Birthday on the Thames

April 21: We reluctantly crawled out of bed this morning at 6 a.m. after a late night of meeting new folks, accompanied by great food and drink at the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) annual meeting and awards. Members had flown in from all over the world for the event. How fortunate to be in London when it occurred. The dinner was held on the SS Wellington moored on the Thames. The wine flowed all evening and neither of us regretted this morning that we had skipped out before the final brandy was served.




In the locks to leave St Katharine Docks

Listening to Happy Birthday song 

After a few last minute chores, Ostinato was finally back in cruising mode...or at least close enough to get us down the Thames to our first anchorage. We pulled in last in the lock behind Wings, who is also headed to Ipswich to have work done, and one of the Thames River Barges. Once in the lock, the send off group, led by marina staff, Melanie, sang a chorus of Happy Birthday for King. We learned Wings was also celebrating birthdays this month. What is it with cruisers and April birthdays? That, along with the festival spirit of the London Marathon which was going on all around us, made it quite the send off.

Along the way, just after we passed Greenwich, who do we see standing on the side of the river but our favourite Australians, Judy and Merv from Thorang La! They came to wave goodbye....and catch the Marathon.


Judy and Merv wave goodbye from Greenwich!

One last look at the Cutty Sark

The trip down the Thames was uneventful and the weather picture perfect, that is if your picture includes gloves and a hat. Seven hours after leaving our home for the last 6 months, we slipped into the Medway and made our way up Stangate Creek where we put down the anchor for the night. King had ordered a apple pie for his birthday cake so while I was getting my sea legs back as we motored down the Thames, I was also trying to figure out how to make piecrust. What was I thinking?

Thames Barriers give ok to transit

We are both a bit sad about leaving London. We were way over our fair share of fun and we also know new adventures are waiting for us....so, off we go!




April 22: King performed a new trick last night. His cell phone can now make the boat a wifi zone. So as long as we have cell service, we do not have to skulk around town looking for unlocked signals. This morning we were up at 7:30 to get the boat ready to catch the morning tide. The dinghy still laid across the trampolines so that was the first chore of the day....after I had my coffee. Next was getting the anchor up. It was like we had been doing it every day for the last 6 months instead of partying in London. The final chore was raising the sail. Up it flew to the first spreader, then.... Oops. Did I mention the new boom arrived last week? Looks like a few of the lines were not in their assigned spot. After 30 minutes of King rerigging all of the reefing lines while I held the boat into the wind we were off.

Ipswich lock

It was an easy jump in light winds and flat seas. As a result, we were able to take the inland passage up "the Wallet" into the River Orwell. The trip up the river while fighting the current was beautiful. The River Orwell is reportedly one of the prettiest in the UK. Arrived at ipswich Marina at 7:30 minus one alternator. We are hoping its just a fan belt problem. A long 12 hr day. I'm ready for bed.



Ipswich Haven Marina

April 24: it didn't take King long to find the town's essential suppliers. After a few phone calls, off we strolled to the Ipswich Junk Yard.    While the Junk Yard did not have what was needed, a bearing "store" was located right next door. Complete ecstasy. Fan belts hung around the wall of the tiny outer room of the business. King actually "Oooooed" as we stepped through the doorway. Mercifully it is close to the boat so I did not have to accompany King on his second, or even his third visit as he worked to find the correct sized fan belt. Good news! We have the best fitting fan belts ever.

April 29: Best laid plans have disintegrated into thin air. We had been waiting for the boat yard to give us prices for our haul out. The "tariffs" arrived by email on Friday, the bad news day. The charge for just the haul out is £1000 ($1500. That's double what others charge.  King turned pale. Looks like we will be staying in Ipswich another week as we work out Plan B and I do CPR on King.




waiting for the locks to open at St. Katharine Dock



Goodbye London Tower Bridge!



Royal Navy College at Greenwich on Thames

Count Down!

Oh be still my heart. The sun is shinning and the Home Depot temperature gauge is claiming its 72 degrees. However, the gauge has been a bit suspect since it was first stuck onto the window in February. I decided it thought if it ever told me how cold it really was outside that I would never stick my nose out the door. One would think you could get some idea on the temp based on how the hordes of people that stroll around St Katharine's everyday, but no, if I've learned anything it's don't count on a tourist to suggest appropriate dress. Regardless of the temp, it only takes a sliver of sun to propel some nut to immediately slip into a pair of Bermuda shorts and go for a sprint around the neighbourhood. But I digress. It is so nice today the heat is off and we opened a hatch....only one. Didn't want to get too carried away.....oh good grief. There goes a guy in a t-shirt and shorts strolling across the St Kat's bridge.

The reason the temp has me so excited is that we are on the 7 day count own to departure. King has had the boat turned into what appears to be the aftermath of an explosion for the past 4 days as he changed the oil, fixed leaks and replaced pumps in the engine. Of course, lets not forget the joys of a catamaran. You get to do it twice! So, what better time to invite folks over for dinner. What was I thinking. The other joy of a catamaran is plenty of bedrooms to slide things into and shut the door.

Speaking of food, we took to the road last week and rode the train down to Gillingham to have lunch with David and Liz on Lazy Tern. They were preparing for their next jump to Ramsgate and then off to France and the beginning of their adventure. The day was rainy and cold so the Algarve is sounding better and better. The following day we took the DLR to join Judy and Merv for lunch onboard Thorang La. Afterward, we took the tube to Leicester Square and put our names in the pot in hopes to be one of 11 lucky lottery winners to buy 2 front row seats for £20 for Book of Mormon. Very exciting....we didn't win.....But the boat ain't named Ostinato for nothing. We are going back tonight to give it another whirl.

Chores were completed early today so we decided to make another run at trying to win the Book of Mormon lottery to buy cheap tickets. The show is sold out until Sept. so even if I wasn't cheap, it's the only way we can see the show. We jumped off the tube with only 15 minutes to spare so we zipped up the stairs but turned the wrong way so lost valuable minutes waiting for the phone's GPS to decide to share its pearls of wisdom on the theatre's location. It finally coughed it up and off we ran....10 minutes to go! As we flew around the corner, the first thing we noted was no crowds. Yippee! We got this one covered! Hmmmm. When I say no crowds, I'm meaning deserted. Oh, hell. It's Sunday.

For our last land cruise we took the train to Bath....that's baaaath, and Bristol. It was a typical 2 cites in 2 days Ross tour. To add a bit of interest, we decided to do Baaaaaath during the first day and then hop the train on to Bristol so we could start off fresh the next morning. What we didn't think through was that meant we would be wearing our backpacks for 12 solid hours. By noon, I was ready to start dumping the extra sweater, 2nd pair of shoes (just in case we go to eat somewhere that tennis shoes are not a fashion statement) and the tangerines (one never knows when hunger will attack). As a result, a pact has been made. No more manic traveling! Till next time.

The new boom has been delivered, the reprovisioning completed and a final, unsuccessful bid made for Book of Mormon tickets. Looks like its time to leave our winter nest.

Think warm thoughts

Ostinato all alone

Full house

As Spring struggles to crawl out of this deep freeze we are in, the Cruisers at the marina are beginning to shake out their sails, change the oil, scrub off all of the winter grim on deck and stow all of the items we have dug out of the bilges over the long winter.




The St. Kats Cruisers come out to say goodbye

Thorang La leaving St. Kats

The first yacht out the lock and into the Thames was our neighbour, Thorang La.  Merv and Judy got the royal send off from the winter live aboard's showing up with as much fanfare as we the group could muster considering it was 32 degrees. Three boats followed two days later. Then, the day after Easter, our other neighbours, Lazy Tern, untied her lines at 6 bloody a.m. and headed up the Medway to be hauled before turning Southward to the Med. They, on the other hand, only had us waving them off.......go figure.

Lazy Tern departs before sunrise

So you ask, what about Ostinato? When will she pry herself off of the dock? Not until it gets above freezing is our response.....or the summer rates kick in, which ever occurs first!  In the mean time, we have a lecture on the Back Sea to attend, a new boom to install, the oil to change and, with a bit a luck, one last musical for the road. Current date for leaving the nest is April 21, King's birthday. Think warm thoughts.

 

Surprise visitors

While all the boat goodbyes have been going on, we also had the pleasure of company from Shell Point. Bill and Claire had 5 days and they whizzed through London like a buzz saw. I have never seen anyone walk through the British Museum at that pace. They rented one of the apartments surrounding the marina so getting together was easy. The best part was Claire's son and his fiancé flew into London from Germany.   They surprised her by walking into the restaurant while we were having a glass of wine. She was speechless.

One of the pleasures of having company is that you get to see the sights. Lucky for us, the London Eye and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace was on Bill and Claire's "bucket" list. The view from the Eye was superb. The view of the changing of the guard a bit lacking.

View from the London Eye

The Changing of the Guard is going on in there somewhere....