale blue with spots, Myra thought that is was grey. The egg was almost standard hen size, after passing us, she stopped and appeared to be eating it. (the duck, not Myra)
At the site of the Ovaltine factory, a new estate of flats, sorry, exclusive development of waterside apartments, has sprung up and is now occupied. Could the residents be referred to as The Ovaltineys? Ask your parents if that means nothing to you!
We passed a working pair tied above Home Park lock, but all was quiet, so we did not stop for diesel. Two new pairs of gates on Hunton Bridge lock, the top gates were leaking at the cill, but Myra found (unusually) that the newly fitted paddle gear worked easily on all of them. A boat approached just as we left, that made the job a bit easier.
We moored up just north of Grove Bridge in sunshine; out of the northerly wind, it was really warm. The view from our mooring is beautiful, only the noise from the M25 and link road intrudes, spoiling a perfect location.
We had just finished lunch, when we heard the sound of a working boat approaching.
It was Peter and Noah on Baron; they came alongside and transferred 42 litres of gdiesel into our tank. It was our first fill up since the Velcro chancellor messed around with the duty, the effect was we paid 55p per litre overall, not bad really.
Having been away from our moorings for nearly two weeks, I felt the need to alter something to do with the boat. I fitted a new 12v socket, cigarette style in the side support for the folding table. This will enable me to use the laptop power supply without a wandering lead, and swapping it with the table lamp.
Very few boats on the move, as has been the case since Easter Bank Holiday Monday.
2009 Totals – Locks 77; Miles 77.5; Bus pass uses 2.
