Saturday August 12th- Post Script - As predicted we ate at the New Inn,
Send. A very good meal was enjoyed by Wendy and me. Fillet steak for me and
pan fried cod for Wendy. A good selection of beers. I sampled the Adnams
and London Pride, both excellent.
Sunday August 13th - Today we had intended to move on, however the weather
was foul. Heavy rain overnight which continued all day. Late am, we walked
up to the local shop, getting soaked in the process. A local shop for local
people!. Hardly anything we wanted was in stock. No eggs, no washing up
liquid, no cream, I could go on. A little old lady quietly said to us, visit
the post office just a bit further on, they will have all you want. Indeed
they did. Our original intention today was to travel to Guildford and meet
friends who were coming from Pompey. That changed and they came to Send
instead and we had an excellent lunch in the New Inn. Memo to self, must get
a few shares. Chums left for home early evening and we relaxed with a bit of
TV.
Monday 14th August - Another lazy start. We must move today. At 11am we left
our excellent moorings at Send, right outside the New Inn, in the light but
enjoying rain. There was a bit of a flow on, but nothing to worry about, or
so I thought. A few minutes later we arrived at Worsfold Gate, which is a
flood lock. It's open, there is a National Trust boat moored on the right
and another in the lock. As I approach a boat appears from nowhere at the
other end. Hard reverse from him to avoid whacking the gate. The flow coming
down stream is so fast he has little control. He makes it, I back out of the
way to give him plenty of room. Then I go through and the NT man pulls the
boat in the lock well out of the way. Stupid place to put it in the first
place. Oh and it's still raining. The river widens here and LT enjoys the
deep water. At Triggs Lock the water is coming so fast over the weir by the
lock, that it pushes LT against the lock moorings. The water works in our
favour. We have learnt to tie LT up in the locks bow and stern, because the
water is fierce coming through the paddles in the gates, even when opened
slowly. This time, tied up tight, with me on the bow holding the rope, all
is well and we rise gently to the top. Wendy does the lock wheeling. Some of
the geared paddles turn clockwise to get them up and some anti, why is that?
Onward and upward, it's really nice through here. Cows in the fields, a fox,
the odd Heron. A sharp right hand turn keeping well away from the weir,
takes us through Broad Oak Bridge. There is no indication which arch to take
until you get through the bridge! Fortunately we have been pre warned to
take the right one. We pass a few boats but nothing much is moving. We then
get to Bower's Lock, oh what fun. The water seems calm enough. The lock
gates are open. Wendy is steering and as we approach this sharp left hander
into the lock the flow pushes LT almost into the lock side. Hard reverse,
back up the cut. Wendy chickens out at this point and leaves LT to wait on
the lock to catch the ropes. From the lock moorings, I follow the river bank
past the lock and turn quickly with a bit of speed. Not enough and LT's bow
starts to wander. It's too late now. Full power to get some control and I
fight with the tiller. The stern then starts to move over and it's tiller
hard over the other way, then back again and enter the lock. Thank God both
gates are open, I am all over the place. Hard reverse stops me hitting the
lock at the other end, we are in. Blimey, or words to that effect. The
Thames was easier than that!. Thrills Richard, thrills :-) We continued on,
it's stopped raining now. The bridges here are quite low and at one, can't
remember which, I scrape the top of the engine exhaust, oh bother. Our
destination is Dapdune Wharf. As we approach two boats pull out and leave a
space 63 foot long. Perfect. Good moorings and a very interesting visitor
centre. We need dinner for this evening, so we walk about 15 minutes into
Guildford and M&S for Indian provisions. The sun has come out. TV picture is
OK but only four channels. ITV and BBC 1 are the important ones. It's the
wedding on Corry and part two of Silent Witness. Well, it's important, it's
real life you know. I'm not that sad, well perhaps a little, but do I
care......... :-)
Off for a shower now and change my underpants.
Regards
Andrew & Wendy from The Cut - River Wey
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