Abingdon

We were the first boat through Culham Lock this morning. At 7' 11", it was very deep, but thankfully the lock keeper was on hand to offer us the end of his boathook, on which we hung our mooring lines, so he could run them round a bollard and hand them back to us. It was a fast filler, with a lot of water pouring in through the sluices, but as we were far back in the chamber, we didn't get banged around. Our thames guidebook told us there was a waterpoint just past the lock. Unfortunately, it's out of date, and the waterpoint is no longer there.

A short, but pleasant little cruise in the early morning rain followed, before we arrived at Abingdon. Sue & Alan (Mv 'Latitude') were there, and helped us to tie up. There are good walks and new sniffs for Sumo here, and later, we'll be enjoying a nice fire, a chicken casserole and some boatbaked coconut oat biscuits. It's still pizzling it down with rain, but this is a very nice place to spend a bank holiday.

Respect for Abingdon's kind and generous attitude towards boaters. Much appreciated by all on the 'dogma'.