Braunston Rally

Adrian got back to Cosgrove at around 11.30 last night, parking the car in the village and walking through the horse tunnel.  This morning we were awake surprisingly early, and about 8.30 set off back through the tunnel to the car, and off to Braunston for the rally.  But we had an appointment en route, a visit to Lesley and Joe of Yarwood, who were moored by bridge 102.  It was about October when I last saw them, but Adrian hasn't seen them for well over a couple of years -- in fact this was his first look at Yarwood.  We had a good hour catching up and hearing about their plans (not to mention a delicious cake, which was still warm), before we left for Braunston.  We gave Joe a lift into the village, as he had some shopping to do.  We parked and made our way through to the marina, where a brass band were playing.

We were expecting to see lots of boats moored in the arm as usual, but in fact it was almost empty.  The boats which had spent the night there had left early, gone down to the turn, and were waiting for the parade to begin.  It meant the parade itself was much less chaotic than usual

We'd been invited to join Sarah on Chertsey  for the parade, and when we located the boat Kath and Neil of Herbie were already on board.  The plan was that they would play music, but the weather didn't look conducive to that.  Shortly afterwards were were joined by James and Amy of Willow and the Moomins.  We also saw Kathryn of Leo No2 who was on Sculptor, the Stoke Bruerne Museum boat.  It started to rain as we waited to set off -- which was unfortunate as we'd refused to believe the showery forecast, and not even brought coats.  Sarah was well equipped for the weather, though.

As the rain became heavier, Adrian moved inside.  The under-cloth part of Chertsey is now looking really good -- very homely, with lots of pieces to look at.

The parade started rather slowly, but once we wer doing the loop of the marina things speeded up a bit.  The rain got heavier and heavier, and gradually most of us moved inside -- except Kath and Neil, and Amy who had an umbrella.  Kath did empty about five litres of water out of her hood at the end, though!

Sarah did a great job of reversing Chertsey into the arm, and then mooring up across the end.  Once we were back, we said our farewells and went to get some lunch.  As it was still pretty miserable, we then headed back to Cosgrove.  It was still chucking it down when we arrived, so we parked in the village again.  Later, when it had dried up a bit, I took the car to the marina and walked back along the tow path.

Now, of course, the sky has cleared and the sun has come out.  It's really warm, so I've rolled up the cratch and am sitting out there writing this.  We'll probably stay out here until after dinner, then go back to the marina.  I have to be at work at 7.30 in the morning, so it will be an early start.

1 mile, 0 locks.  (7 miles, 2 locks)