Henley - chavtastic
We decided to go to Henley on saturday, I was quite excited as it was the first time I've taken Iris out on the river this year, Mary was excited as she had no idea of what to expect. I was trying to remember what I need to do going through the locks, but all was fine when we came to Sonning lock - we were the only boat going downstream. After letting the water out, the downstream gates opened, and I hopped onto the roof from the lockside like the sprightly 42 year old I am. As you have to turn the engine off in Thames locks I went to start it again and......nothing, just a faint click. After letting the lockeeper know why I wasn't leaving, I went and had a look. Luckily it was just a loose connection on the starter battery. Years of various cars and bikes have taught me to check the obvious first.

Finally we arrived at Henley in the late afternoon after a pleasant trip. After a spot of shopping to get some essentials (gin, lime, tonic), we watched the sun go down.



There were some interesting boats around, including this steam driven launch.



At about 7:00pm there was a commotion in the park next to us, as a group of teenage girls shouted obscenities at each other and threatened to start a fight. Meanwhile a boat was going round and round the island increasingly erratically as the teenage boys driving it got stuck into the refreshments. Inevitably, the two groups become aware of each other and then it all kicked off. Very tedious, and it reminds me of how old I'm getting when a group of drunken, shrieking, teenage girls fills me with a sense of outrage rather than a sense of hope.

Still, the youth of today have no stamina and they were pretty much done by 9:30pm. Gin, wine and ranting about it to Mary helped ease the pain.

Sunday morning came and another lovely day arrived



We headed back upstream to meet my sister Beck, brother in law Steve and nephews Thomas and William for lunch at the Bull in Sonning. Mary had a go at driving while I stood on the roof at the front and generally pretended I was Nelson.....



We had a lovely lunch, followed by ice cream on the boat. Here is a nice shot of the Brookes family.....



.....and a classic one of my two nephews attempting to abandon ship ahead of schedule.

Three stories
Got a collection of random updates to add in, so in no particular order, here goes...

Three stories #1
Last month I went down to Bristol with Mary to see my old friend Nev. That's old as in I've known him since we were 13, not old as in age, although there is no denying we're getting on a bit now.....

The hotel car park was full, but I managed to find a place to park (underneath a ramp) as shown here.



Here is another picture (model provided for scale).



Nothing to do with boats, but amused me and puzzled the hotel staff.

Three stories #2
Been making some steps to access the front deck. My neighbor Dave watched my initial attempts to cut the rebate for the treads and then offered to help me (he's a carpenter and has a table saw on his boat). The picture here shows everything in kit form.



This next picture has everything all glued and clamped up.



...and this is what they look like in place. I need to oil and wax them, but that'll have to wait until I get back after Easter.



Three stories #3
During the course of the stair making, the cable ties holding on one of my low profile tyre fenders broke, and the tyre sank into the depths. Even though the tyre was free, it was doing a good job of keeping the boat away from the dock. No one was around for me to borrow a boat hook from, so I wandered over to the marina shop. They just happened to have a tiny folding anchor for £3.65 - bargain! I've no idea what sort of boat this is meant to hold, but it'll do me as a grappling hook.



After about 10 minutes of dragging the lake bed, I managed to find the tyre and hook it back up. Far more satisfying than I would've thought, and I had to be restrained from throwing more things in just to fish them out again.

I upgraded the attachment for the tyre to a chain based system. Its not going anywhere now.