So
the last day of our summer cruise. I was
asked this morning by Dot on Ewn ha Cul if I am sad to stop cruising or is home
calling me now? Well Dot I have very
mixed feelings this year. The Thames has
been wonderful and, of course, we have had such an amazing September but the
weather does seem to deteriorating and next week they are threatening rain in
the south. Yesterday was grey and damp
but today is glorious again. I don’t
like this part of the Kennet and Avon very much so I am looking forward to
getting to Newbury later which does help.
However if we were still on the Thames I might feel different. Is home calling? Yes our new home is calling. We moved in in January along with the
builders who didn’t move out until mid-March.
We then had a week in Cyprus and started our summer cruise at the end of
April. So all in all we haven’t spent
much time in the house and certainly not since the builders moved out. A few statistics!
244
days since we moved in
50
days with the builders
23
days holiday
122
days on the boat
Which
leaves us with 49 days (7 weeks) in our house on our own!! We have lots of plans of things to do over
the winter in the house mainly outside with a bit of decorating inside if there is
time. So I guess to sum up part of me is
sad (probably as the sun is shining) but part of me is really looking forward
to going home and starting to build a life on Hayling Island. I have friends there who I haven’t seen since
we moved in so maybe a big dinner party is on the cards! Last year I couldn’t wait to go home – funny
how the weather affects me.
 |
| Looking down towards Ham Mill (which is on the market for £975,000) |
Our journey
to Newbury was uneventful and only took us just over 3 hours. Most of the locks were with us and with two
boats to close lock gates and open swing bridges we were through in no time.
 |
| Our last lock |
 |
| Ham Manor Marina |
Ham
Lock was a very sad affair as, not only was it our last lock of the summer but also
we had to say goodbye to Steve and Diane – they moor in the next marina just
below Greenham lock. We turned into Ham
Manor Marina, which isn’t the easiest coming down stream and were met by Derek
who told us how we should have entered his marina!! Thanks Derek we will know next time! Emma also came to say hello and make sure we
were OK on our mooring. I reckon we are
very lucky as we and another winter moorer are alongside the painting pontoon
which means we have full length - the other berths only have short
pontoons. Caterpillar isn’t in yet and
Richard is rather hoping he can paint one side to get rid of the scuffs and
scrapes before she does. It didn’t get
done last year so looks pretty rough. He
can then turn Mary H round ready to do the other side but she is going to be
blacked on November 14th so we will have to move then anyway.
 |
| Bye bye Daisy Chain |
It
was then packing up and cleaning, loading the car and the drive home. It only took just over 1½ hours – I’m glad we
chose Newbury this year! We had a good
trip home bearing in mind it was over the rush hour and arrived about 5.45pm.
5.50
miles
7
locks
No comments:
Post a Comment