And so to Windsor

Over the last couple of days we’ve lost the hot, sticky weather, replaced by an altogether more comfortable cooler, fresher feel. Still mild enough for shirtsleeves, but it’s a lot easier to sleep at night.

Our normal start time seems to be around 09:30 these days, and today was no exception.

We could have left it a little longer; we had to wait at Bray Lock for about 15 minutes for a couple of boats to come up.

Bray Lock
The large vessel behind is one of the Le Boat hire fleet, sleeps 9, has 4 loos and costs from around £1000 for 3 nights!

I spotted our first Thames kingfisher below the lock. At least he obligingly stayed put for the camera.

It was a zoom lens shot though.

Under the M4

I couldn’t quite work out if this is a genuine stern-wheeler, or whether it’s prop driven and the paddles just rotate with the flow.

MV Southern Comfort.
I can’t see anything of a rudder, but then again I can’t see any drive train for the paddle wheels either. There’s a side-paddle boat down near Kingston that is definitely bogus, you can see the prop wash at the stern.

Now that’s a nice boat…

It was 40 minutes from Bray to Boveney Lock, and we had another short wait while the lock was vacated.

Waiting at Boveney Lock

One of the trip boats came up to the lock, turned around and headed back down to Windsor. We slowed down and let them pass…

A tight S bend and a duck under the bypass bridge and the Windsor moorings come into view.

Windsor arrival

The railway bridge, dead ahead, is undergoing maintenance, hence the plastic shroud. The orange RIB is a guard boat, there’s one on either side, to warn high boats of the reduced headroom.

We dropped on to a good spot on Bath Island, looking out over the main channel, watching the antics of the hired rowboat and motor launch crews.

And you can see Windsor Castle – if you stick your head out of the side hatch and crane your neck a bit!

We had a drop of rain this afternoon, almost literally. Not enough to even wet the paintwork. Though more is due overnight.

Locks 2, miles 4½