May 9 – Wessex Rose

The new owners of the Wessex Rose, Roland and Steph, redid much of the boat’s décor when they took over. 

On our previous cruises the meals were served on three wooden drop-leaf tables.  Now they have a large table that fits the six guests (we are only four for this cruise).  The table can be dropped or raised depending on the need.  More photos of the Wessex Rose.

After breakfast we were off and sailing.  Heading out of the marina. 

There were a lot of waterfowl.  We saw more swans,

Mallard Ducks,

Canada Geese

Cormorants

And Greylag Geese.

We are sailing on the Thames for this entire cruise.  There were some lovely pastoral scenes...

and we saw a group playing croquet...all dressed in white.  

There were some pretty bridges. 

And we saw some homes with thatched roofs. 

There were many colorful, quaint, picturesque houses.

Just enjoying the cruising. 

We stopped in Henley on Thames...

where we wandered along the waterfront.

Love their term for soft serve ice cream.

and then headed back to the boat for lunch. 

The cruise took us by Shiplake College...

where we saw a lot of rowers in the water.  Rowing seems to be a very popular sport in the area. 

We saw a number of rowers along the river, and a number of paddle boarders as well. 

We went through several locks including Sonning Lock…

and Shiplake Lock.

This little island in the middle of the Thames is called Temple Island.  We moored for the night just across from the island.