Wednesday 22nd August, 2012 at Wootton Rivers.
Carol and Philip arrived at 9:30 to find us just finishing breakfast. They had a comfortable night in "Well Cottage" and enjoyed a Big Breakfast! After a cup of tea, we set off eastwards towards Pewsey.
As we passed Honeystreet Wharf, we saw that one of their wide-beam hire boats was moored up there. As Carol and Philip had been talking about the possibility of renting or even buying a wide- beam, we took the opportunity to stop to ask if we could look around the wide-beam which was called "Moonshadow". She is 65ft long and 10ft wide and felt HUGE after MM! We duly admired the two fixed double bedrooms each with en-suite facilities, the large living area and even a utility room! Carol and Philip think that they might hire one for a week to see how they get on.
We continued on to Pewsey Wharf, where we moored up for lunch. Carol and Philip sampled the local beer poured straight from the barrel while R walked in to town to the Co-op for a few more "bits" and M prepared lunch.
Philip had very kindly provided two bottles of a delightful Sauvignon Blanc, which proved an excellent accompaniment to a summer lunch of chicken and mango salad.
We were surprised but very pleased to see John from nb "Beverley" but sad to hear that he has decided to sell her after three years' cruising. He has bought himself a house and decided that looking after both was just too much.
Philip took the tiller as we cruised on towards Wootton Rivers.
Right at the end of our trip, we encountered the first lock for 15 miles immediately before the moorings where we intended to stay the night. Once through the lock and moored up, the conversation turned to wine and then champagne. So naturally that was the excuse to open a bottle of Ackerman's pink champagne, which we drank sitting comfortably on MM's stern in the sunshine. This is the life!!!!!
At 7:00pm, we walked up to the Royal Oak pub in the village. It has an excellent reputation for good food as we knew from having dined there on the way down. We were not disappointed!
At the end of the evening, a taxi came to take Carol and Philip back to their B&B in Honeystreet. We think (well, we hope!) that we may have opened their eyes to the pleasures of boating.
Today: 6 miles, 1 lock and 3.0 hours.
Trip: 219 miles, 198 locks and 179.8 hours (330.9 total).
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