At Baxter's, I pulled onto the wharf and tied up the boat, and Jon the painter had a good look at Briar Rose. We talked about colours amd what would go where, coachlines, and non-slip surfaces. With all the details sorted, I paid a deposit to firmly book our slot in October. During this time, another boat from Thrupp Wharf turned up for diesel -- and once full took a good fifteen minutes to wind in the entrance of Kingfisher Marina. Also, a wooden inspection launch called Kingfisher dating from 1928 came out of the marina and moored in front of the house alongside. I was talking to the owner (although he's just sold it) who said he built the marina in order to have somewhere to keep the boat -- which explains why it's called Kingfisher Marina.
I turned in the marina entrance and set off for Thrupp Wharf. I considered mooring up somewhere in between for lunch, but the wind was blowing away from the towpath so I thought I might struggle to get moored on my own. Also, it appeared that the weather might get more blustery as the day wore on, so I decided to go straight back to Thrupp Wharf. When I got there, the boat which had struggled to turn at Kingfisher still hadn't managed to get onto their pontoon, even though they'd had a head start on me of at least forty minutes. In the end, I was moored up before they were.
After lunch, I went back to bed for a sleep as I'm starting night shifts tonight. I had an easy drive down the M1 and past the illuminated arch of Wembley Stadium. We'll be back at Briar Rose in a week's time for a few days out.
4 miles, 0 locks.
No comments:
Post a Comment