And I’m off......

.....Northward.

So the final family event which was the reason for my latest return to Surrey happened on Saturday, it was a surprise birthday BBQ party for my son on his 30^th birthday. Unfortunately the weather on Saturday was not kind with light drizzle for the first hour but it did clear and although it wasn’t hot everyone enjoyed themselves.

Although I always take my camera I seem to forget to use it, preferring to enjoy the event in the ‘now’ but here is a couple I did manage to snap.

A slightly surprised son enters the garden.

Grandma with latest Granddaughter

A bit chilly in there, they didn't stay in long!

It was a busy long weekend, I stayed at my sisters and on Friday we went to the local pub/restaurant and had a meal, Saturday was the party, Sunday a trip to Mercedes World followed by a lovely roast dinner then a trip to my nieces, Monday a bit of shopping with a lunch at a Silvermere golf club then a meal out later in the evening, Tuesday return to the boat, Wednesday recover! Thanks to Carol and Peter again for the hospitality and the running around J

So this morning I paid for my weeks mooring and was about to set off when there was a heavy shower, typical, but it only lasted 15 minutes and I was on my way by 10am intending to just go through the first lock, Wide Water Lock (86) and immediately moor up to do some chores and see what the weather was doing, but there were no spaces so I carried on.

At Black Jacks lock I found an ‘I Phone’ laying beside the lock, I put a quick post of the facebook narrowboaters group in case it belonged to a boater, but later in the day the owner made contact via the phone and he is collecting it tonight, my good deed for the week sorted.

I carried on cruising looking for nice spot to stopover but nothing took my fancy and I was soon back at Rickmansworth, I did not wish to moor there again so I stopped and filled the water tank and emptied the cassettes before heading off further, it was all uneventful and I didn’t have my camera on deck due to the wet start.

Past all the linear moorings and through the next two locks, deciding to stop at Croxley I found a gap that was just big enough and squeezed in there.

Current mooring:

So what I thought was going to be a cruise of about 100 yards and 1 lock turned out to be 6 miles and 8 locks, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, I am once again master of my own destiny, going where I want when I want without trying to plan to be ‘here’ for a specific date, what’s not to like!

I will stay tomorrow reverting to my more usual cruising pattern of moving every other day (weather and mood permitting) and make my way North, I think the Rochdale canal is beckoning me J