We are turffed off Sonning, so Kennet & Avon here we come
Sonning to Sulhampstead, River Thames and Kennet & Avon Canal, 10 miles 8 locks
It should have been “Moored Sonning, River Thames”… but a letter landed on our deck this morning.. not a knock on the door, but an official letter telling us to b*gger off! Apparently we are on ‘Sir’s’ land and the bank is for fishing only!.. Heh not only me but about 20 other boats got the same letter over a couple of miles or so just tucked in between the bushes just as we did!
Some boats were there when we went downstream, and some very close to Sonning bridge have been there for gawd knows how long because they are covered in hundreds of spiders webs! 
No worry.. pins duly pulled on what was going to be a day moored.. Reading’s Tesco here we come! Milk and bread needed before turning on to the Kennet & Avon Canal.. Our Thames Licence runs out tomorrow, but I didn’t want to stay in Reading overnight tonight..
They should leave a note pad by this sign surely! 
I love Reading, there is no other place like it on the canal system.. firstly we have Blakes Lock… oh my DIY!.. a month on the Thames has spoiled us with lock keepers, now we would have to flex our muscles again..
I am looking forward to cruising this canal, I am very fond of it.. but the Thames I have really enjoyed this time especially the parts we did from Reading west.. I think I am more impressed with that than the eastern end.. there is a huge difference between the two..
The canal through Reading is narrow, and of course it is the River Kennet, so the flow can be fast. Traffic lights needed as it winds its way through the Oracle Centre… it’s just like crossing a road, press the button and wait… but no sooner Vic pressed the button it turned green, off we go…
It wasn’t long ago we caught the bus to Reading from Beale Park at the beginning of the month and had lunch out at the Giraffe Restaurant on the left here, I remember sitting out saying to Vic that we would be cruising through here on 22nd July.. well we are a day early.. thanks to that letter on the deck this morning!..
A broken down walkway near County Lock just after the town centre.. and a young cormorant is looking to fish.. I wondered after seeing this if the K&A was OK.. by OK I mean wonder if BW are looking after it properly.. this wasn’t a good start.. And it is obvious that it could do with a little trimming…
But I like it like this.. there really is no rush, no need to go fast.. this is only just outside Reading centre, and the River Kennet winds along the contours almost a secret from the townsfolk.. It would be difficult coming the other way downstream if there was any big flow on the river though..
There are so many new pictures in the gallery that I took today, from number 107, there are around 19 in all including pictures of working boat Nuneaton and butty Brighton.. and lots of the Oracle in Reading.. I wish I could put them all on the blog.. but…
This evening we pulled into a very quiet mooring that we sort of made ourselves.. With no vegetation cut on the towpath side it is a diy job to make moorings and I sent Vic out with the rip hook! 
.. It is overlooking one of the lakes in the area just to the south west of Theale Lift Bridge..
A pic from the mooring just as the sun went down taken from the front cratch.. This will do very nicely thankyou!
Sue
Updated 23rd January 2012
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:11 am
Hi just wanted to let you know i am enjoying your blog and photo’s, I live in Reading an cycle from sonning through the oracle every morning so get to watch life on the river…..
have recently taken up kayaking along the Thames and just did a stint this weekend on the very stretch of water you are parked.
A great stretch of water, quite shallow and over grown in places but very relaxing
Regards
Martin
July 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Hi Sue
As the most comfortable thing I can do at the moment is sit in front of my computer, I’ve enjoyed your blog more than usual.
It looks like you’re having a wonderful summer and I’m looking forward to your journey along the Kennet and Avon, as I haven’t travelled it.
You recently mentioned buying diesel at Farncombe and the continuing problem of declaring the split between propulsion/other use. If a boatyard will only sell at 60/40, does that mean that’s how they price the fuel and issue the receipt?
Out of interest, what’s your average cost of diesel per week/month?
Enjoy the K&A, I’m off for more painkillers washed down with a g&t!
Regards
Malcolm
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Hi Sue
We’ll be on the Kennet and Avon from around 2 August so hope we catch up with you somewhere – are you going along and back or doing the trip up to Sharpness? If oyu are we may not meet up which would be a shame.
sandralouise59@hotmail.com
Sandra & Barry
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Hope you enjoy the K & A….
will look out for you as you pass our mooring on the river at Ham mills lock :~))
Love the blog and the pictures!
Gillie..Nb Vox Stellarum
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Martin,
Not a bad cycle ride that each day, especially in this weather.. yes I agree it is a lovely stretch, pity the landowner has got fed up with boats on the bank along there. On a couple of the bywaters there are some boats that have been there quite some time, I noticed them when I walked Lucy and Meg along to the boat club..
Many thanks for your kind comment, I am glad you are enjoying the blog..
Malcolm,
Sorry to hear that you are still sore.. hey you should be out in the garden, not square eyed to the computer!!..
The K&A is a canal that we have cruised along many times, still a favourite of mine hard going as it is I am looking forward to it.
Yes Farncolm and any other boatyard refusing a boater’s declaration will produce a receipt.. this is what makes it so wrong, because we HAVE to accept it or not buy it.. So technically I am breaking the law by giving a false declaration! I would have had to do so if I had run too short of diesel not to be able to pass!
Hope you feel better soon… g&t and painkillers should work just fine!
Sandra and Barry,
Yep brilliant, we will be along the K&A, we are not in any hurry now so it will be a slow moving boat.. looking forward to meeting you both having seen your boat around Tamworth.. was it Tamworth.. (Off the top of my head) during the winter months..
Gillie,
Oh I know Ham Mills Lock, that is somewhere just before Newbury isn’t it.. yep should be there next week when I have the grandchildren aboard, I’ll give you a toot and see if you are in!
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:02 pm
I always thought that spiders’ webs were the sign of an abandoned boat, but a spider actually tethered Indigo Dream to the boat next door within an hour of our mooring up the other day – within 12 hours you’d think she was a ghost boat!
Enjoy the K & A – it has its irritations but the surrounding beauty goes some way to compensate…
Sue, Indigo Dream
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Sue,
You are quite right, ha, there is a spider working right inside NP tonight with a massive web right across the whole of the boat!… Given 7 days away I guess the inside would be ghostly!
July 29th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Hi Sue
I tried using the computer in the garden but the sunshine makes it difficult to see the screen. The ice in my g&t also melts and it’s painful going back into the house to get more.
Only another month until I’m better according to the Doc…can’t wait.
Thanks for the info on diesel declarations. As usual things were simple until the government got involved. Why have a simple system when they can complicate matters?
If they make a rule that states the purchaser declares the split, then the purchaser is responsible if they falsify it and the boatyards should just sell the fuel and keep the approprite records!
I’d appreciate it if you can give me an idea of the weekly/monthly cost of diesel for a continuously cruising boat similar to No Problem.
Regards
Malcolm
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Hi Malcolm,
Well hopefully you are well on the mend now…
Yes this fuel thing is really annoying.. we filled up recently and this is what I got…
“Do you do a boaters declaration on the diesel split?” Says I
“It is 85p, that is the only price”
“Yes but what is the split?”
“There isn’t one, I am not a tax collector, If they want the tax then they will have to chase you for it”
Charming I thought, and I didn’t have to sign any forms in his office like I have done so every time I have put diesel on in the past since the new rules.
We usually fill up every 6 weeks with between 100 and 150 litres.. but don’t forget we do very little cruising usually..
Hope that helps..
August 20th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Hi Sue
The ribs are healing nicely thanks, I’m much more mobile but still on the painkillers. I thought I’d try going without them as I don’t like taking drugs for too long….big mistake!
Thanks for the info re the diesel, very helpful, which is more than the man sellling it was.
I hope you added him to your boatyard list under ‘grumpy’.
It looks like you’re having a good time, the summer has been good after a soggy start so enjoy it.
I’ll keep reading the blog and will try to catch up with you soon now I’m driving again.
Regards
Malcolm
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:32 am
Malcolm,
Gosh it is taking a while to get yourself fit again!
Yes the guy was quite non assuming… It has been a good summer but now it looks like a soggy end, the rain is really pouring down tonight.. We’ll get a knock sometime I feel sure… Take care