Teddington

Not far to go today and we need diesel to be safe for the tidal river.   We would look stupid to run out although we have enough in theory to get back to Harefield.  So .. we delayed leaving until 9:00.  Before we left the first canoe came past.  Pat said it looked like army chaps with backpacks, so something serious.  As we found out later it was the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race and they must have been the leaders.  We went into Shepperton Marina for diesel as all the other yards we passed had boats moored in front of their pumps and this would have made manoeuvring tricky with the fast flowing river.   As it was, Shepperton Marina is tricky too.  A narrowboat has to reverse between a gauntlet of expensive looking cruisers to get to the diesel pontoon and there is just enough room to turn between all the closely moored boats.   Do not try this on a windy day!    By Kingston we were starting to see the main body of the canoeists passing us.  Some were looking decidedly tired.  The seniors race non-stop and this is the longest continuous canaoe marathon in the world.   We stopped at Teddington, paid our overnight mooring charge to the lockkeeper and arranged for a locking out in the morning.