Paddington

Here I am Rune

Distance 2.5 miles

Total 1895 Locks 88 Tunnels

Running total mileage 2685.6 miles

Since we had been at Kensal Green since Saturday and our water and other facilities were starting to run low, we have moved on the short distance to Paddington Basin for tonight’s mooring. We watered up as we came through Little Venice but that was a bit of a palaver. There is only one mooring space at the services station and it was occupied by two boats when we arrived. We moored up to the second one whilst waiting for the first one to finish taking on water. At this point the heavens opened and we all went below to get out of the rain. When the downpour had passed we resumed and the first boat finished and left. The second boat then moved onto the services mooring with us attached, this however meant that we were some way out into the canal, plenty of space for a narrow-boat to get through but not for a wide-beam. Of course the first boat to come along was a wide-beam so a load of shuffling to get out of its way. This ‘boat-ballet’ continued for over an hour as the water tap at Little Venice hadn’t got much pressure and when we then got moored alongside another boat came along to breast up on our outside. I think they could do with repositioning the water point to somewhere not quite as congested!

Once the job was done we then moved on to the Paddington Basin, couldn’t moor alongside so are currently double banked outside of Paddington Station. Apparently we will have to move on tomorrow as there is Dragon Boat racing in Paddington Basin on Thursday and all mooring has been suspended.