We moved from Osney to Sandford on Sunday afternoon to a bright and busy day of people messing about on boats. We'd had a fabulous Pentecost service at our home church of St Columbas, then untied and moved. What a hoot moving through a busy Sunday afternoon on the water in Oxford. Punts, rowing eights, tiny row boats, large plassy cruisers, Salter's day boat to Abingdon, hirers of craft large and small and owners of holiday palaces - the river had them all. And there were we, gliding smoothly in Bella in the midst of the mayhem. What fun! We had booked ahead for Sandford in order to moor at an elecric point to get a few loads of laundry done. Pete had bought a rotary clothes line which we fit to a pole on Bella's stern and we took advantage of the warm sunshine to dry the clothes. Also - fun! In the one pic, you can just see the laundry line beside the parasol and Elizabeth peeking over the top of boats.
By Sunday evening, were ready for our boating friends, Dom and Helen, whe decided after more than a year of renting a house after having sold their boat, to live again on a boat. They collected their gorgous tug (70 feet and traditional engine) from Staines and anticipated meeting us at Sandford. Pete stood ready at the lock with his camera and lo, they came into view. A fabulous night was had by all, with Cava and caviar to celebrate their move back to water.
