My last UK blog

Hello, how are you? Nice to see you again.

The pilot deferred our passage to Portishead from Tuesday to Wednesday because the tall ships were due to go out on Tuesday. It worked out better for us anyway as the weather was much better on Wednesday and we got to share the lock with The Mathew, the tall ship that moors in Bristol.

We followed them into Sharpness Docks

and then followed them out into the estuary

We soon left them behind though. This was the view through the back bedroom window.

This is Rick, our pilot for the voyage.

He was great and let Roger drive

Chico wondered what all the fuss was about and curled up on his bed and slept for most of the way. We fasten him on whenever the side doors are open or when we're in locks but he's so lazy he probably wouldn't go walk-about anyway.

It was flat calm going under the Severn bridges

and 3 hours later we were at Portishead

We shared the lock with a pair of rowing boats and a fishing boat

When they let the water into the lock it's pretty spectacular and makes a lot of foam

which almost swamped the rowing boats

When you get into Portishead Marina you could be forgiven for thinking that you were somewhere in the Med. The boats are big and expensive and the mooring fees certainly reflect that. £42 for one night!!!

This morning we completed the final stage of our journey starting off by sharing a very packed lock with several fishing boats.

This is the third time we've cruised through the Avon Gorge but the site of the Clifton Suspension Bridge is still pretty awesome, don't you think?

You can see all our solar panels on the roof. They're working really well and the big solar collector in the centre is the one that heats our water. It's working so well that I think we need to fit a temperature restrictor on the hot water taps before one of us gets scalded.

It only took  us an hour and a half to reach Bristol

where we were welcomed by three of the lock staff. The guy on the left actually remembered us from when we were moored here last year.

Once we got through the lock and into the harbour guess who we met? The Mathew was full of excited children going for a ride and being entertained by a couple of "Captain Jack" look-alikes.

We've got a good mooring and will stay here until Monday morning when Bluey will be lifted out onto a big wagon and transported to Belgium to start our new life.

So that's the end of our UK travels. Thank you for following us over the past 8 years and I hope you'll come with us over to Europe and join us in our new adventures.

You'll be able to find my new blog HERE

I'll start posting as soon as we get our European internet up and running so please bear with me until then.

A Bientot!