9/4/08 We embarked on our first 'proper' trip aboard our new boat "Just Heaven", previous trips had just been for a couple of days and only a short distance. The aim of the week was to move the boat from its temporary moorings at Tibberton on the W&B to its new permanent moorings at Round hill Wharf on the S&W. But we were going the long way round via Sharpness. We also wanted to apply the new name using stick-on vinyl to the newly painted panels. For this we needed the temperature to rise above 10C. On arrival it was clearly too cold so we put that task off for later in the week. We moved off down the Offerton flight and moored for the night just outside Worcester.
10/4/08 We awoke to bright sunshine and thought "Ah a warm day, we'll do the signs". If we go down to Diglis basin there will be room to turn so we can do both sides. By the time we got to Diglis the sun had gone in and the temperature had dropped to near freezing, so we topped up the water and headed out onto the Severn. This was our first trip on the river, though we have both lived near it, further down below Gloucester, for most of our lives. Through Diglis lock where, despite the size of the lock, the drop was only about 3 feet. The plan was to get to Tewkesbury for the night. The weather started to get worse, really cold, windy and raining. On this part of the Severn there are no visitor moorings, so we had to press on cold & wet. We reached Upton about 3:00 and decided to stop for while to warm up. There was quite a flow on the river and mooring in the only available space was a bit of a challenge. We warmed up by the fire and then went into the town to buy some masking tape (needed for the sign fixing). The rain stopped and the sun tried to come out, so we carried on downstream. We had only being going a few minutes when the rain and biting cold wind started again. We were very pleased when we saw the Avon join from the left. Up the Avon a short way onto the moorings below the lock for the night. 11/4/08 Today's aim was to get through Gloucester and onto the G&S canal. The summer opening times of Severn locks are 8:00 - 18:00, so we set off at 8:10 for Lower Lode lock about half a mile away. When we got there we found that there isn't really anywhere to moor up to wait, so we tied up to a large piece of wood. There was no sign of life in the lockies cabin, I couldn't get off from where we were so we waited awhile. It was now 8:45, I was just about to go and find the phone number for the lock when a car arrived and someone in the BW uniform got out. At first he didn't notice us, then he called out "Have you been waiting long?" "No, only about 5 minutes" I lied. We locked through and were on our way. The weather started off as bad as the day before, but by the time we reached Gloucester lock at 12:00 the sun was out and it was warming up. Gloucester lock is currently undergoing repairs and is only open for three one hour periods a week. We had to wait until 13:00 for the next one. Moored up by just our back rope( as instructed by the lockie) in the strong current was a little odd. Through the docks and out onto the G&S, the sun was now out quite strongly and it was becoming warmer. We moored up near Sellars bridge and decided to put the signs on. We hadn't done anything like this before and we were a bit apprehensive as we knew that we had only one go to get it right. But after about an hour we had done both sides and she looked really good. Now, with our name on she was definitely "Our Boat"! to be continued .....
