We spent a very pleasant weekend with our friends Paul & Allison cruising down to Thrupp and back. We set off yesterday morning stopping at The Rock of Gibraltar for lunch and arrived at Thrupp just in time for tea & cake at Annie’s Tea Room where we met Bones & Maffi (now there’s a surprise) We had hoped to moor up on the very pleasant stretch alongside the road leading up to The Boat, however others clearly had the same idea and so we ended up moored between the Jolly Boatman & Gunpowder Wharf which was pleasant enough until I realised that the nearest winding hole was two hours away at Dukes Cut… Argh! Bones brightly says “Well just reverse back to the liftbridge by the tearooms.”
After a sleepness night (not really) I decided to give it a go, early.. before anyone was about, only to find someone had moored up on the offside (wrong side) opposite another boat right next to the bridge without enough room to get through. I was about to start the long journey to the next winding hole when our guardian angel Bones hails us and volunteers to get us through the gap, even if it means waking the silly so-and-soes up. As it transpired the two boats had been set adrift from outside the Jolly Boatman overnight and had drifted on through the bridge with no-one waking up, so they were forgiven! See Maffi’s photos here.
The reversing went reasonably well, with a little help from the newly repaired bowthruster except an overhanging willow tree made off with our sack truck which was knocked off the roof 🙁 We were back at Enslow for breakfast at 9:30, elevenses at Kirtlington Quarry where we stretched our legs with a walk to the top, which has spectacular views and back to Heyford for tea.
