Le Mans 2007
From the 'better late than never' department we have some pictures and a few words from the family trip to the Le Mans 24 hour motor race. I've been with various people over the years, most notably cabin-boy Mat who couldn't make it this year. However, my brother came over with his girlfriend, my girlfriend Mary came along with her brother Steve and our brother in law (also Steve) rounded out the numbers.

The theme this year was rain, we saw plenty of it on the way down (apart from when I ran out of petrol 2 kms from the service station.....)

Here is a misplaced boat pikey, somewhere in France....

We pitched camp about 2 minutes before a deluge came down. Mary had brought a gazebo and it did stirling work keeping the elements out (well almost)

On the morning of the first day there, the others had gone shoping, Mary and I heard a crash and some shouting and the gazebo had broken free of its moorings and toppled over. We spent the next hour or so jury rigging the remains and anchoring it down with some tyres 'retrieved' from an old crash barrier. These two pictures show how things ended up - not pretty, but it worked.

On the friday afternoon we walked around the pits as they had an open day. It rained. A lot. Here I am after a small shower, it got much worse.

And here at last is an Aston we can all afford...

We went down to the Houx Annex roundabout on friday evening to watch the customary high jinks. There was one boat there anyway, so its in keeping with the blog theme.

Here are some more general pictures, including a riot control truck that some guys had trailered down from the UK just for friday night. I admire that sort of dedication.

Saturday saw the race start at 3:00pm, after watching that we adjourned to the campsite for some 'refreshments'. After a few Babychams I decided to fire up the Cerbera - a small crowd had gathered by then and we spent a happy few minutes just listening to the engine run...

Saturday night saw the now traditional pump action shotgun activities....

We went on the ferris wheel, here is the view of the racetrack from the top,

...and here is Steve (brother in law) looking how he felt - classic picture. My brother is trying to find a way out.

Anyhoo, there is more I could write, but I suspect my sister and parents will read this, so 'what goes on tour stays on tour'.

It rained all the way back to Dunkerque - all the way......

but despite missing our ferry, we all made it home.

Next week life at a different pace as we take 14 hours to travel in IRIS from Reading to Newbury.

Das Boot
Massive thunderstorm, we're on battery power and shipping water*. Is this the end?

*small drip round skylight ;-)

Le Mans
No updates for a while, seem to have been busy doing various social and work things. We're all off tomorrow morning (v. early) to go to the Le Mans 24 hour race. Not too much narrowboating going on there I guess.

Here are a few random pictures taken when I went to Sonning by myself a few weeks ago, just to go for a little trip on my own. Its been a long time since I took IRIS out by myself and it was quite enjoyable. Apart from the fact there was no one to bark orders at.....

I was feeding some ducks out the side window, when this duck-like bird came along with her ten chicks (some kind of catholic bird?). There then ensued quite a set-to as the ducks and the duck-like bird had a massive fight, including the ducks attempting to drown the chicks by swimming over them. Amazing what social unrest can be caused with a stale muffin.

New ropes
Ah, the gentle thrill of new mooring ropes. The ones that came with IRIS when I bought her had seen better days and were pretty abrasive to use. I ordered some replacements from the Fendermaker, the same place that I got my (wait for it.....) fenders from. As before, prompt service and lower prices than most places.

Here they are waiting to go on....

...and in use....

There was never any question over the colour choice. :) Should be a little less chafing from now on.

I've also (finally) fitted the sink to the bathroom. It ended up going in against a different wall, but seems to fit well there. Just need to do a little bit of tiling around it and I'll be done.

Waiting.....
Doing a bit more work on the bathroom project tonight, and of course the battery ran low on the drill a crucial point. So while I'm waiting for it to re-charge, here are a few random pictures. I've been working away in Scotland and London for a while, as well as taking the odd boat trip, so progress on things such as actually having bathroom sink have been slow.

Anyway, been working from home the last few days and its been very pleasant. I'm possibly the only person on various conference calls who is feeding ducks whilst discussing the riveting detail of the IT world.

Here is a view of IRIS from the side on her mooring, normally there is another boat in the way, but they seem to have gone somewhere...

....and here is one of the locals at the side door. Apparently stale pitta bread is a big hit with the wildfowl.

Finally, here is that massive on-board computer system that enables these pages to be bought to you.

All in all, not the most scintillating of posts, even by my standards. That drill had better be charged up now....