Heading Downstream

At a rapid rate of knots!

The stream warnings are now almost gone, but the river is still quite lively.

Steve (SRB moorings) made us laugh at Henley (whilst he was relieving us of £8). He knew Sumo's name, and asked how "His number one fan on the river" was. He also said I was "a lovely chap, really". Which made us both chuckle. No hard feelings Steve. It's just that £8 is a little on the steep side, with no services on offer. Might not be a lot of money for a person with a £250,000 cruiser. But for us narrowboaters, it is.

Sheena

My Good Self

Knackered after a Cliveden runaround

We're currently at Windsor. New signs have appeared, saying that they want £8 a night there too. Seems to be the standard price for much of the river. Bit sad about that, really. Though thankfully, we now know many bushes we can ram, and places to stay for free.

Too early to stop for the day, so we've grabbed supplies, and are off on our merry way again...

Good & Bad

The Good news... Sumo has finished his meds, and is back to his normal happy self again.

The Bad news... It heaved it down with rain (again), the river rose about a foot, and is now quite fast flowing. So, any further progress upstream has been abandoned this month, as our little 2 cylinder engine can't cope with the increased load. We've decided to ride the rapids downstream.

Which makes for an interesting cruising experience. Bounced off of the waterpoint at Cleeve Lock. *BONNNNNNNGGGGG* Slammed into the layby at Whitchurch lock. Thankfully, it's not just me. The currents are somewhat unpredictable, even though I've done this journey many times before. Always something new to learn, I guess.

But, otherwise, we are all fine.

Bored Horse

It's cooler today, thankfully. And it's been raining. Weather much more conducive to Labrador healing than baking heat and a toasted boat. Out on our afternoon bimble, I was reminded that it's often small things that give the greatest pleasures.

He'd spotted us coming, and made a beeline for the gate, where we could all say "hello" to each other. He sniffed Sumo. Sumo sniffed him. And I got to stroke, scratch and fuss him for 5 minutes before he got bored and wandered off to chew some nettles. It was the closest I've ever been to a horse. And to feel his breath on my hands was something special.

Butt Trumpet

Bliss

Sorry there have been no updates recently, but Sumo has been very ill.

We spent a lovely few days wandering around the meadows at Wallingford. But then he decided to eat something nasty (didn't see what) and roll in it extensively. After that piece of naughtiness, he jumped into a stagnant pond, which was a lot deeper than he thought it was. The result was chronic diarrhoea.

Since then, he's been waking me up every 1.5 hours, whinging to go outside and play the butt trumpet. I've moved us up to Abingdon, so he is closer to the vets. That was an interesting journey. Having to find somewhere to stop every hour and a half. From Clifton to Culham was a nightmare. Though thankfully, I had lain some newspaper on the floor "just in case".

Anyway, we've got meds now, and he's on the chicken and rice recovery program. Thankfully, there's been no blood, or vomiting. But it's been a very trying time.



Good boy



Naughty boy

Refloated

Andi and Wetsuit

The EA just wanted to know when it would be moved

Up she comes!

Narrowboat "Daisey" is now fully afloat again. 4 heavyweight pumps, and 3 guys from Oxford cruisers. The whole procedure took them just 1 hour and 35 minutes. Andi had to don a wetsuit, and clamber in through the rear porthole. Which can't have been terribly pleasant for him. I helped them out, with some hot coffee.

Chatting to the owner, he said the gangplank had wedged against the bank, when the river rose, which had forced the nose down.

Wallingford

Play the Tones!

King Seat

Quick Snack

Goodbye Abingdon

Moved down to Days lock, before I'd used up my 5 days. It wasn't busy on the meadows, I could have overstayed. But I don't want us to become over familiar and get a bad name for never moving.

Cruising station

The "bubs of Berkshire"

Managed to get a spot at the Days lock moorings. First time in 5 years! But I found out that was because it was very shallow there. The river went down a foot overnight, and when I woke up this morning, the boat had a 20 degree list on. Firmly wedged into the clay. Huffed and puffed with a bit of wood as a wedge, and we popped off. Nobody offered to help, and the (plastic) boat in front just buggered off without saying anything. Cheers for that!

Chillin..

The tickover cruise down to Wallingford was very nice. The sun was out, and the chilly wind (that had blighted previous sunny days) had vanished. Lots of other boats out enjoying the sunshine, too. But most of them seemed to be heading upstream.

Another sunken boat at Wallingford

Quiet

Nothing behind

Nothing in front

It is unusually quiet. I'm guessing that's because Culham lock (the next one down) is still on red boards.

Blog reading resident of Abingdon, Alistair, popped in for a chat this morning. Being the only boat on this side, I guess we weren't that hard to find. Enjoyed a nice cup of coffee on the back deck, with some lovely sunshine. Glad to finally meet up with you, Alistair. Thanks for dropping by and saying hello.