Off Again at Last!!

Tuesday 23rd October, 2012 on to Shillingford!
Was this our last breakfast at Pierreponts? Our sensible heads hoped it was but our tummies begged to differ! After breakfast, R went to the Capture office for a couple of hours and on the way back to MM, he went to talk to the lock keeper. Although the lock was still "Red Boarded", he said he expected it to go to "Yellow" later in the day.
Back at MM, R's cousin Clare arrived soon after mid-day.  It was lovely to see her and, after a cup of tea and a brief catch-up, we set off through Goring Lock even though it was technically still "Red Boarded."

By the time we reached Cleeve Lock, one mile further up the Thames, both locks had gone "Yellow." Cleeve Lock was a very welcome sight as it had a water point and we were able to fill up at last. Hooray!!
The Thames is still running quickly, therefore the anchor came out so that we could use it if we had an engine problem.

Despite the grey overcast weather, Clare appeared to love sitting up on the stern and enjoyed having a go at steering MM.
At Benson Lock, we saw our friends Karen and Jim on nb "Ruffian" who had been stuck there for several days. They were heading downstream to re-join the K&A and were hoping to leave the following day so this was probably the last time we shall see them this year. It's been such a pleasure to have got to know them over the course of the summer.

Although the Thames was running quickly, we managed to make good progress (although the engine was working very hard) and after nearly five hours' cruising we arrived at Shillingford and took the last mooring outside the very posh Shillingford Hotel. The mooring cost us £10 for the night and the hotel wanted to charge us another £10 if we needed to plug in to their electricity supply. Needless to say we declined their offer to plug in! No doubt their prices are designed to keep the rif-raff away from the Hotel!
Today: 8 miles, 3 locks and 4.8 hours.
Trip: 321 miles, 318 locks and 312.2 hours (466.1 total).