A short cruise to Marlow

Thursday 30th June
This morning I put a wash on & when it had finished we left Cookham just after 8.45am, It was quite warm and the sun was out so it made our short cruise very pleasurable.

These 2 men came by shortly before we left

This duck chased all the Egyptian geese's away from the boat while Kev was feeding her!

There are some interesting sculptures & even more super properties

Approaching Bourne End railway & footbridge

Being overtaken by a cruiser

When we arrived at Marlow lock moorings we managed to get moored between a narrowboat & a cruiser. There was a lock keeper there working on the footpath that is mainly for wheelchair users, he was clearing the grass that had overtaken the pathway, he has made a very good job of it too!

Kev took Jaz for a walk & then we had a cuppa, I made the lockie one too while Kev chatted to him. The lockie gave us a booklet: Cruising guide to the Thames & connecting waterways which was very kind of him. Kev & I then went for a walk.

The view from a footbridge at Marlow lock looking upstream

This plaque is on a house we passed as we walked to the town

Looking down one of the main streets

Marlow is a lot bigger than we had thought, it was lovely to walk around, the lockie had told us that Marlow used to have 42 pubs! Thank goodness there aren't that many now as I don't think we would be able to manage 42 pubs lol! We will stay here for a few days and have a walk over the suspension bridge to the other side of the river tomorrow depending on the weather. 

The view from R&R

A break from the small flotilla

Tuesday 28th June
Last night we watched the football match but had to turn it off shortly after the second half as it was too embarrassing to watch! I was woken this morning just after 3.30am by a noise to the stern of the boat, so I woke Kev up who went to investigate what it was. We had forgotten that we had left a bag of rubbish on the stern, we don't usually leave any rubbish back there it is usually inside the back doors, but something had been on board and had ripped open the bin bag and its contents where on the stern so Kev had to rebag it all up and bring it in behind the back doors! We think it may have been a Fox but we weren't sure but whatever it had been had made a mess! We won't do that again! This morning we made the decision to leave the other 2 boats and set off just after 9.30 am.

Leaving Dorney moorings

It was forecast to rain today but we had lovely sunshine and it was warm too.

Passing this beautiful hotel

We noticed this building which had been Bray Film Studios

Approaching the M4 motorway

Leaving Bray Lock

Bray itself has some lovely properties along the Thames

More lovely properties 

Maidenhead railway bridge

 Followed by Maidenhead bridge

Waiting at Boulters lock

It wasn't too long before we were at Cookham Lock which was the last lock for today, we wanted to fill with water and as there is a water point above the lock we tied up and while Kev was filling the water, emptying the cassette & getting rid of our rubbish I took Jaz for a walk. 

A Red Kite was hovering above us near Cookham Lock

We didn't have to go much further and we moored just passed Cookham Bridge where there were plenty of moorings, the sun was still shining but it started to cloud over about 2.30 pm. We had a nice walk through the 11Th Century church into Cookham, it is a lovely place. Although it must suffer from flooding as there are some signs that say"No flooding expected"and there is also a causeway to walk over some of the land.

 The view across the river from our mooring

Looking upstream

3 boats moored at Dorney.

Monday 27th June
Today we were expecting Sue & Vic on Wb No Problem XL to join us at the moorings at Dorney,
Carol sent me a text to say that Sue had let her know they were getting water in Windsor and then they were coming up Boveney lock. I decided to walk back to the lock to wait for them coming to get a few photos. While I was waiting I took a couple of photos of trip boat Southern Comfort attempting to enter the lock, I say attempting because he hit the wall twice trying to enter the lock!

At the lock there is an interesting bit of information about Boveney lock...

I had a quick read of it and then just after another trip boat was leaving the lock....

Here comes No Problem XL

Sue is at the wheel with Vic at the bow

Sue made a perfect entry to the lock unlike Southern Comfort!

Nearly in.

I went to the bow and took the rope from Vic and put it on a bollard and then took the stern rope from Sue and did the same for her. Once the lock was full and the gates opened I managed to get aboard and got a lift back to Dorney, where Kev & George were waiting to get the bow & stern ropes from NPXL and managed to get her tied up.

Our first BBQ on the Thames

Monday 27th June
Yesterday at last we were able to get our new little BBQ out and joined George & Carol who got their BBQ out too!

Perfect food!!

Back to Windsor & another new Widebeam!

Saturday 25th June

Last Sunday Carol & George had invited Geoff, Mags, Kev & myself onto Still Rockin for Sunday lunch. Carol had done a lovely roast of beef and yorkshire puddings too along with vegetables, and then she had made 2 crumbles for pudding. We had a lovely afternoon apart from Kev knocking his glass of  red wine onto the table cloth. So we quickly moved everything off the table and Carol was able to put the table cloth into some cold water. No real harm done as I think Carol managed to get the stain out ok.

On Monday morning we had all planned to leave Runnymede and head for Windsor but it was pouring with rain first thing on Monday so both Geoff & Mags along with Carol & George decided that they would stay put for the day. Meanwhile we had to leave as we needed to make sure we could get a mooring in Windsor, as I had an Enterprise hire car booked for Tuesday. Anyway we didn't get very wet as we had the pram canopy up and only got wet when we were in Old Windsor Lock and then Romney Lock, we managed to get moored once again on the Baths Island moorings. It continued to rain for a while but then when it stopped it was overcast for a while and then the sun appeared. We had a text from Carol to say that both boats were going to leave Runnymede and join us in Windsor, we expected them to get to Windsor about 4.30pm but it was about 6pm I think when I spotted both boats coming towards us. Carol & George managed to moor in front of us and then Geoff & Mags moored on the moorings outside Windsor Leisure Centre.

While we had been waiting for the other 2 boats to arrive we had been watching a drone hovering over the river, 2 airforce men were flying it, and when Geoff was mooring up later that day Kev & George had gone over to help him moor up and they had spoken to the airforce men about what the drone was being used for and were told that it was being used to film the water and the footage was to be used for a Bollywood movie and there would be a body added to the footage by computer

The drone hovering on the Thames

On Tuesday morning we knew that Geoff & Mags would be leaving about 10 am so George, Carol, Kev & myself all went over to see them before they left and Geoff made us a cuppa along with some flapjack & banana cake he had made! 

We were expecting to be picked up at noon at the Windsor leisure centre car park by Enterprise and so we went back to R&R to pop Jaz for a short walk, then just before 11.45am both Kev & myself went to the car park and were picked up and taken to Slough where the Enterprise office was and once I had sorted the paperwork out we drove back to Windsor and we packed the car with some things I was taking home. I was going home to check on our home, see my mother & pick up any mail that was there. Kev was staying behind with Jaz.

While I was at home Kev had gone for a short cruise on R&R with Still Rockin up Boveney lock to the moorings at Dorney. He did however return to the moorings at Windsor on Wednesday as he had heard that the stream was increasing and due to the heavy rain that had been forecast he wanted to make sure he was back at Windsor to pick me up on Friday. 

While he was back at Windsor he had a phone call from Sue on WB No Problem XL, she asked if there were any moorings and Kev told her that there was and so when I returned on Friday morning Wb No Problem XL was moored immediately behind R&R.

Once we had unpacked the hire car of shopping, etc and got everything onto R&R we had a cuppa before returning the hire car to Enterprise in Slough, and then we were brought back to Windsor. Sue came over to us to ask if I wanted a tour of the new No Problem! Kev didn't need a tour as he had been aboard the previous night for a few drinks with Sue & Vic! Another lovely new wide beam and we hope that Sue & Vic enjoy it as much as their previous narrowboat No Problem.

We invited Sue & Vic for a few drinks on board R&R last night and had a good laugh with them both.

Sue & Vic, lovely smiles!

This morning we got up to a lovely morning, we popped to see Sue & Vic before we left and had a cuppa with them.

 Meg posing for her photo

Penny just wanted Kev to throw the stick again for her!

We said our goodbyes to Sue & Vic and went back to R&R to get ready to leave, it was starting to cloud over as we left, we were heading for Boveney lock and were going to moor at Dorney where Still Rockin was still moored there.

Sue taking a photo of us as I take one of her!

 Leaving Boveney Lock

 These 2 Cormorants keeping guard

Moored at Dorney opposite are a few large properties.

Just before we got to the moorings at Dorney the heavens opened up and it poured with rain! Typical, but it did ease as we came alongside and George had come to help Kev with the ropes while Carol put the kettle on! Once we were moored up we went onto Still Rockin for a cuppa and a chat with George & Carol. We will stay here until Monday, Sue & Vic will be joining Carol & George on these moorings on Monday so they will be able to have our spot. Sue is going to see Elton John @ Blenheim with her daughter tomorrow so I hope she has a great time. Vic will be enjoying his peace & quiet with the 2 dogs for company.