Getting ready to leave Weybridge

Wed 14^th May

No boating today.  We left the boat keys with TLC and visited the house to waterproof the decking and wash clothes.  Colin, the boat engineer, drained the fuel (65 litres!) and fitted a shut-off valve, so he could remove the diesel gauge sender. 65 litres returned to the tank, plus and extra 20 litres.

A second night at the boat club.

Thu 15^th May

Byfleet Boat Club to Pyrford

An early start by car to the house where Hazel sorted the last few items out, and met our tenants for a further walk through.  Meanwhile James was at the Holiday Inn at Shepperton (used to be the Elizabethan) for a four hour AA course about speed awareness.  He got home in time to see Elena and Ali at No 8 where Hazel had taken them to introduce them to Paul and Rosie.

Then we put preservative on the uprights of the pergola, before J went for a routine appointment about his abdominal aortic aneurism, which was all clear.

Then back to the boat where we cruised to Pyrford, seeing a deer and a grass snake on the way.  We were followed by Gordon on Catherine J and Ian on Yum Sing, who both went into the marina.

0 locks, 1 mile, 2 mice, 0hr35

Fri 16^th May

Pyrford to BBC

An early start to get back to the boat club where we left the boat for Mick to look at the Solar Panel regulator. One the way (Wey?) we saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a deer.

We drove to the house and Hazel went to see the practice nurse to sort out medication.  We went for the last time to a charity shop and the dump.

We saw Maggie May (used to be owned by friends Roger and Mirjana) going up through Town Lock and James went to speak to them.

Dinner with Sid and Christine at Osso Buco, where we had an excellent meal.  Free drinks and coffees, courtesy of Ali and Elena, our new tenants.

0 locks, 1 mile, 2 mice, 0hr30

Sat 17^th May

No boating  

We tried putting in the steel windows, and this made it a lot darker, so we overslept.  We were therefore later that we had planned when we left to see Hazel’s Dad in Southampton, and we found ourselves in heavy Saturday morning traffic in Guildford.

When we arrived in Southampton, Amanda had arrived 30 minutes earlier.  We all went to the Cromwell Arms in Romsey for lunch.  We returned via Oliver’s place in Farnborough where we took the final items for storage.

When we got back to the boat at Byfleet Boat Club we were too tired to move the boat as originally planned.

Hugo was looking at the fridge a lot but we couldn’t find anything.

No boating.  Busy day tomorrow