A Rest Day at Hampton Court

We stayed put on our moorings at Hampton Court today as we were expecting a visit from friends at 11:30.  But first a digression: since yesterdays’ blog we’ve been asked a few times how we manage to lock our boat to the mooring rings. Well, when we had ‘Chance’ built we asked for three secure fixings to be built into the gunwales on each side.

We had them on our last boat and they are, in fact, very beefy fender eyes but we’ve never used them for that purpose as fenders get torn off this type of fixing very frequently (we have rolling fenders anchored just below the hand rail).

Using this fixing we thread a bicycle lock through and secure it to the nearest available permanent fixing on the bank (if there is one). You can manage quite often to line the boat up with something or other especially if you have a long length bicycle lock.  It’s not so important on canals but on rivers, if we can’t lock the boat to something we always use the anchor.  Seat supports around the stern can also be used if there aren’t any other fitments to use. 

Early this morning we had the pleasure of watching these wonderful yachts sailing back and forth beside us.  They might be a traditional type of Thames vessel? 

Bang on 11:30 our friends Mags and Pete, from Budleigh Salterton in Devon (where we used to live) arrived and we were soon having coffee and home made (Doug baked) sponge cake on the rear deck in glorious sunshine.

After much laughter and a good old chat we headed across Hampton Court Bridge into East Moseley for a delightful light lunch at one of the pubs.  It was a great treat to spend a few hours with Pete and Mags who had to leave us late afternoon. Thanks both of you for finding the time to see us.

Later in the afternoon James walked “miles” to get round to the other side of the river to take this photo of ‘Chance’.