Yesterday, a trip to Brighton seemed good sense to show Manel another side to the south of England – the weather still remained glorious and apart from the chronic parking problems (and the prices these days!) we got our feet on Brighton beach by 3:30.
Not only was Brighton a first for Manel ………
……… but so too was a game of Air Hockey on the pier – Manel won! (but Doug said it was beginners luck)
We thought the Royal Pavilion would interest Manel but, being a naturalist, the flowers in the garden won his best attention on this occasion.
Near the beach we spotted Brighton’s new rainbow coloured pedestrian crossing (thanks to our neighbour Nigel for telling us it was there).
Today we set off from Selsey for Packet Boat marina at West Drayton to board ‘Chance’ and give Manel a trip into London for a few days before his return to Spain.
First things first, while James was preparing the boat (and doing all the titivating that he normally does) Manel and Doug went off to Aldi for supplies. Manel was amazed at the amount of groceries we could get for £23 – it’s very different in Spain (although it was Aldi they used!).
During the 4 hour trip from the marina to Paddington Manel had a go at steering, hence the concentration on both faces, and James forgot to breath in for this photo (it’ll be salad tonight for him).
We got to Paddington basin at 5;30 and it looked incredibly empty. After a quick moor up on the concrete quay we went to read the notices which had been attached to the outside moorings. The clear message was that those moorings “on the main channel of the basin” were suspended for a Dragon boat race tomorrow at 5;30 pm. The Merchant Square security staff had other ideas and are trying hard to move all boats out of the basin. As can be seen, the other boats on the inside pontoons have differing views. We will be contacting C&RT in the morning for clarification!
Meanwhile, we’re enjoying a peaceful evening in Paddington and Manel has taken over the galley to produce a lovely salad this evening (for James!).
I was in Paddington Basin, thought I'd got a grandstand view of the Dragon Boat Racing and then the men in yellow told me(very politely) to move. So I did as I was told, while advising another boater to pretend he wasn't in. Then walked through Paddington Basin later and saw you moored in the place I'd just left. Maybe I should have been more assertive, look forward to seeing the outcome of the move/stay discussion.
ReplyDeleteStephanie