OUT ON TO THE THAMES!

Wednesday, June 9th
We had arranged to travel with Jen and Bill on Sweet William,
so we all set off around 9.30 for Picketts Lock, where we intended to moor for the night.
We went ahead to do the first lock and waited for them. But they didn't come.
In the end we had to go through the lock because there were other people waiting to come up through it.
We didn't have their mobile 'phone number,
so we had to resort to contacting them the way boaters did in the old days.
We gave a note to people on a boat going up river, with our mobile phone number,
They phoned to say they'd had to change the fanbelt, but were on their way.
They eventually caught us up at the next lock,
and we travelled on together for the rest of the day.

Thursday, 10th June
These last few miles of the Lea Navigations are the least interesting part of the trip,
with a lot of rubbish and junk floating in the canal.
We set off and made good time to the junction with the Hertford Cut
where we turned left on to the Hertford, and started up through the three locks.
As we came to the second lock I thought I saw a boat coming down which I recognised.
It was Cherus with our friends Cherry and Russ aboard.
We didn't think we'd meet, and so it was a bonus to see them.
The stretch of canal we were on was only just over two miles long,
and we could so easily have missed them.
We had a quick exchange of gossip and then they had to move one.
They were going to do the Lea & Stort and wanted to get well up the canal before they moored.

At the end of the Hertford Cut we said goodbye to Jen and Bill,
who were going back along the Regents Canal, through Little Venice,
down to Brentford and out on to the Thames that way.
We may well see them again on the Kennet & Avon.

We meet so many great people on the canals.
All of them are such open and easy people to get on with.
We travel along with them a little way, then they go their way and we go ours.
Yet we often see them again somewhere. It was like this in the old days of the working boats
when people met for a little while then had to be on their way.
They left messages for each other on the way,
with a toll office or a warehouse or with a friend.

We turned left on the last stage of our journey down to Limehouse and out on to the Thames.
We pulled in to Limehouse basin and found a mooring spot.



COMING IN TO LIMEHOUSE BASIN

There were many boats moored there, as it is a marina too.
We went to the Harbourmaster's Office to check in, and he gave us a talk
about how it would be on the Thames and checked that we knew
what we were letting ourselves in for!
He gave us a leaflet explaining about all of the bridges and which arch to take,
and what to do in the event of a large vessel appearing! (PANIC!)
He seemed satisfied that we had an idea of what to do
and told me not to worry, it would be a wonderful trip!
My face must have said it all!
The intrepid Cherry arrived a little while later and we went out
to one of the oldest pubs in the East End of London for a meal.

Friday, 11th June
Today we had a free day and walked along the Thames to Katherine Dock.
In the evening our friend Pete arrived. He wanted to do the Thames trip too.
So it was out for a Chinese meal--well it might be the Last Supper!
Then it was off to bed with alarms set for 6.00 a.m.
We go out on to the Thames tomoorrow at 7.00 a.m.

Saturday, 12th June
The day was fine, the sun was trying its hardest to shine,
there was very little wind, all in all a perfect day to do it.
After bacon sandwiches and strong coffee,
we donned our lifejackets, watched for the red light to change to green,
and made our way in to the lock.
The huge gates closed behind us,
the lock keeper opened the bottom ones a crack to let the water start to run out,



and opened them further as the water level dropped.
There were three narrowboats in the lock altogether,
and I think I should tell you that the women on the other two boats didn't do the trip!
The husbands each had a friend to crew with them.

Then the gates were opened wide and we were the first out.



LEAVING LIMEHOUSE LOCK

One long blast on the horn to tell the traffic on the Thames to watch out,
we were coming out of Limehouse, and there we were.
On the Thames!!!!!!



Canary Wharf was on our left, but we had to turn right, up stream.
We went out half an hour after low water, so that we would have the tide behind us all the way
to give us the extra push we would need to get to Teddington before the tide turned.
We had a six hour window in which to complete the journey.

I had wondered if the current would grab us in its jaws as we went out,
but Liberty Belle was more than a match for it.
She was magnificent, there wasn't a tremor nor a hint that she wasn't used to this sort of water.
She rode the water like a veteran all the way to Teddington.

We had been recommended by friends who had already done the trip to go out early
to miss the commercial traffic, and it was a good piece of advice.
The only other craft we saw for miles was a police boat speeding by.
it created a wash, but we rode it well.



UNDER TOWER BRIDGE

We passed all the London sights:
Under Tower Bridge
The Tower of London
St. Katherine Dock
The Globe Theatre
Monument
The Houses of Parliament
Under Westminster Bridge
Lambeth Palace
Tates Britain and Modern
The London Eye
HMS Belfast
The shell of the Battersea Power Station



It was truly fantastic, I enjoyed every minute of it.
Half way along we had toasted teacakes and more strong coffee.
The day warmed up and we began to peel off layers, but always kept the lifejackets on!
We sailed the length of the Boat Race and continued upstream.

One of the great moments was waving to our postmen on Westminster Bridge!
Yes, Catharine and Mamdooh had got up at 4.15 and driven down to London from Solihull
to see us go under the bridge.
They'd got there just five minutes before us. What friends! They took lots of pictures.
They went off and spent the day in London and then came to see us later.

There was hardly any traffic on the river at all, a few cruisers and that was about all.
Of the two other boats we came out with, one kept up with us all the way, the other took longer.
We had given the man on one of the boats a disposable camera, and he took photos of us.
I took a roll of film of him and gave it to him at the end.
So we shall have pictures of our boat on the Thames eventually.
The wife of the man on the other boat was at strategic points along the way and she took a video.
They are going to put it on to a CD so we can play it on the computer.
Isn't technology wonderful?

Eventually, the cityscape gave way to houses and a more urban landscape
and as we went further on it became quite rural.
We passed the entrance lock to the Grand Union at Brentford.
We'd been down to the other side of the lock by boat last month.
On the other side of the river was Kew Gardens.

And so we continued past Strand on the Green to Richmond.
At Richmond there are weirs which are raised two hours before and after high tide.
These weirs maintain the depth of the water from Richmond upstream,
so that effectively this is where the tidal Thames ends.
We arrived half an hour early, so we had to hover whilst we waited
for the water to level out on each side of the weir.
There were boats waiting above and below the weir.
Eventually, the weirs were raised and we could continue.

We went on through Teddington Lock.
This is the end of the tidal Thames.
So we'd done it!
Twenty miles of a wonderful trip.
We were all pretty pleased with ourselves, and especially proud of captain Trev!
We continued on for a couple of miles and moored up at Kingston-on-Thames
so that Cherry and Pete could catch a train home.
But before they left, we had champagne, smoked salmon and cream cakes!
We said good bye to our valiant crew and Trev went straight to sleep!

Then at about 5.15, Catharine and Mamdooh arrived and brought the post and a parcel.
They stayed about an hour and a half, and then set out back to Solihull.

Trev and I sat down and talked over our exciting day, one of the best in our lives,
and one we shall never forget.
Thank you Trev for putting up with all my worries about the trip
and encouraging me to do it. I'm so glad I did.

Sunday, 13th June
Anything I write now will seem a little tame!
(There has to be a pun there somewhere--tame/Thames?)
Well anyway, life goes on and I'm sure we'll find some more adventures soon!

We left Kingston-on-Thames and continued upstream towards our next goal--
the Wey and Godalming Navigations.
This is the furthest south we can travel on the inland waterways system.
Well, I think some would argue with me that in fact the Medway is further south,
but you have to go out on the Thames estuary to do that, past the Flood Barrier.
And I've had quite enough white knuckle rides for a while, thank you!

So we went on along the Thames, past some of the most fantastic houses,
and interesting chalets and houseboats.
There were lots of canoes, sailing dinghies, motor boats and cruisers on the river.
I suppose it was because it was the weekend.
Trev had to take action to avoid hitting some of them.
They were all over the river.

We went past Hampton Court Palace, and through two locks,
Molesey Lock and Sunbury Lock.
The great benfit is--we don't have to do the locks.
There is a lock keeper at each one.

Eventually, at Shepperton, we came to the turn off for the Wey and Godalming Navigation.
Unfortunately it was the lock keeper's lunch hour,
so a group if us sat outside the lock waiting to get in.
Eventually he finished his sarnies (!) and we got in to the lock.
We had to pay £46.00 for a seven day licence to use the canal,
as it is owned by the National Trust. We got 10% discount for being NT members.
We also had to borrow a special windlass for the locks as they're different from the BW locks.
Then we were off.

It's a very pretty canal, though a little shallow in places.
I managed to ground the boat on a couple of tight bends.
The canal goes through some lovely countryside and close to places
like Weybridge, Guildford and Godalming.
We eventually moored up near Pyrford Lock and had our dinner.
We stayed here overnight.

Monday, 14th June
Another very hot day. We carried on along the Wey and Godalming Navigations.
The locks are wild things, as the paddles are in the gates and so, when they are raised,
the water shoots in at the boat from the front and forces the boat all over the lock.
However, we now rope the boat front and bak so that it's held firm.
Then we open the paddles the tiniest crack at a time and let the water in gently.

I learnt a salutory lesson at one lock.
A man came by and picked up the windlass and asked if he should unwind it a little.
I said yes, but only a tiny bit.
Unfortunately, his tiny bit and my tiny bit were poles apart and he unwound it so much
the whole of the front of the boat was blasted with gallons of water coming in at a terrific force.
I screamed at him to stop and he wound it back down again.
Fortunately, there was no damage, and I vowed never to let any bystander help again.

We're in Surrey now. I don't think I've ever been here before, and it's very rural and pretty.
We eventually moored up in the middle of the country, completely on our won.
It felt very safe here, and, for the first time in ages, we didn't worry about putting on the back cover.
We slept with the hatches open and it was good to have cool air in the night.
Generally we sleep with all the hatches shut, and it gets quite hot.

Tuesday, 15th June
We went right to the end of the navigation today through Guildford to Godalmimg.
The Wey and Godalming is the oldest navigation in England and also the furthest south.
We winded outside Sainsbury's. It was a very tight fit,
and we certainly gave some entertainment to the Sainsbury's employees
as they sat on the wharf eating their lunch!
I had to do several death defying leaps on and off the bank
and haul the boat round with the rope, but we did it, and moored up at Sainsbury's to shop.
Then we moored up for the night a coouple of hundred yards upstream.

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