Uxbridge is a funny place, it turned out to be a Brexiteers heaven, of course. Could it be because it is the constituency of Boris Johnson, the chieftain of the Leave campaign?

The referendum was ahead of us and most of London seemed against Brexit. Not in Uxbridge though, which isn’t Central London, but still, it’s Greater London. A lot of boaters had Brexit support posters on their windows or showing other paraphernalia related to it. There was quite a profound anti Europe sentiment in the air.

Brussels was the nemesis of the moment. The pesky foreigners were invading the UK and this had to be stopped. The term ‘red tape’ was used again and again.

As foreigners, these sentiments seemed strange, unfamiliar and we felt a bit uneasy about it. The UK felt like a pressure cooker under too much pressure and that the lid will blast off any moment. We did not want to get in trouble and refrained from making photos of those ‘Brexit boats’, nor did we want to get involved in any discussion. Weird times.

Instead we enjoyed the canal around Uxbridge and focused on the natural beauty. We also had a major project ahead of us – Quintessence was about to receive a new color. She was about to be painted and Ian Prince, the boat painter, came to see us in Uxbridge.

Green Uxbridge, it’s so green and lush, a constituency predestined for the Green Party UK?

Quintessence still with her old paint.

Adnan waiting in anticipation, where is Ian?

That’s one way to hang the washing, quite a good one, actually. One to copy?