Into The Basin Proper

Yesterday we decided it was about time we moved to another part of London.

Our plan was to move to Little Venice, fill with water, empty the nasties etc. then cruise towards Limehouse.

First things first though, we had a cuppa with the boys ...


New camera time again ... I took these pics from the sidehatch.

What are those two dots on the distant building?

It's a couple of window cleaners....havn't cropped the pics either!
Amazing little camera, that's it no more banging on about it.

We moved the boat off our mooring and had to go into Paddington Basin to turn around, amazingly there were about 5 empty spots, which is very, very rare!

When we got to Little Venice, there were two boats on the water point, with another waiting, so we stopped in the bridge and used the water point by the cafe that nobody seems to know is there.
But there was a problem - the Elsan and pump out were out of order and raw crap was everywhere - oozing out of the man hole cover!

We were pretty full on the cassette front so we decided to head back into the basin until it was fixed.

As we reversed into the junction and spun the boat around, we spotted the next problem .. 'Junkyard Frog' was on a return trip and was heading our way!

There he is ... but we knew he would stop on the straight opposite the station entrance to maximise his audience....poor bastards!

We passed an Egyptian ...

... and then we got a really good mooring right in the basin!

We were also waiting for the fuel boat to return, to give us a top up and change over the gas bottle which is too high ... but (after we called him) he told us he had now run out of gas and was expecting a delivery on Friday - and he had now decided he wasn't coming down to the basin anyway :(

We had a chat with the crew from NB Dolce Far Niente then spent the rest of the day not doing much except a bit of boat cleaning.  Later in the day NB Chance also arrived back in the basin.

We had arranged to meet up with Pam and Ken in the early evening. Pam is an Aussie who worked with Elaine in Taif (Saudi Arabia) many years ago; Elaine also stayed with Pam in Sydney when she emigrated back in 1994.  Pam has been working and living in London for eighteen years and still loves it here, I can see why.

Whilst waiting for Pam and Ken we sat in the station bar watching the commuters rush off home.  Elaine also threw her beer on the floor (but saved the glass!)

our view from the bar - stressed commuters

We went for drinks and dinner at the Queen Victoria pub in Paddo, before returning to the boat for a cuppa and then to the station for our farewells and the obligatory photos by Grommit.

 

Kate Update!
We had a walk around there last night and this morning - there are now lots of big outside broadcasting trucks plus a lot more TV personnel outside the hospital.  Apparently we will know when she is admitted when the armed police are positioned on the doors of the hospital ... exciting eh?!