The last few miles ... into the dark!

 7 o'clock yesterday morning (Saturday 11th May) I leave George and with my trusty windlass walk ahead to set the only lock we'll do today.

I'm sure that all my lovely 'boating' readers will by now know where we're going.  Every few years a boat needs to be taken out of the water and have some maintenance done on the hull and this is the reason we're where we are ... on our way to Uxbridge Boat Centre where we'll go into a dock which will then be drained of water so that we can see Still Rockin's bottom and 'black' it.

 Don't need to rush this morning ... it'll take George a while to bring Still Rockin' past all these permanently moored boats ...

 to Cowley Lock, there in the distance.

 A pair of Mandarin ducks scooting away as I approach the lock

 Quite a pretty setting here and I notice that athurdaily is offering trips on his passenger boat ... I wonder where he keeps the boat?

 I've emptied the lock and opened one tail gate and I'm walking round the lock to open the other gate ...

 I can just see Still Rockin' now

 I see that the Grand Union Canal here is at normal levels as George comes into the lock and we swap positions ...

 he sees me in and closes the tail gate, sees me up, opens the gates, I go out, he drops the sluices and closes the gates and reboards the boat ...

 and we continue at a snail's pace between the two long lines of boats on Cowley North's Towpath and Off Side Moorings

 A bit of light relief as we pass the cherry pickers standing proud and ready to march away ...

 and I notice more flowers on my wild strawberry plants, but so far the fruits look a bit brown and dry, perhaps they'll pick up soon.

 The late flowering Wisteria looks pretty in the sunshine although the weather forecast is for rain later and there are already dark clouds looming.

 Boats still moored on both sides as approach our destination and we might find it difficult to find a space to moor while we wait for the dock to be ready for us.

 There was no where to moor before we reached the dock but can see that that narrowboat needs to be moved first

Luckily there was a space right before the WWII pill box that we could wait in.  

Because we'd gone past the entrance George was hoping that he could reverse into the dock.

It's now 8:15

We visited The General Elliot last time we were blacking Still Rockin' and will probably do so again during the week.

The apartments we're next to are tiny and a lot of them are still empty, I certainly wouldn't want to live on the ground floor with no privacy at all.

One of the guys from the boatyard has started to move the boat that was blocking the dock entrance ...

and we can see the staff guiding a dutch barge out of the dock

It's not easy for a long boat with all the other boats moored opposite

but he eventually turns into the channel and moves forward

Our turn now, it's 10 to 9 and the guys ask George to bring her in bow first ... no problem ...

These guys know what they're doing as the fend the boat off the sides

holding SR steady as the stern is guided ...

into the dock ... it's had a new roof and new lighting

This is how they position the boat ... the engine is switched off and this chap is steering with his feet using the roof bars for direction

Once in our dock-side ropes are tied to the rings and railings to keep her steady ...

and a plank is positioned to stop the boat from floating too close to the dock wall ...

No beams on this gate to help with closing and the guy in charge of this operation adjusts our ropes again ...

and decides that another plank is required at the bow ...

and the stern needs to be further back ...

still struggling with those gates!

Is he happy yet with the positioning of Still Rockin' in the wet dock?

The gates are closed, the sluices dropped and the tap thingy is turned (don't know what it it's for but it's necessary).

A final adjustment to the bow rope ... not too tight and not too loose

The curtains are closed to keep out any bad weather ...

the pump is switched on to take the water in the dock out into the canal ...

and Still Rockin' goes down, and at 20 to 10 we're sitting on the plinths

The water slowly lowers and by 10 o'clock the dock is empty ...

and the gangplank is deployed

and George is given instruction on the use of the jet wash. 

But before he starts he wants to have a look around the hull ...

first job is the remove all that plastic wrapped around the propellor 

and a naked Still Rockin' apart from the veggie skirt on the waterline

and the dirty job begins ... the power of the machine actually blew George agains the dock wall it was so strong!

And the 'into the dark'?  That's inside Still Rockin' ... we shall have to have the lights on all the time ... and no telly here either!

Tomorrow the painting starts ... watch this space.