The Sumpners Afloat

Killing time to meet friends – 23- 28 July

You know, it sometimes feels that we will never leave this area, where we first arrived at the end of June. There have been compelling reasons for staying but we shall soon resume our travels and we can’t wait.

First though, we have another set of friends arriving on Thursday and have negotiated another couple of nights at Packet Boat, to whom we are most grateful for being so accommodating. But we had a few days to kill, so we went back out onto our lovely spot on the Slough Arm, where we stayed Monday to Wednesday night. it’s a quiet spot with coots and moorhens and lots of passing walkers and we were very comfortable there.

On Thursday, as our friends were arriving, I took the boat up to the nearest winding holle – which was further away than I had remembered – and done mostly in a very fine drizzle. But soon I was on the return leg and finally turning left into the now familiar entrance to the Marina.

We had a new berth, this time, which I much preferred to our previous one. It was very near the Facilities building/Office block, close to the car park and boasted 32A charging on its power post, which meant a very fast charge for us.

After Paul finished work, we both set about finishing off the work we had started the previous evening – prepping the boat for guests and taking delivery of the groceries needed for the weekend. We finished, showered and sat down to wait excitedly for our friends, Kate and Paul Hansford – Old Nick Virgins!

Paul (Sumps) went to school with Kate and she and I have been friends for over forty years, we worked out. PAul – yes – another one! – is her lovely husband and a great cook! We have a great deal of shared history and there would be a lot of catching up to do, for sure. They arrived around 8 pm and we nattered and nibbled until bedtime.

We have shared several dayboats with them, in the past, but this was the first time they had stayed overnight on a narrowboat and they were surprised at how comfortable it all looked. Luckily, they both slept well and we broke our fast before leaving Packet Boat for the penultimate time on Friday morning. Once again, we headed back up towards Rickmansworth, as it gets increasingly pretty the further you go.

We stopped for lunch at Coot Alley (our name for it!) just above Widewater Lock (Lock 86) and we all felt a little snoozy afterwards, so settled down for a beepy. Lightweights! Refreshed by our slumbers, we set off again and found a lovely, secluded spot in the woods above Copper Mill Lock (Lock 84), The birdsong was incredible and there was more Coot/Moorhen activity to watch.

It was quite amusing watching one Coot in particular trying to make headway against the fast flow of the canal here; it seemed like he was trying all evening, poor little chap. It was also amusing to watch them absolutely scudding past in the opposite direction, using the flow to their advantage. We also watched some coots laboriously building a nest – rather late in the season for chicks, I think?

Our cocktail of choice was our old standard, the frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, which always slips down well, giving the impression that they are harmless, but actually quite lethal. They caused us to make the decision not to eat that evening, but instead “drink through”‘ and subsist on nibbles. Tsk!

After several Daiquiris, we attempted a game of UNO Flip with varying degrees of success! But it was a lovely evening with much laughter and we all went off to bed in happy mood.

Saturday morning dawned very fair and it was warm from the get-go. We cruised up to Betchworth, winding just above the very handy waterside Tesco, where we sent our hunter gatherers off for more milk and “sundries”, before retracing our steps and ending back at Coot Alley for the night.

As we went back through Copper Mill Lock – where we had spotted a slalom course a couple of weeks back – , we were lucky enough to see someone using it – I think he showed off a bit as we passed – well – you would, wouldn’t you?

Our pre-dinner drink that night was Vermouth Spritzers, which were very refreshing indeed and slipped down very smoothly, whilst still allowing me to have the mental capacity to cook dinner – Smoked Haddock and Spinach Gnocchi if it’s of interest! Very well received. If you fancy trying it, it’s very simple

Vermouth Spritz

1 measure good quality Red Vermouth

2 measures of Soda or Fizzy water

A fine strip of orange peel (squeeze over the glass to release the oils) to garnish and lashings of ice.

As with any cocktail, you can jhuzz it up by making it with prosecco or add vodka, but i like its simplicity and the fact that it doesn’t knock you sideways!

Kate had brought us a new game – called Namely – which we had 4 or 5 rounds of and all enjoyed, pronouncing it a good game! Bruce Forsyth – we miss you! After which, bed beckoned and we settled down in the cool of the night.

Sunday – being Sunday – brought Eggs for Breakfast – E for B and Be your best. Those of a certain age may remember that British Egg Marketing Board campaign, back in the early 70s, featuring George Best?

We were all quite sad to be on the final leg home but all good things must come to an end, it seems. There was time for one last lunch and to limp the boat back to Packet Boat – there was clearly something round the screw. It later turned out to be a lot of that green candy-floss style blanket weed, mixed with a dose of placcy bags. But it was the first trip down the weed hatch for a while, so we have been quite lucky. There’s an interesting article here about dealing with weed – it’s called the London Weed Project – and that’s not the stuff that causes the stink that seems to be everywhere these days, but the stuff that grows in the water. C&RT say “In the London area alone, we remove an impressive amount of up to 1,700 tonnes of aquatic weed from the canal network every year.” To put it in perspective, that’s equivalent to the weight of 135 double-decker buses! Wow!

Sadly, it was time for us to say goodbye to our guests. We’d had a lovely weekend and were sad to see them go. But we’d be back in our own bed – this is me turning a negative into a positive!

Next week we will be leaving Packet Boat for the last time (I think, but never say never!) and setting off into London where we will meet my brother and his squeeze in Little Venice. And it seems it’s going to be hot!

Period	Miles	Locks
24th to 28th July	16	0
Cumulative	170	160