Day 7 - Thursday 17 May 2007 I had a look at the sanitary station at Godalming, but it was blocked up. A NT man clearing the weeds from the path outside said it was Sainsbury's responsibility. Dad later called them, but nothing happened while we were there. After shopping we started back down the river, and with the flow it didn't take to long to reach Guildford. We stopped on the moorings just up river from the cinema, and walked back up to the town bridge. Walking up the hill I spotted a sign for the castle, and so we had a look. It was only £2.50 for adult, but Dad got in for £1 (cause he's an old b.....r). There were some good views from the top.
We left again at 4pm, but didn't get far as I wanted a look around Dapdune wharf. They have a really nice relief model of the navigations in the area, you can see how the Wey cuts through the Downs. There is also a really good working model of a lock, and sluices - hours of endless fun playing at locks! Worth the admission fee alone. We reached Send Church Footbridge for the night. It was a really nice sunset, and then the mists started to rise from the fields, and river. Day 8 - Friday 18 May 2007 We didn't leave until quite late in the morning about 11am, and Dad wanted to have a look at the Basingstoke, which we reached for about 2pm. I reversed down the shallow entrance section of canal, but found no good moorings at the lock. Again, the Basingstoke trying to dissuade boaters. We walked up the canal to the next lock. We got talking to someone who lived on one of the boats above the lock, who also agreed that the Basingstoke Canal Authority didn't want to make it easy for boaters. I wasn't sure when Thames Lock shut (6:30pm we later found out), so we headed off down the river. We were lucky with all the locks down, and had every lock bar two on the whole wey trip against us. After arriving at 5:10pm, we started chatting with the lock keeper there, and didn't leave the lock till well after 6pm. There was a good flow on the Thames, and we reached 6.4 mph at one point. We moored around the back of Desborough Island for the night. Day 9 - Saturday 19 May 2007 We didn't leave 'till quite late again (11am), and with the helping hand of the river soon reached Sunbury lock. A large barge was leaving, and a few boats were waiting on the lay by. Plenty of room in the lock though, and it wasn't long before we were heading down to Molesey Lock. We weren't so lucky there, as we just missed a locking, it did give us time to have lunch however. Below Hampton Court moorings a rowing regatta was in full flow, unfortunately the young lads coxing the boats didn't seem to realise that it was not easy to stop a 20 ton narrowboat with a SR3. They messed around in the channel sectioned off for through traffic, and I had to keep slowing down or swerving to miss them while they went to the other end of the course for their next race. Often they would come running by, only to stop again, or turn in front of me. We reached Teddington at 15:45, and I wanted to double check the tide times, but the internet was running so slowly I gave up when two trip boats came out of the big lock. We went in followed by two other boats that had just arrived. One boater asked the lock keeper when Richmond weir would be opened, and he said 4:30, which would be about the time we reached there. The same boater asked about the speed limit, '8 knots from here?' he asked. The lock keeper confirmed it. He was doing at least that when he went flying past me once we were clear of the lock. His wash was really rocking the moored boats as well. It was all for nothing, as at Richmond the weir had not yet been raised, and even the boat in the lock full before was waiting there, so I'm glad we stopped at Teddington, if only for 10 minutes. As I went under the Twickenham Road bridge the sluices were being raised, and then we were off again, full speed into the on coming tide. It wasn't until Brentford that the full force of the tide was felt, and we slowed to 3.5mph. As I made my approach to the Brent a barge came steaming out, and caused me to try and miss him, which brought me rather close to the edge as the water swirled around in the entrance. A hire boat out of Limehouse had just arrived before us, and so we had to wait until they had been locked through, however it was coming up to level, and so the lockie just opened both gates and we were back onto BW waters. We shared the gauging lock with the hirers, and moored up in the basin. Dad fancied McDonalds, and so we walked down the high street about 3/4 mile. On the way back we looked at the boats moored at the park behind Brentford Ait, and then attempted to follow the Thames path back to the boat. At one point a women told us it was a dead end the way we were going, and had to go back to the steps to get through. It's a good job we weren't any earlier, as the path would have been under water! Day 10 - Sunday 20 May 2007 Dad wanted to be off home early as his car had a problem, and if it broke down he didn't want to still going in the dark. This meant that we were off at 9:30am, but only because I actually started going before he was ready! A good run up the locks (on our own), and it didn't take to long to get to Bulls Bridge. Here there was a dutch barge, going slowly in the turning area. I cut on the inside, and later found out that they were also planning to get down the Paddington Arm. I had reached the railway bridge before they had managed to get through the stop lock! Near Northolt we caught up a load of (I think) Jewish girls out for a long walk. They were bolshy (if that's the right word) with the cyclists, and normally I would agree but they were taking up the whole towpath, and not letting them by. One cyclist had actually started a conversation with one of the organisers about it, he was not a happy bunny. We just caught up a boat at Northolt who had also decided to stop at the moorings. There was enough room for both of us, but because of the mess they made of mooring up, had moved to far forwards (where I was planning to go). I let them know I was also pulling in, and they moved forwards a bit more. We were sat inside the boat getting things ready before they had finished mooring up! After Dad went home at 3:30pm, I went to turn the boat. About 2 hours after mooring up, a load of Jewish boys all wearing their skull caps, came walking down the towpaths, bedraggled, slowly, and in small groups, nowhere near as well organised as the women! Anyone know why the Jewish trek? And where they started/finished from/to? Cheers, Mike -- Michael Askin http://shoestring_DOT_zapto_DOT_org/
