Gloucester 15th June

Our next port of call: Gloucester. 
It's a spring tide at the moment which can affect the river all the way up to Tewkesbury, so we waited, as advised by Gloucester Locks, for the end of the tide before moving. We were also delayed by the discovery of some sort of liquid in the engine bay. We believe it's antifreeze but all seems running OK so we decided to head off and investigate further once in town. At the giddy speed of over 6mph! Madness!

Once more the river was very quiet. Our only companions were cormorant, little egret, heron, oystercatcher (!) , buzzard and so on, and various large lumps of tree:
And then all of a sudden, we were in the centre of town, and witnessing a drama to boot:
It seems one of the group to the left had been having a liquid lunch and fell in the water. They were fished out OK but since the building in the background is Gloucester Prison, the service attendance was impressive..

Round the corner and there was the lock, massive, of course.
It was fab to be rising up to a view we know well but from a very different viewpoint:
All we had to do then was reverse onto a pontoon under eyes of all Gloucester. Which Andrew did with confidence and style, and drew a round of applause from the assembled throng. 

Andrew then explored the engine again, and discovered that a couple of jubilee clips had worked loose. Tightened them and hoping that will fix it.
 
After a little rest we went exploring for a blue felt tip pen (explanation in a future blog) and then sought refreshments at Gloucester Brewery Taphouse,  Warehouse 4.
Excellent ambience, good beers, and helpful staff. Which they had to be. A truly bizarre self service system meant you had to load up a card with money, insert the card into the slot for your chosen beverage, and pour. Alison's glass was not quite a pint so she had to chug some to receive her full dispensation. But Andrew's pint of pale ale was 2/3rds foam and our attendant helper had to get creative to get him his pint.
Back around the docks, to find real Dock operations going on:
and interesting craft:
and an ex lightship
where you can stay on a self catering  basis, for a party of up to 4.

To Dr Fosters. We were 2 of the 3 clients, all hiding from the giant TV screen showing true life crime documentaries.  Way to kill the vibe, guys.

Then to the restaurant outside which we are moored,  Greek on the Docks . Highly recommended. Greek specialities, served by friendly staff in stylish surroundings. Really good, and vibe restored. Back aboard, replete.
Wednesday morning was a slow start, and a pottering tidy up ready for visitors later today and tomorrow.  We'd given Howard, Andrew's brother, exact instructions about where we are and nearest car access point - he has serious mobility issues.  However, he was dropped off by his taxi on the other side of a range of warehouses. He wasn't as far away as possible and still be in the Dock area, but still..
Anyway, he got to us. We found, sadly, that he was unable to clear the coaming onto our deck, never mind get inside, so we pulled up deck chairs in the sunshine and gossiped on the pontoon. Soon it was lunchtime and we were away to another local restaurant,  Italian this time, Settebello Trattoria. And another feast!
Only just remembered to take a photo! Anyway, we called a local taxi firm that understood the docks: they picked Howard up directly from the restaurant to whisk him back to Cheltenham. 

Thursday is our 2nd, therefore last, night on this pontoon. Our old friends Julie and Julian Gobey are coming over at around lunchtime for a cruise down to Saul Junction. Our plan in the morning is to go through Llanthony Bridge, top up with water, pump out, dump rubbish, do a laundrette run, and shop for groceries. There are plenty of visitor moorings all along there once we've cleared the services. Then we will be all shipshape for boarders.


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