During a short trip out on the boat, we had to wait while an enormous widebeam came through a bridge. It must have been the full 12' wide -- I'm still wondering whether they managed to get past a Wyverne Shipping hire boat, which had decided to moor in one of the narrowest sections in the Bugbrooke cutting. Once the test was done, we went to The Wharf Inn at Bugbrooke for a very nice lunch.
Throughout the day the wind has been getting stronger and stronger. It made getting the test boat back into its marina quite tricky, and when I arrived back at Thrupp Wharf to park the car, the wind there was also very strong. I walked back down the towpath to Cosgrove, and consulted the weather forecast: tomorrow morning, the wind is due to be much less strong. I decided that regardless of whether I returned this afternoon or tomorrow morning, I needed to turn the boat around -- and the conditions would help me decide.
I struggled to get the boat off the side, such was the force of the wind -- not helped by a little plastic boat having moored very close in front; I was worried about being blown into it. It's only a couple of hundred yards down to Cosgrove Lock, where they's room to turn above. It's surprisingly sheltered there, but once I was about two-thirds of the way through the turn the wind did the rest. It also then tried to push me into the side of the trip boat which moors by the lock.
Consequently, I've decided to delay getting back into the marina and onto our pontoon until the morning, so I went back into the space I'd just left (although of course I'm now facing the other way, which might confuse the permanent moorers across the canal when they get back from work). I'm due at work tomorrow, but it's a late shift so I'll have plenty of time to get back to the marina. Of course with all such decisions it's one I may regret tomorrow, if the wind doesn't die down or if the rain due tonight is slower to pass through than forecast.
0 miles, 0 locks. (1 mile, 0 locks)
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