Monday 21st August 2006 Sunbury to Runnymede I let Dad lay in this morning, and didn't get up until 10am. After getting breakfast, and ready it started to chuck it down, so we waited until the rain cleared. We finally got off at 11:30, but after going around the back of Desborough Island we stopped at Weybridge. As we pulled in we met Harry and Charlotte (two boats) from Northolt. Harry shouted across, and after pulling in had a chat. They had been up to Oxford, where they said it was rather busy from rally traffic. After walking up to Thames Lock and having a good look round we got back to the boat before it started to rain. It didn't and we got to the lock just as some boats were let out.
We were only locking through to save the £2 ferry trip to Nauticalia, and we found a mooring above the lock. After having a good look around, we set off again having bought nothing. At Chertsey we shared the lock with the BW boat Sagitta, which has the engine room swapped with the boatmans cabin for 'health and safety' reasons! It went well, and overtook us on the way to the next lock. I wanted to go around the gravel pits of Penton Hook, and so we left them at the lock. After having a good look around we went back to the lock, but for some reason the lockie didn't let the lock down - presumably waiting to see if any boats were coming down. I had a walk up to the lock, and he started to empty the lock, but by the time I was back at the boat the lock had stopped emptying. Another boat was coming down the river, and so he turned it again! While we were waiting, Humber Barge Reliance joined us at the moorings. They were on their way up to the rally as well. Daybreak (of whom they are friends with) had gone up earlier, and so they were using their moorings at Stains. We just reached Bell Weir at 18:50, but the lock keeper had already gone, and the lock was filling. Another boat which left just in front at Stains had gone up to the top control panel, but it didn't stop a boater from each boat in the lock from getting back on their boats! Once the gates were open one of them had to walk around the whole of the lock - at one point I thought the boat was going to wait for them before leaving but eventually they left, and the other guy closed the top gates. We opened the bottom sluices (which are timed, of course, for maximum annoyance). Once out at the top the slow boat had decided to stop in the middle of the lock moorings, but I just pulled the bow in, so Dad could jump on. We stopped at the moorings just below Runnymede, where there was plenty of space. --- Mike Askin nb. Shoestring http://shoestring.zapto.org/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canals-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
