Sunday 21 May 2017

Up Watford

We had a very pleasant evening yesterday entertaining Tony and Margaret though it meant a bit of a late bedtime for us all. Since one of the penalties of getting old is that you can't sleep in like you used to, we're both a bit dopey today. Nonetheless, it's gone well. We hung about on the mooring until about a quarter to ten, then Sheila boated us round to Weltonfield and reversed Sanity Again onto their service wharf.

When they opened at ten, we had a pump out and filled the diesel tank as planned. You can make any declaration you like for the diesel, which is good, but the pump out was £20 which is less so. It was a decent pump out, but nothing special. The staff are friendly though which always helps.

Half an hour later we were off again. I made us a coffee each whilst Sheila took us to the foot of Watford where we found a couple of boats, including Mei Long, waiting at the bottom and another in the pound below the staircase. There was just one boat coming down, so it wasn't long before the convoy was moving upwards. Two volockies were on hand to keep us all in order, though one of them told me that they do have a problem with people who ignore all the signs and start up the flight without booking in. We saw a bit of this today, to the irritation of a hire boat waiting to come down and who kept being told "after the third boat, no, after the fourth... fifth... sixth boat".

The crew did have the sense to turn out and help work us all up, a good example of the way hirers are often more considerate boaters than privateers.

By the time we cleared the top it was gone twelve, but we soon found a mooring between Bridges 7 and 8, albeit after having to abandon our first attempt for lack of depth. The Armco near 8 is newer and thus more recently dredged than the stuff immediately through 7.

Tomorrow, we'll start the engine whilst breakfasting and get a wash load going before setting off. On arrival at Crick, we'll go on the water point and fill that tank to the top. We shall thus have full fuel and water tanks and an empty toilet tank, together with a complete collection of clean clothes. Hopefully, this means we won't have to worry about moving for the week leading up to and including the show.

The phone signals are always a bit dicey here and it varies from year to year. We presently have a bit of Vodafone, both voice and data, and a half decent EE data signal which I'm using for this. There's also a giff gaff signal but I don't have that SIM in a wifi capable phone. The situation will probably be different again when we get to Crick. I'll try and do at least a brief blog on arrival, but don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me until a week tomorrow!



Location:Watford Gap

4 comments:

nb Riverside Escape said...

Hi Bruce & Sheila
We moored opposite Crick Marina near your reserved mooring and managed to log on to Cricks Marina Hotspot. Don't get too excited though it wasn't very good, but you've got a great mooring space, unlike those further on - in the Wilderness
Probably see you at the show, we're heading to Foxton for a couple of days
Cheers
Steve & Denise
NB Riverside Escape

Bruce in Sanity said...

Cheers, folks, another option, especially with the Wifi antenna!

Give our love to Foxton!

Bruce & Sheila

Adam said...

What was the fuel price at Weltonfield, Bruce?

Bruce in Sanity said...

Hi

It was 80p domestic, any declaration.

Cheers

Bruce