Time to move on from Dorney

08:45 on Monday (24th September) was really cold - just 5°c and I am wearing 5, yes five layers as I left George to lift the pins, wind and leave our Dorney mooring to walk down to Bovney Lock ...

I knew that it would be on self-service and as I walked a cruiser going upstream passed me so I thought that I would be able to open the gates straight away but unfortunately because the sluices had been closes (as they should be) I had to go through the routine of opening them again before the system would allow me to operate the gate.  By this time George is waiting and the lock keeper has come on duty.  As I walk to the tail gate I see this sign ...

so we asked the lockie if Romney Lock would be manned today but he didn't know and to our surprise he actually found out for us!  Yes Romney will be manned, thank goodness - we've wound that lock before and it really does take hours to lift the sluices one at a time and open each gate one at a time and then do it all again in reverse once we're in the lock ... and again to get out of the lock!

After a quick stop to get rid of a week's rubbish we continue downstream

Visitors wishing to visit Windsor Racecourse via the river will alight here.

We've never seen Baths Island at Windsor completely empty of moored boats ... oh no, tell a lie, one right at the end next to the railway bridge!

By the time we're approaching Windsor Castle the sun has warmed us up a little and we both shed one layer!

We do love Windsor!

Through Windsor ...

passing office and apartment blocks into Romney Lock Cut

The sign informs that the lockie is on duty but we can see no sign of him.  We wait for about 5 minutes and then see him cross the weir towards the controls but he very studiously ignores us, after about another 5 minutes George decides to find out what's happening but the lockie gives no explanation, just that it'll take about 5 minutes for the lock to fill up for us!

Then there's another delay because there's a narrowboat approaching the lock too and comes alongside us ...

George has suggested that the narrowboat goes out first as he's probably going to be cruising a little faster than we do.

Albert Bridge appears to have safety netting along its length as we continue downstream painstakingly slowly following nb Timcomalee II

Windsor Castle from the around the corner over Home Park land

Slow as a snail!

Heading for the sun!

Old Windsor Lock next, on self-service today and I take over from nb Timcomalee to operate the gates etc., when a small cruiser arrives and enters ... no problem ...

I've opened the tail gates and the nb starts to move out ...

and I look down to see a Fisher Brothers trip boat approaching ...

The pilot of the trip boat has seen the nb exiting the lock and pulls over to allow room to pass ... in the meantime the cruiser is having problems passing us ... there is plenty of room ...

Because I don't need to close the gates I walk down the lock and over the bottom gates and call to George that there's a trip boat wanting to enter the lock and he (trip boat) won't have seen Still Rockin' coming out due to the angle ... but all is ok when the trip boat pulls back again to allow us to pass and for George to pick me up from the landing.

We've soon caught up with the narrowboat again and can see that pole position is taken but site number two will do us just nicely!

It's just midday by the time we've moored up at Runnymede another of our favourite places to be ... and now it's lovely and warm too!

It's been a great day ...

a lovely evening sunset and a forecast of more of the same over the next few days ... what more could we ask for!