Not wanted on voyage

Today we sold our 15ft Broom Scorpio fondly known as Love Me Tender. It was craned from Lobelia for the last time and two tearful boys saluted it as it sped off downriver to a new life in Shepperton.

Deer ahoy!

The boys and I had an exciting breakfast time as we watched a sizeable roe deer dive into the river opposite and then swim up into the weir stream. It swam back past Lobelia and even rewarded us with a stare and a shake of its antlers.

New Mooring

We moved upriver to a new temporary mooring on a beautiful sunny morning. Lots of onlookers and luckily no mishaps. We are now at Bell Weir behind the Runnymede-on Thames hotel. So far so good but a question mark still hangs over the health of the bow thruster.

Struggling to sort out internet access so apologies if we are slow to respond to emails.

What next?

The local folk of the Environment Agency have been very helpful. They have allowed us to stay at the moorings downstream of the lock until we can check the health of the bow thruster. A diver is due to come next Thursday the 15th, so until then, we are enjoying full use of parking adjacent to the barge and the whole family is thoroughly enjoying the combination of good weather and cycling along the towpath to nearby restaurants, town centres and play parks.

A "for sale" sign is displayed on Love Me Tender and this is creating a lot of passing interest.

We are also having fun fielding random questions.... How did you get that boat on your deck? Well, we sank the barge and floated it on. This seems to be an acceptable answer!!

Things did not go according to plan...

...but do they ever? Moved the barge less than a third of a mile to her new temporary mooring and, despite assurances on the depths, we ran aground just short of the shore. Andy tried to use the bow thruster to clear the sandbank blocking our path but, unfortunately, something foreign and unfriendly caused the bow thruster to make terrible grinding noises.

For the time being we have dropped back onto the lock layby moorings to review the situation.

Second Attempt

The red boards have become yellow and the time has come to cast off from the Marina and make the short journey to the lock. It's raining, we have a full tank of fuel and we are wearing sunglasses. Wi-Fi access at the lock looks unlikely so updates might be lean over the next few weeks.

A slight delay

All ready to move today but the river is in charge and the red boards are up. No move today - just lots more jobs to do. Captain Bailey has plans for little Bilge Rat! Hope to move to the lock on Wednesday afternoon - river flow permitting.

P.S. Welcome to our first follower - Sorchaaaa teenager rat.

Leaving Penton Hook Marina

This weekend sees us getting ready to move off our long term mooring at Penton Hook Marina. Lobelia has been part of the Marina scenery for 4 and a half years but it is now time to get her moving again.

No more telephone line. No more mains power. No more mains water.......

For the next six weeks we will be testing our self sufficiency.

However we are not moving far at this stage as we are only going out on the river as far as Penton Hook Lock !!