MARLOW

Arrived yesterday evening cold and wet after a long day's boating and annoyed a group of Polish fishermen who were drinking whisky round a camp fire on the public moorings and didn't take kindly to being asked to move so we compromised and left our behind out in the stream so that they could stay where they were. They did offer me some whisky though. Highlight of the day for Gemma was managing to knock an obliging skiffer's glasses into the river with one throw of a wet rope. That'll learn him to be chivalrous to lady narrowboaters at locks. As we were being pressed forward by a number of 'gin palaces' we couldn't stop to help but the narrowboat behind us who was stopping to eat his breakfast on the lock moorings (!) had a magnet and when last seen they were dipping hopefully. Tremendous thunder storm and torrential rain in the night which terrified everyone except George who slept through it. A leisurely day in Marlow buying food, eating lunch, shopping and banking as we had done all the boating yesterday. Managed to unload on the public slipway, designed for rowing boats of maximum length ten foot which left us sticking out into the stream almost across to the weir, much to the surprise of the plastic boats still trolling up and down into the lock. Luckily the landlord of the Two Brewers found us a mooring at the end of the garden of a beautiful riverside mansion, undergoing restoration. And we had help from the caretaker Tony in carrying our gear up to the pub. Fortunately we are in the barn at the back of the pub as it looks like more rain. Small prayer - please don't let the Avon be in flood again this year, Lord. The gas boiler is on it's last legs but the gas man cometh on Tuesday I hope.