Sunday, 14 April 2013

Staying put

We decided to stay in Newbury today as we were all fairly tired after quite a few days of fairly heavy travelling.  Bob and June especially as they haven’t had a “day off” since starting out from Brinklow Marina near Rugby.  Our decision to stay was rewarded by almost 100% sunshine which was very warm at times.

IMG_0205

Some keen early morning canoeists who stopped for a chat.

IMG_0206

This is our mooring in Newbury – very quiet and peaceful even with all the Sunday walkers enjoying the sunshine.

Both boat crews decided it should be a housekeeping and maintenance day.  James cleaned everything down after a very wet journey yesterday afternoon when a lot of mud from the towpaths somehow got onto the boat!  Some blacking touch up and a bit of blue paint touching up on the gunwale completed the makeover.  

IMG_0207

Then it was fitting the new chimney assembly which has been waiting in a plastic bag in the locker since Bob and June gave it to us in Oxford.  A dry day with the fire out was also a bit of a necessity!

IMG_0209

‘Autumn Myst’ received its’ own makeover too!

IMG_0210

There’s always time for a cup of tea but this one was especially welcome after all the hard work we’d all been doing.

IMG_0211

After tea break Bob and June decided that you can’t leave a job half done.  Certainly not when you have a “Harrods Boat”!

After a very fruitful days’ labour we got a call from friends Janet and Gerald (nb ‘Toulouse’) who live in the area and we’ve arranged to meet up with them this evening for a meal and a long awaited catch up chat. We’re very much looking forward to that and introducing them to Bob and June.  

1 comment:

  1. Caroline and Martin15 April 2013 at 10:29

    hope its not too windy when you get to Hungerford marsh lock and swing bridge, we had fun trying to keep the swing bridge open so we could work the lock.Caroline

    ReplyDelete