Windsor

It was a cold grey blustery day, but we wanted to see what Windsor was like, before the current starts up again, and the locks get closed for their Winter maintainence. It took us four pleasant, but uneventful hours to cruise 'dogma' down the river. Stopped for lunch by the racecourse, and negotiated the last couple of twisty bends into town, without getting rained on.

When we got there, there were hordes of swans, tourists, and trip boats. Not the sort of place we'd have a peaceful night at, so we turned around just past the Windsor/Eton footbridge, and moored up by the leisure centre. Where we found a big bag of smokeless coal, abandoned underneath a tree. Bonus.

Enjoyed a nice stroll around Windsor and Eton, but felt out of place with my scruffy clothes, Sumo, and wooly hat. The town centre was like everywhere else in the UK, except that it had a massive castle stuck in the middle of it. There were plenty of bourgeois 'bistro' type eating establishments all around, but nowhere evident that sold vegetables or "foodstuffs". No butchers, bakers, or greengrocers. We found it a bit pedestrianised, sterile, and dull. It boasted all the big brand shops you can find everywhere else in the UK, but it had no character left. We could have been anywhere at all. Thankfully, Eton (just across the bridge) with it's red brick buildings, art galleries, and expensive gents outfitters, at least, felt a bit more 'historic'.

Boveney lock was very picturesque, and the lock keeper was very friendly and helpful. But it's going to be closed from 1st to 27th of November, so it's unlikely we'll be coming down this far again.

Our mooring spot was very quiet and peaceful, despite the railway bridge being so close. There was a cat on the Dutch barge behind us, but thankfully Sumo didn't see it.

It was very cold in the morning, but the engine started up OK, and we enjoyed a lovely sunny cruise back to the jetty at Bourne End. Didn't ram into anything, or crash into any bridges. And we negotiated all the locks without embarrassing ourselves. So all-in-all, another successful voyage. Curiousity satisfied.

Wood Fungus

Cliveden Woods were full of fungi.


Never thought we'd find fungus spotting quite so interesting.

Orchid Anniversary

Today was our 28th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed it out on the river, which we had all to ourselves again. Sheena operated Cookham lock, while I steered the boat through the fiddly bits. There still isn't any current, so it was a great pleasure to just pootle along at low revs, and not worry about getting swept away downstream. Made it back through the eerie early evening mist, and tied ourselves up just as night was falling.

Spinnaker Posse

Thankfully, the rain's gone, but it's still very windy. Which is causing us to bob about like a cross channel ferry. The local sailing club were out in full force, and seemed to be enjoying their racing.

Field Fungus

It's rained very heavily over the last couple of days, and the cow fields by the river have sprouted many different types of mushrooms and fungi.

Roger's Mushrooms
Edible and Poisonous Fungi
Visual Fungi

Oil Leak

Wiki: A governor, or speed limiter, is a device used to measure and regulate the speed of a machine, such as an engine.

It's a good job we've been stress testing the engine on our river trails, because we've discovered that the governor is leaking. According to Steve, there are two ways of describing what's wrong. First.. "There's lateral movement on the shaft". And secondly, "That spindle arm is waving around like a prick in a bucket".

It's nothing too major, and easy enough to fix. Just a few convex/concave washers, and a new rubber ring. But it's meant we haven't been able to 'mess about on the river' for a couple of days. Upside of the problem is, now we know what a governor does. And how to tweak it. Slowly, day by day, mysterious bits of the engine are revealing their secrets to us.

Grog!

On board the HMS Arethusa in 1805, surgeon Thomas Simpson described treating crew member John Downie, who performed animal impressions in exchange for alcohol.

Simpson recorded: "He can imitate the howling of a pack of hounds, the crowing of a cock, the bellowing of a bull, cow or calf and a number of other animals. On account of these curious qualifications, he is often solicited by his shipmates to give a specimen of his talents and a glass of grog is of course the regard."

Source: Newspaper Article