At Last the Grand Union

The next morning, once the log delivery had been made we stopped at Highline Yachting to wait for them to open.  We have learnt from experience, that you never pass a facility if you need anything, however small or insignificant it may seem.  We needed to top up our diesel supply so we stopped and waited for them to open at 10am.  The chap there congratulated us as we were the first customers he had had for diesel for the new price of £1 per litre.  Great!!

All topped up we headed off again towards the end of the Paddington Arm. 

I mentioned briefly about coconut spotting yesterday and today I took the time to have a look and find out why they are there in the canal. 
Coconuts
The link above is quite a good one and gives you more detailed explanations of the meanings given to Coconuts by the Hindu faith but a quick summary and by no means an educated view would be this. 

An image of Lord Shiva

Coconut plays a vital role in all puja rituals. The coconut is a satvic fruit. It is sacred, pure, clean, and health giving, endowed with several properties. It is also offered on occasions like weddings, festivals, the use of a new vehicle, bridge, house etc. The marks on the coconut are  thought to represent the three-eyed Lord Shiva and therefore it is considered to be a means to fulfil our desires. It is also used in funeral rituals and to represent the ancestors.

Our engine, although still smokey is running well.  Yog has stripped her down and rebuilt her so many times now he can do it quicker than he can put together an Ikea flat pack!!  Each time, she runs that little bit better, the smoke gets that little bit less and she sounds that little bit nicer.  She sounds so lovely when we are going along too, you can feel the engine thudding gently vibrating the boat under your feet, sending a quiver through your body.  At the same time the 'phut phat phut' of the exhaust adds a  rhythmic drumming to the journey.  Every time we stop at a lock or to moor up there is always an old chap, they all react the same, nose in the engine room with a nostalgic look on their face, look up, point in engine room, ask 'what engine is that?' Yogi replies '1946 Dorman crane engine' Old man smiles and replies 'lovely old thing, they don't make them like that any more!!' he then turns and carries on with his day, happy to have seen something 67 years old still working, and she does, sometimes 10 hours a day bless her. 

Our gentle chug continued to Bulls Bridge, where we stopped briefly for supplies and a quick Tesco Cafe stop. Yog was most impressed with his fish and chips AND we managed to do the shopping WITHOUT killing or even maiming each other!  We arrived at Cowley with time to spare and decided to celebrate our sucess in Tescos with a pint in 'The Malt Shovel' which was much deserved and needed by that time.

And yes, I did feel as knackered as I look!!!