Applause

Five months, 24 days and 7 hrs from Shell Point to London. If not a record for the slowest passage it should at least get honourable mention. We left the River Medway at 8:30, an hour before low slack tide as instructed by the guides. With the wind on our nose...is there any other direction?...that really should be an official direction, east, west, north, south, on your nose...anyway, Ostinato began her 2nd day motoring up the Thames, arriving at the London Tower Bridge at 4:00 p.m. Along the way we passed Malcolm and Jill on Francesca, who we first met in Gosport. We took pictures of each other puttering up the river. The river is long and meandering and set up for large ship traffic. Fortunately, the big boat traffic was taking the day off. On the outskirts of London are 8 large flood gates that are Sci-Fi looking silver domes crossing the river. You must request permission to pass through them. With little fanfare, (that I personally felt the occasion required) we were funnelled through gate E and sent on our merry way. Our next trial was dodging the high speed river ferries and site seeing boats. This was particularly challenging at the London Tower Bridge just outside St Kat's lock where we circled for 30 minutes waiting our turn to enter. Finally, the gates opened and out popped a small power boat. It was our turn. While Sunday is a quiet day for big boat traffic on the river, it is not so for foot traffic around St Kat's. Once the walking bridge goes up, half of the population of London arrives to watch the fools on the boat try to shove a 40 ft boat into a tiny hole in the wall with the current pushing you sideways. You just can't buy that kind of entertainment. Ostinato arrived first so at least got to plow our way into an empty lock. King made it look so easy. The German boat behind us got a bit anxious on his turn and barreled in before the bridge was completely up. The screams of the dock master over the radio got everyone's undivided attention. However, somehow he danced his spreaders, weaving back and forth, in between the two ends of the rising bridge. The crowds increased with anticipation of more action to come on our exit. We took our leave as quickly as possible without humiliating ourselves. I had expected applause at some point but it was a tough crowd.

Coffee anyone?

The marina is surrounded by shops and restaurants. We have a Starbucks to port. So how close are we? We are so close the boat smells like starbucks coffee and we can get their free Wi Fi connection.....the bathrooms and showers on the other hand are back across the bridge spanning the lock.

Spent the day settling in, meeting our new neighbours and locating the grocery store. First guest arrives next Sunday! Yikes! I still need to find the laundry room.

This will be the last routine entry in the blog until next April when we untie the dock lines again and head who knows where. I hope you will join us for our next adventure. Thanks for everyone's encouragement and comments along the way. It's been a lot of fun sharing this experience with all of you.

We plan on being back in Tallahassee in late Feb. Hope to see you then!

To be continued.....

Sue & King

River Thames

Waiting for the lock to open at St. Kat's

London Tower Bridge....what a sight!

Approaching St. Kat's and London Tower Bridge

The Thames is heavy with commercial activity

Thames flood barriers

Waiting outside the lock at St. Katharine's Marina

Bargains

October 1
We slid out of bed at 6:15 this morning to try to take advantage of a very short weather window to move up the coast 25 miles to Ramsgate. Long underwear ...check, everything stowed.....check. Foul weather gear, life jackets and boots....check, check, check. Gate open to allow us to leave the lock..... Oops. Forgot about the lock! Locked in until 10:00. There went the our weather window. So instead, we rode the train to Canterbury to see the cathedral and look for Lady Godiva. We also took our first step to becoming long term visitors by buying a Senior rail pass.

October 4
Ramsgate is a nice enough place, don't get me wrong, it's just not London....and I'm really ready to be in London. But although we planned to leave this morning for the 2 day trip up the Thames, it was just not to be. Wind Guru and the Met Office finally agreed on a forecast. This may be a first and unfortunately, it was not the one we had hoped for. Wind on the nose against current and no where to duck into if things go south. No thanks. So to soothe are disappointment, we hopped a train to Chatham (30% off with the new rail pass!) and visited the Historic Boat Yard. This included a rope making demonstration in the 1,000 ft long rope making building. King, always looking for a deal, knocked on the office door on the way out and eventually made his way to the "end of the spool room" where he picked up new mooring line for a song. Tomorrow 50 knot gusts are forecasted so its another stay put day.....and an opportunity to put his new lines to the test.

October 6

Hooray for sun!

We pulled dock lines this morning at 8:30 to begin our journey up the Thames. The sky was dreary and although it was forecasted to clear, I would of put my money on more rain. Finally, a small blue patch to the north began to slowly grow until the sky just screamed "happy" at you! We took the South Channel route into the Thames, the shortest but one which meant we had to weave in and out of multiple sand bars. King gets an A for the day. I spent the day sitting outside the bimini just soaking up much needed vitamin D. Ostinato was attached to a mooring ball in the River Medway by 2:00. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the waterline and top sides to prepare for our arrival in London tomorrow. Wahoo! The good champagne has been put in the fridge for a chill. : ) As we settled in for the evening a soft booming in the distance was heard. It turned out to be a massive fireworks display on the Northern side of the Thames. Do you think they heard we were coming?

Dover Castle

White Cliffs of Dover

Ferry traffic outside of Ramsgate was busy

Entering Ramsgate Harbour

Ferries heading to France

Is that the sun?!!!



A quiet night in the River Medway of the Thames