Emily on test, and Crick show boats

The August edition of Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test of the Crick winner, Emily.  There's also the mini-reviews of twenty other Crick boats.

Tamworth

After work last night I drove up to Briar Rose, arriving about midnight.  It's a long time since the boat hasn't felt cold on a late night arrival.

This morning, I drove up to Tamworth for a boat test.  It wasn't as sunny as we'd hoped (in fact, it wasn't really sunny at all), but there are some nice bridges along this stretch to give the photos a bit of added interest.

Chance on Thames again

It's been another great day on board Chance, thanks to Doug and James.  This morning, I got the train from home to Teddington, where I met up with Chance for the journey down to Limehouse.  We went into the lock (they put us in the huge barge lock, but using the gates half way down) just after 1pm.  There were boats arriving from Brentford in the usual lock (including Parisien Star).  There were eight boats in our lock, but all the others were going off at Brentford.

Then we were off down the Thames.  We had lunch on the way, before reaching central London, and the exciting bit.  It was warm and sunny as we made our way through the city.

There were some big boats around, and it took quite a lot of concentration to steer into all the washes.

After Tower Bridge we were looking out for the entrance to Limehouse Marina.  There were three big boats coming the other way, making lots of wash (and I mean lots of wash) which James had to steer into.  It put us quite a long way over the river.

Adrian had been in London for meetings, and had managed to get to Limehouse to watch us arrive.  He looked tiny up near the entrance to the lock, but took some great photos of us approaching.

It all meant that we ended up doing a straight-in entrance to the lock -- not really what we'd intended, but James handled things really well, and we didn't touch the sides at all.

Going up in the lock, they just open the gates and let the water in.  It was raining by then, so we got a little wet as we moored up, at the end of an exciting cruise.

Check out Chance's blog for their account of the day.

A Chance to get a Wey

This morning we drove the forty minutes or so from home to Godalming, and got the train to Guildford.  We walked along the River Wey, and met up with Doug and James on Chance.  They were moored at the meadows just out of town.

 



After tea and cake, we set off for the short trip back to Godalming.  We've walked this part of the river a few times, but never done it on board a boat.  The first lock is St Catherine's Lock, and is pretty shallow.

Some of the bridges have pretty low headroom, and you can understand why there are problems when the levels rise.

We passed the junction with the Wey and Arun Canal, which is under restoration further down its length.  It wasn't immediately clear which way to go, as the sign is very small.  All that's left of the canal at this point is an arm used for moorings.

Unstead Lock comes next, and this one is a bit deeper.

This bridge has clearly been significantly changed at some point in its history.

We've often had days out to Farncombe Boathouse, where there's a decent café, and always something going on to watch.  Catteshall Lock is immediately beyond, and the lock workers have to cross the road at the bridge.

This lock, like the others, has very fierce paddles.

Godalming Wharf is a short distance further on, with the trip boat, Iona, moored up in front of the old wharf building.  We went round the corner and tried to get onto a mooring but it was too shallow.  So James reversed back, winded, and then we realised that a boat which had been moored up had gone, so we took its place.

As we had lunch on board, people started arriving for a trip on Iona, which is a horse drawn boat.  Their trip lasted a couple of hours.

After lots of eating and talking, we all walked up through Godalming, to where our car was parked at the railways station.  It was a great day out with good company, and really nice to do a bit of waterway we've seen only from the towpath before.

Chance on the Thames

Yesterday lunchtime I managed to persuade a colleague to switch the time of my break, so I could head down to the Thames to see Doug and James on Chance doing the tidal stretch.  I knew what time they were locking out of Limehouse, so I headed for Westminster Bridge.  I first spotted the familiar blue right back at Waterloo Bridge, looking little more than a speck in the distance.  Here they are coming through Hungerford Bridge.

 

The other narrowboat on the trip is just behind.  But look at what's coming through the next span across!

Getting closer, but still looking pretty small.

Passing the London Eye.

 The crew look pretty cheerful, if though it was a breezy day, and the river was a bit choppy.

Chance was really shifting.  I barely had time to cross to the other side of the bridge before they were on their way past St Thomas' Hospital on one side and Parliament on the other.

 Then disappearing off into the distance, heading for Lambeth Bridge.

It was almost as exciting watching from the bridge as it was doing the trip on Briar Rose nearly two years ago!

Barbara Helen II on test

The July issue of Canal Boat is in the shops, and includes my boat test of the Stephen Goldsbrough boat, Barbara Helen II.

June weekend - Day 3

This was our mooring last night, just on the edge of the winding hole at Old Linslade.  It's a nice mooring.  The trains are behind a small hill; the only problem is the car going over the narrow bridge just behind us, who all hoot their horns, so it's quite noisy at times.  The hooting seems to be instead of slowing down!

This morning was cloudy and chilly.  We set off about 8.10, and were soon at the Three Locks at Soulbury.  The top one was half full, the middle one empty, and the bottom one full.

At Stoke Hammond lock, we were just leaving when another boat arrived at the top.  They'd caught us up by Fenny Stratford lock, and it turned out to be Best O' Mates, whom we'd met a few weeks ago at Marsworth.

Through Milton Keynes, I spotted a swan walking its young along a street.

Then we came up behind an unusual boat going very slowly.  It appeared to be because the helmsman couldn't actually see anything, and was taking left-right instructions from a man at the bow.  We got past them on a wide bit.

We had lunch on the move, then as the afternoon wore on the sun decided to come out and at time it was really quite warm.  We went up Cosgrove lock, and as it was only 3pm decided to moor up, do a few jobs, and enjoy the sunshine for a bit.  We'd seen some people preparing their inflatable boat above the lock, and they came past, shortly afterwards.  They assured us they weren't going to sink.

There have been loads of boats past, many of them wanting to get on the water point just behind us.  One was a Clifton Cruisers hire boat who waited in the channel for a boat to leave, then got a bit stuck.  A man who was already there gave them a hand -- and ended up getting pulled into the water!  If it had been me, I'd have let go of the rope.  Adrian went to assist.

We had an early dinner before traveling the short distance to the marina.  We've packed up, and will be heading home shortly.

18 miles, 6 locks.  (36 miles, 12 locks)