Easter - Off for a proper trip!!

So, only 4 days at work. We return to Deep Thought on Thursday afternoon, a proper long trip this one, we're heading upstream towards Oxford, no particular goal in mind, just cruise along and see what life brings us!

I'd deliberately left the shore line unplugged and the fridge / freezer running last week. Good to see them still running and the battery at 100% Makes the investment in the additional solar panels and charger worth it!

It occurs to me that following the build process I need to write up a bit of a summary on what worked, what didn't, what we might do if we went through the process again, we won't, but it might help somebody else, so next post I'll have a go at it. Right, where were we?

Oh yes, Thursday afternoon, we have daughter Tash with us, she's going to check out the guest facilities, oh, and the cat (with us, not being checked out!!)!! Can't recall what time we set off, but it was sometime mid afternoon, we had a quiet cruise up to the moorings below Whitchurch lock, plenty of room and not too many boats on the move.

Friday, another quiet, uneventful cruise as far as Wallingford, from previous experience we don't usually find a spot on the moorings here, but there is one and we decide to stop, at least for a few hours, you only pay if stopping overnight, as it turns out we stay the night. I also think (note the word 'think' here) that I'm getting the hang of controlling the boat a bit more, seem to manage locks, landings and moorings a bit more confidently, perhaps with the look from the outside that I might know what I'm doing!!

Here we are at Wallingford:

We go and do one of our 'Treasure Trails' treasure hunts, we find them a good way to explore bits of places that we might not otherwise find, it also forces us to go for a bit of a much needed walk. We have a drink when we finish in the lovely looking 'Old Post Office' Pick up a few bits in Waitrose and spend the evening practicing our CEVNI test signs.

Weather is pretty good for mid April, sunny spells but not as warm as last weekend, we continue our journey and soon encounter Benson lock:

here we are at Benson Lock:

Again, not so many boats about, those that are seem to be of the 'Le Boat' variety we pass through Days, Clifton & Culham Locks and arrive in Abingdon to find plenty of free moorings.

We go for a bit of a walk up around the lock and make the compulsory visit to Waitrose. The weather is superb. We decide not to stay the night and trundle back downstream to moor above the lock at Clifton, it's very quiet and we only see 1 or 2 more boats this evening.

With 26 hours on the engine, it's time to change the gearbox oil (first change due at 25 hours), so I set about doing this (I'm well prepared and have oil and all sorts of stuff to deal with this). Pumping out the old oil is pretty simple, except for the leak on the pump that makes a small puddle in the engine bilge. I pump it into an empty 5l container for disposal later. The puddle is easily cleaned, but will be a bigger one when the 13 litres of engine oil is changed, I'll try to get it looked at and fixed. However, filling up with new oil is a bit more problematic! The filler is quite tricky to get to, so I end up taping some tubing to my funnel, measuring 1.5l into my jug, and in it goes. Now to check the level, this is also a bit tricky as I can't see any oil on the dipstick, I try twice but still no oil, so I pour a bit more in and this seems to do the trick, just the right amount. I do everything up and briefly run the box in forwards and reverse to make sure all the pipes are filled, then check the level again, all is now well, just got to clean up. First maintenance task complete.

On Sunday we cruise to Goring, we stop at Wallingford for lunch and to buy some milk, arriving in Goring around 3 or so, again plenty of free moorings. Emily & Gareth bring new Granddaughter Charlotte over to see us, and we have a nice roast lamb dinner. It was interesting to note that in both Wallingford and Goring we could not get our dish to lock on to the satellite, I suspect due to the large amount of surrounding trees.

It rains a bit on Monday morning, most definitely the worst bit of weather we've had in our limited cruising on Deep Thought, it soon stops and we set off on our return to Caversham. We have both Whitchurch and Mapledurham locks all to ourselves, but encounter a queue at Caversham, outrageous!! We're soon through and before we know it we're all tied up on our pontoon, probably my best effort at it to date!! I really do feel that I'm getting the hang of how to make the boat go where I want it to now, just hope it continues!!

We have a good clean up on the inside (the outside can wait until next weekend), pack our gear and the cat into the car, have a brief chat with David & Angie on Steel Away and head for home.

Our first proper trip out, goodish weather for the time of year, most enjoyable.

It's going to be a lovely weekend....

So lets go for a boat trip!

I've had a word at work and am only working 4 day weeks from now on. Not too sure if I'm invading Penny's space (she doesn't work Friday's) but there we go!

We do some necessary work at home (and at Tesco's!) on Friday morning and eventually head off to Dreadnought at about 1.00 It's a truly beautiful day.

We load up our (ever decreasing amount of) gear and (after a bit of lunch) set about stowing and doing a few jobs - a bit cleaning, hanging some more fenders and other such stuff.

A few pictures from this evening:

Saturday soon dawns, exactly as forecast, not a cloud in sight! So, after a leisurely breakfast we head for Henley, nice and slow, enjoying the sunshine. We trundle along with nothing particularly eventful to report and before we know it we are dropping through Marsh Lock and we are in Henley. We decide to go through the bridge and run down the regatta course before turning back to find a mooring. This we do, spotting Happy Chance moored on the offside, so after turning beyond the island (this boat is ever so easy to turn) we come back upstream and moor a couple of boats behind, intending to say hello. (Happy Chance was the boat that inspired us to have a Piper 49M 2 Cabin)
Steve arrives pretty promptly to collect our mooring fee, I've never moored here before, but I really like it. We head off into Henley for a wander about, and head along the towpath towards Marsh to find Alan and Marianne on Dea Latis, well we find Alan and sit in the sun drinking his beer, it's a great life!! Alan and I have a bit of a chat about AIS, he's trying to get his to work, and I'm trying to understand how mine works!! Marianne turns up after a bit of shopping and we set off back to Henley. We buy a few bits, can't really remember what, but must be important and head back to the boat. Claire and Jeremy are now 'in' so we say hello and they come back with us to have a look at our interpretation of a 49M, drink wine and watch the Grand National (they backed quite a few horses between them)(none of them did anything!!)

Here we are in Henley:

After a leisurely breakfast the following morning we went for a bit of a walk, saw some parakeets, heard a woodpecker, sat in the sun on the back deck drinking coffee, talking to passers by, and eventually, despite some reluctance, decided to set off back to Caversham. We trundled up towards Marsh, and my AIS alarm goes off (after yesterdays chat with Alan I'd read the instructions and messed around with the settings) and the chartplotter tells me that Dea Latis is at Marsh Lock! We arrive (2nd boat behind Alan) and I walk up to tell him the good news. He comes back with me to have a look and asks me what I did, I tell him how I set it up and off he goes, next thing I know, he can see us too!! Success!

We cruise slowly back upstream, passing Alan & Marianne who stopped for lunch near Shiplake. Alan took some photo's and film of us passing. Soon enough we are back at Dreadnought, I did the reversing in manoeuvre again, seems easier to get into the pontoon this way. We clean and tidy a bit and back to the real world - again.

And the next week...

I sneak out of work on Tuesday to meet up with Kinver Canopies at the boat. They are quoting us for a dodger around our stern rail, we've decided to go this way as we are going to have Grandchildren on board before too long and we think it'll give us a little bit more security at the stern.

The week drags on, can't wait for retirement next year, our first Granddaughter duly arrives on Thursday morning and then it's Friday. I decided during last nights hospital visit that I would take the day off. We plan to spend the weekend on the boat doing all of the little jobs I had lined up for last weekend, but we went cruising instead, and if we weren't cruising we were drinking wine! We are also introducing our cat to the boat, should be interesting this!

Piper barge 'Steel Away' is now here having been launched on Wednesday, looks just as shiny as Deep Thought.

And, yes, we get things done, some coat / lifejacket hooks in the wheelhouse, a hook in the day loo for guest towels etc, we sort out our water hose by managing to roll it onto its reel without too many kinks and go on to fill the water tank - which takes ages! And we eventually meet David and Angela Steel of 'Steel Away'

Now what else? Oh yes we go shopping for some more stuff, plate racks, side plates, another door mat, a coffee table, a mop, many things that we didn't know we wanted!! Then i get to grips with sorting out the gear in the TV cupboard, Satellite receiver, DVD player, tidying away the spare cables and getting the required ones as neat as possible! Everything still works afterwards which is good, we can even get IPlayer etc now using our 4g router which is linked to the satellite box. I sort out manuals, equipment data sheets, tidy stuff away and fit a voltage regulator to the 12V supply for the blind (a phonecall in the week says 12V should be ok, but a regulator should be fitted as the blind motors are a bit fussy!)  And I generally just find home for the stuff we've loaded onto the boat and think that we may need one day!!

On Sunday Penny goes to Newbury to see Daughter & Granddaughter, I rejig the mooring lines and fenders, then sort out my tools into my shiny new toolbox in the engine room. I bump into Chris and Sara who are having a 49M 2 cabin started in May, I show them around and have a bit of a chat about things 49M design! I go for coffee with David and Angela on Steel Away and have a good natter about all things Piper, good to meet them after all this time, our boats built pretty much together at Piper.

Penny returns and we set about clearing up and returning to the real world, I don't really want to go and would happily stay the night and go to work from here in the morning, shame I didn't bring any extra clothes, and the chicken for tonight's roast is at home!!

I do however unexpectedly return on Monday evening, I get a message from David of Steel Away to say that we left our wheelhouse roof hatch open, he most kindly offers to close it, but it's too late as I'm already in the car and on the way to do it myself, and of course to deliver a few more bits of essential gear.

Till the next time... (I really must take some more pictures!!)

And the next day...

Is Friday!

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!