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....