A reasonable first night afloat, one of the fenders is creaking a bit, but nothing that can't be adjusted.
Here we are at our mooring:
A bit more sorting of gear, trying to find the right home for the right bit!! We seem to have plenty of storage space at the moment.
A chap from Reynolds blinds comes along to measure us for our front window blind, a bit of umming about colour and type, but we get there pretty quickly, just a bit of uncertainty about the power supply, we've had 12V put in, so I hope this is suitable!!
Penny's daughter and partner Gareth arrive and we have a spot of lunch, then, with a little trepidation, I can no longer resist the urge to cruise, so off we go, out onto the river and up through Caversham lock and cruise a mile or two, then back to the marina, in forwards this time, and a successful first 'solo' We check out the satellite system as we watch a bit of comic relief over dinner and drinks.
Then on Saturday Penny's other daughter Tasha and boyfriend Simon and one of my son's Tom and partner Laura pitch up, this time we head out and turn left towards Sonning, I'm a bit nervous about the bridge there, but wonder why as we cruise through it, we cruise on through Shiplake passing 'Happy Chance' the boat that inspired us to end up with 'Deep Thought' We get as far as the reach above Marsh lock before turning back, our aspirations for the wheelhouse being a social area are confirmed, plenty of room for all six of us with food & drinks, the sun is shining and we're having a great time. Everyone has a go at steering, Sonning bridge I find a bit more tricky heading upstream, but a couple of blasts of bow thruster saves the day, and before we know it we're tying up (at the second attempt this time) again.
And then on Sunday Penny's Mum and Stepdad John arrive, a real test coming up as we try out the galley with a roast beef lunch!! In some glorious weather we cruise up to the moorings at Pangbourne, just below Whitchurch lock, there's a Deep Thought sized space and all is well. We cook a successful roast beef Mother's Day lunch, just missing a carving fork and a meat thermometer. Piper barge Providence is also there and gives us a toot as she sets off. Not many boats about, just as well as I'm still feeling my way with handling Deep Thought. The keeper at Mapledurham admires the cheapness of our CRT gold licence, It would be so easy to forge one of these!! On our approach to Caversham we spot a familiar face at the lock, fellow John Pinkerton Skipper Steve, who was out for a bit of a walk after a mother's day lunch with his wife and daughter, so we do the only decent thing in the circumstances and take them for a spin downstream. Steve has a bit of a drive and I think he wants one (a barge!) We drop them back at Caversham and head back into Dreadnought for anothe two attempts and getting into the mooring.
What a great introduction to the world of barges!
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