Wednesday 20/5 Thrupp

Important things first. Susie is our quiz winner. It is indeed a wandering albatross. We had no idea they were so bloody huge. 

Another day staying put. But instead of sightseeing, we spent the morning changing sheets and Rhondaising the boat. Our standards have sadly slipped since the departure of Mike and Tim.

Let me tell you, changing the sheets and doona covers in a narrowboat is no easy task. Everything has to be done with micro movements, and even getting to the spare sheets is a task in itself.

First the tables in the salon have to be dismantled and stacked away. Next the scatter cushions have to be collected and shuffled sideways thru the kitchen into the spare bedroom. Next the back and seat cushions, all 7 of them have to be carried awkwardly thru to the spare bedroom and carefully stacked. Next is getting the lids off the storage boxes and stacking them so they don't fall down and bark you shins. Only then can you get to the clean sheets!

Then everything has to be replaced in reverse order and woe betide if you find out, after putting the salon back together, that you have got out a wrong size doona cover - you have to go thru the whole process again. And as that is exactly what happened to us, we only changed two beds.

Backs aching and with barked shins we decided a little time out was in order so we took the rubbish down to the bins and checked out the water points for tomorrow mornings fill. The services mooring area

We watched a couple go boats come thru the swing bridge

The Thrupp Canal Boat Club's upkeep of the Services area and gardens is fantastic

After getting the kinks out of our backs it was time to apply a bit of elbow grease and get the boat, well, ship shape! That done we had some time to admire the result of our efforts and have a towpath chat with some other boaters. One of whom kindly came back later with a list of mooring sites on the Avon and Severn Rivers.

Tony and Diana arrived and after having inspected the boat we walked up the towpath for lunch at the Jolly Boatman.

Outside the pub I tried our first ever selfie -not very successfully

T&D gave us a lift into Oxford, firstly going via their house so Tony could present Lawrence with a piece of fossilised dinosaur poo, as I had some more issues with the phucking phone that needed sorting out. Issues sorted and a bit of shopping done we endured a peak hour bus ride back to Thrupp - but we didn't get rained on!

We are hoping that they will be able to reorganise their diaries and join us for a few days before we have to give the boat back.

So that has been our day, not very exciting, but quite constructive as the inside of the boat is once again looking it's sparkling best. Susie, our quiz winner wants some pics of the interior of the boat, especially the loo - so here, just for you Suzie is the bathroom. I had to stand in the shower to get this shot.

The 2nd bedroom

The master cabin. A board folds down across the passageway and the mattress that is leaning up against the wall slides down onto the board to make what is called a cross boat double berth.

So the layout is,  from the stern is down some steps into the salon (seating/dining area) which leads to the kitchen area. l have previously posted pics of this area. After the kitchen comes the 2nd cabin (bedroom), then the bathroom and after the bathroom, the main cabin and then up some stairs through some doors onto the bow area. There are dividing doors between the kitchen and the 2nd cabin, between the end of the 2nd cabin and the bathroom. And between the other end of the bathroom and the main cabin. And the doors are surprisingly soundproof.

Suzie also asked about engine noise. This boats engine is under the stern area, underneath noise insulated boards and is a lot more quiet than the boat we hired last year. The boards have to be lifted and Lawrence has to get down into the engine bay and straddle the engine to do the appropriate checks. I'll have to take a pic it's quite a tight fit.

Lastly, another quiz pic. What is this?