A great day for cruising ...

... on Wednesday (20th) and before 9 o'clock

George is pushing off the bank at Wargrave

and reversing out into the  river's stream

round Poplar Eyot (island) to where

all the posh houses are.

Although far too big for me, I really like this house

especially the garden with its delicate planting of white and pinks

I just love the

juxtaposition of

traditional and

modern

architecture

along the River Thames' banks

especially here as we cruise

Wargrave

to the first lock of the day at Shiplake

where it was a tight fit

and deep enough to need a hand from the lock keeper to take my rope

and where the Oxfordshire flag was flying ... designed by the College of Arms and was only registered with the Flag Institute in October 2017.

I like the way this lovely old flint building sits in its space as we rounded the bend and stopped off at the services above the lock to get rid of the rubbish

Approaching the left and then hand bends I can see the White House which was the home of Uri Geller until fairly recently

As we rounded the bend where the river narrows we couldn't believe the stupidity of the person at the helm of the bigger cruiser above (here looking back after  the bend), who was overtaking the smaller cruiser on 'our' side of the river and was rather surprised to say the least to see us, even bigger than him, coming towards him.  We slowed and moved slightly over but mindful of the trees and the little cruiser did the same on his side and the guy passed with 'ner a glance!  He wouldn't (I hope) have made that sort of maneuverer in a car on a blind bend.

Plenty of moorings available outside the house but the mixture of mooring information ( signs as above and a TVM style) are confusing.

The mill stream flow is quite strong

and caused George a little anxiety as we approached Sonning Bridge

as it's on a skew

with a blind bend beyond

Safely through 

and we're soon at Sonning Lock

This is the pole/hook that I use to either hook it round the bollard if I can reach it, or offer the bow rope up to the lockie for him to do it for me.

There's already a boat in the mooring we usually so we're going to try the one on the left here

It was a bit awkward so George pulled away again

winded (turned) and came at it from downstream

All tied up ... just a bit of garden to tidy up

and we can sit

and enjoy the views.