We woke up to a lovely misty bright morning – a perfect
start to our last day.
The last bit from Woolhampton to Newbury is hard work with 7
locks and 4 swing bridges – all manual.
Richard and I shared them which made life a bit easier but its hard
graft. All the locks, except Monkey
Marsh Lock which is left empty as it is turfed sided, were against us but the
sky was blue and the sun was shining – what more could you ask!
Ham Lock is a funny lock – not the lock itself it’s just
me!! It’s either the last lock of the
summer or the first – two totally different feelings as we work our way through
it. We passed the marina and winded just
below Greenham Lock where we came across the single hander who had been in
front of us and had left all the locks full – typical. It’s a much better angle to get to our berth
in the marina if we turn round and come down the river – we can just slip
in. For the last two winters we have
shared the painting berth at Ham Manor Marina with Caterpillar, another summer
cruising boat. Last year it worked
really well for us and, I assume Caterpillar, as they are coming back again
this year too though we are first back.
Packing is, as unpacking, is pretty routine now. Start at the sharp end and finish at the
blunt end! Every cupboard and drawer is
opened and what needs to go home is taken out and packed. Richard then spends ages toing and froing to
the car with whatever I put out of the side hatch.
Two hours later we shut the boat up and made our way home.
I will be back tomorrow with the statistics for the summer.
6.31 miles
7 locks
4 swing bridges
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