A pint or three with Saltysplash

Last night we drove(in the car) over to Goring to meet up with Geoff (aka Saltysplash) and Laura who were cruising Lady Elgar up the Thames. Just for a drink and a chat on their round trip from Iver to Iver via Brentford, Oxford and Braunston. As we drove past Pangbourne we spotted them ploughing against the current and I remarked that their speed was probably 2 miles an hour and as ours was over 40mph it would take them 20 times as long to reach Goring as it did us from that point. So we did it in about ten minutes and it took them about 90.

When they did arrive I was able to direct them to a safe mooring spot out of the considerable current and we all retired to the local pub for a pint (well some pints actually) and had a splendid evening.

While we were waiting by the lock earlier, I picked up a leaflet encouraging boaters to moor two abreast when it is crowded. On canals this is quite normal but apparently on the Thames it is not part of the culture. The glass fibre cruiser folk are indeed a different bunch from us narrowboaters.