Back home!

Last night was, of course "Bonfire Night", and moored as we were close to Cassiobury Park we expected a show as the locals put on a big firework display there.    We were not disappointed.  One explosion was so strong that it made the boat shake as if the water was disturbed.   It probably was.   The noise continued, rather similar to a small war, until quite late.   Thank goodness we had left the dogs at home.   They are terrified by fireworks.   Do they hear a component of the sound that we do not?   Similar sounds on the TV have no effect.

Rain was promised and it arrived overnight.   After quick breakfast we left between showers, but by the time we had reached the first lock the rain had started again and it was full wet weather gear for me.  The bottom gates were open and Cassio lock is a slow filler.    We had to deal with open bottom gates as far as Stockers Lock where we passed upcoming traffic and then at Coppermill, there was another boat conveniently entering the lock ahead of us.    Now!  Had we been traveling in the opposite direction, all the open gates would have been great fun.    This will be our last trip this year, so the next boat visit will be a maintenance detail to prepare for the "arctic winter" the met office have promised us.     In our case, rain never stops play.    In the summer as helmsman I adopt the minimal clothing ploy.  Bare legs dry quickly and stay warm.   In the winter it is essential to stay dry, so I have a "Yachty" type of weatherproof suit which is perfect and includes a high collar and hood.   Gloves are also needed and I have found the plastic? coated industrial type of gloves to be the most practical.   Wet ropes, grit and bare hands do not go well together.

VODAFONE MOBILE CONNECT CARD

This trip gave me the first opportunity to try out this communications medium for the first time in the field.  The posting from Watford was made with difficulty and only a GPRS Connection which kept dropping out.   Partly this may have been due to the observation that connections with the Typepad server are very slow indeed in the late afternoon and early evenings.  I put this down to poor bandwidth and I believe that this problem has been acknowledged.   Improvements are promised.   Back at Harefield, no connection seemed possible.   This did not surprise me as previous experience with the SMS boat alarm proved the need for an external aerial.