It’s always sad having the last run of the year, but a shower first thing allowed me to chamois off the boat and wax it. Penny dropped on to say bye and we finished off a few last minute jobs.

Mumma Duck and single baby having brekky with us
A little ball of cute fluff

Then it was time to start up and head upstream to the New Inn at Send, and jolly nice it was too !

Mooring right by the pub

Scampi & Fish and Chips, peas ….not mushy.

All too soon it was time to head home, it took 2 attempts to wind the boat, a strong side wind and canoeists didn’t help ! Then back into the Marina, finish with engine and strike the colours ! Fitting winter mooring ropes and cratch cover finish off this seasons boating. Gareth and Colin will service the boat and winterise it when appropriate. Penny will keep an eye on her whenever visiting Iris, a real comfort to us.

We’ve really enjoyed our move to Cartbridge Basin, a very nice marina with good short and long term cruising possibilities.

Cartbridge, services in the big ‘barn’ in the background
Herringbone berths at Cartbridge
Winter cratch cover installed, TV aerial still up !
Marina entrance

The river beckons to me, but I’ll have to resist its siren call till next year. Heathrow, Ireland and a big boat tomorrow !

From this entrance you can travel right up into Scotland via the Wey, Thames, Grand Union and other canals ! There are over 2500 miles of continuous waterways to explore….