Last of the Summer wine!

Well today’s journey from Thatcham to Woolhampton took only 1.2 hours (according to the engine hours recorder) - not enough time to charge up the batteries!

However, this morning we had a visit from Janet, the wife of one of Doug’s work colleagues from years ago when he was a financial adviser and, living in Thatcham, she took the opportunity to see us.  We had a very pleasant couple of hours with her over a cup of coffee before we left for our “mammoth” journey to Woolhampton.

Not much happened in the 3 miles we covered today, but this replica Dutch barge based narrow boat did catch our attention.  It was very nicely done with lovely proportions.

Another attention grabber today was a Red Kite which hovered so low over our heads we could see every feather.  So amazed was James that he forgot to take a photo.  He thought it was positioning itself to poo on the roof!

At 2:30 we moored at Woolhampton as this is the last place before we get to Froud’s Bridge marina where we’re booked in for the winter months.  James set about a few cleaning jobs and some winter preparation work while Doug took Oscar on a ‘long’ walk to see what the conditions are like where the River Kennet enters the canal.  We will need to negotiate this little “log flume” tomorrow on our way to the marina and the river is running quite fast at the moment.

When Doug got back he took a photo of Oscar next to ‘Chance’.  This is our last day’s cruising for this season and we’re never sure these days whether he’ll see another!  (He’ll be fifteen on November 22nd).

‘Chance’ on the last mooring of the season.

Our choice of marina this year has mainly been because it’s the furthest south we can get and, therefore, closest to home for us.  It’ll also mean we can more easily take advantage of any good weather in the next few months and enjoy some winter cruising.  We can also get up more easily to check on “things” and we’ll also be well positioned for next years’ early cruising plans of”doing” the River Thames, the Wey Navigation and London.