We took a couple of days out and spent the night at Dorchester on Thames. As you can see here we found a very cosy mooring tucked in under the trees. We had a fabulous walk up to the top of Whitenham Clumps before a supper of pasta and olive bread.

With some good friends aboard, we headed up river to have a picnic supper on the bank near to Wytham farm.

Moderate amounts of refreshingly cold prosecco were consumed but we did not feel inclined to share this with the sheep that came to investigate.
Thanks Steve - for the photos!

We've had a lot of rain but it didn't get this bad!
'Goodbye Jet-stream, hello summer'. This was the blackboard sign at Godstow lock as we took a Sunday cruise up to Bablock Hythe.
Here is the crew posing at Pinkhill Lock.

The wonderful people at FunkeyMonkey boat names make it very easy to add a professional looking name to your boat.

The speed on the Thames is restricted to 8 kilometres per hour, which is about 4.2 knots. But how do you know what speed you are doing?

The Weather for Friday 2 September seemed to have a promising outlook, so after a lunch at the Trout at Godstow, Aviva headed upstream in the blazing sunshine.

Upstream of Godstow is familiar to us, and passing through KIngs Lock was relaxed. On a Friday evenings, I have learnt, there are often fresh crews taking narrow boats from the Anglo Welsh hire centre at Eynsham. It is a good idea to keep ones distance from these narrow boats with their early learner helmsman! This seemed particularly prudent at Eynsham lock, where an Anglo Welsh narrow boat came out of the lock, weaving from port to starboard and back. I stood by with the aim of fending off if needed. Luckily the novice helmsman, seemed to get the hang of the tiller (yes, you push it the opposite way to the direction you want to go) in the nick of time!

On Monday 11 July, AViVA left her mooring and headed downstream. Weather fair but not promising.

A good run down through Oxford, Iffley and Sandford. Radley was soon astern and on reaching Abingdon it seemed prudent to fuel-up before embarking on this long excursion.

Aviva negotiated the sailing dinghies downstream of the  fuel stop and we were soon entering the narrow Culham Reach before the lock.

On a bright, sunny and warm Friday, three of us took our overnight kits and headed upstream. Girls had a lot of homework and revision, so the skipper was left at the helm for most of the day.

With our guests, we headed upstream from Oxford to Farmoor. The most notable aspect of this trip was the high wind, which gave us tremendous difficulties when coming in to the locks or finding suitable locations for lunch and tea. We all got a good dose of sunshine, and protected our skin with suncream, but the wind was chilly and passengers wrapped themselves in blankets and sleeping bags from the cabins.