Onto the River Thames

Having started quite early we set off for the Thames.  We stopped at Thrupp to do the normal servicing and then continued, with 3 other boats through the next few locks 'til we reached Duke's Lock. We turned right and went along the cut.  On the last bend of the cut we saw this lone fisherman watching and waiting, but never moved as we passed.

How long can he stand and stare?

 We  then continued down through King's Lock and through very pleasant meadows and onto the moorings at Osney Bridge. We will stay here for the permitted 72 hrs.

Somerton Deep

Set off quite late this morning before stopping at Aynho Wharf, very pleasant service. We are just going to  have a gentle meander today.  We had heard there were cues of up to 6 boats yesterday waiting to go through Somerton Deep Lock, but we were lucky today there were only 2 ahead of us.  It is reputed to be one of the deepest locks on the system.  12 feet down into the dark, damp chamber.

Exiting Somerton Deep Lock

We continued cruising most of the afternoon and moored for the evening just past Enslow Bridge. 

Summer Cruise 2011

As you can see we didn't manage to keep up with last years cruise very well.  Due to some technical hitches we had difficulties.  Hopefully this year's cruise will be complete and you can enjoy our experiences with us.
We chose our route, read the details and looked at the maps.  One wonders if too much information can be a bad thing.

Where shall we go this year?

Having chosen our route we set off Tuesday 26th having set up the boat on Monday. Heading south down the North Oxford and stopped overnight just after the Barby Straight. Very uneventful cruising even a little quieter than we were expecting.  Next morning cruised to Braunston,called into Wharf House Narrowboats and bought 2 Life Jackets.  The route we have chosen this year is a The Thames Ring. Down the South Oxford, along the Thames, up the Grand Union and back to base on the North Oxford.

Having turned down the Grand Union at Braunston Turn we passed a few obstacles.

Will someone love me?

 Sharing the waterway with canoers.

Thursday night was spent at Cropredy, a very pretty village and buzzing with canal life.  Colin was very tempted to stay as there is the Fairlight Convention next week but we have made other plans to meet up with friends so must head on.  More very pleasant cruising to Banbury.  Stopped in the centre for a couple of hours and then cruised on.  Again very quiet cruising 'til stopping at Aynho. The last lock of the day was extremely heavy, I'm glad I was steering!!

 It's only shallow but very deceptive!!

Day 5 Foxton Locks

Woke up to a clear bright morning and decided to move quite early. Set off to Foxton Locks by 8.30 as they can be notoriously busy. Arrived by 10.00 and checked in with the lock keeper. We have heard stories of people being turned back if they start going through the locks without permission as this can cause serious blockages.  We were lucky today we entered the top lock at 10.30 following 4 other boats.

Entering Foxton Top Lock 10.30

  I followed the instructions of 'red before white' when raising the paddles and we had a smooth transition down to the middle pound.  However, I then did not read the notice on the white paddle  Walk down to next lock across the pound to raise the red paddle first then return and raise white paddle.  Fortunately I noticed it before too much water had run through, lowered the paddle, the lock-keeper was down at the lower red paddle ands raised it then indicated I could raise the white one.  It sounds very complicated but was quite straight forward and will not happen again!! The lock-keeper made a small comment and then said no harm done.

Working the lock with extra help.

While working down the locks two young families joined us and showed great interest as to how the locks work.  I had a great deal of help all the way down all 10 locks.  The boys were asking very interesting questions and were keen to have hands on experience.  By the bottom they were telling each other what to do next.  We reached the bottom and Colin steered out of the bottom lock around 11.40.

Exiting the bottom lock with our helpers watching on.

 At the bottom we turned right into the Market Harborough Arm whilst congratulating ourselves how smoothly it all worked.  Oh such a mistake!  We had just started along the arm when we realised we had lost steerage.  Colin brought the boat over and moored and had to investigate the weedhatch. (This is where the propeller is.)  Fortunately we had bought long armed pond gloves just in case.  And boy were they needed. To our great surprise a single sheet/duvet cover had managed to wind itself round the prop.

Colin climbing out of weedhatch after clearing the prop.

Once sorted we were able to continue on our way having quite a laugh about our catch of the day. The rest of  the cruise was quite peaceful after this and a pleasant afternoon meandering along the canal that appeared to be something from the African Queen (in Colin's words). By 4.00 we had reached our overnight mooring at Market Harborough.  This was a very comfortable and interesting place to visit.

A sculpture at Market Harborough Wharf.

Thursday 5th August

Journey up the Welford Arm

Wednesday morning was a little dull and overcast therefore no hurry to set off.  Weather cleared up by 11.30 so we chose to go off and cruise up the Welford Arm.  The actual arm was very pretty and a delight to view however we were quite disappointed with the actual Wharf.  We decided to wind at the winding hole before the wharf then moor and walk to the end. (Where there was a board with some interesting information but we did not go into the village.) This was probably the best idea as there were a number of boats moored where we would have had to try to turn round.  However, when turning the boat in the winding hole we had quite an audience and somebody's law decrees 'if it can be mucked up it will happen with an audience'. So yes Anne made quite a meal of it though, fortunately hit nothing.  Having completed our stroll we went back to the boat and made our return journey back to the main route.  Now we encountered the third tunnel of our trip 'Husband's Bosworth' and having safely navigated through we started to look for a mooring for the night. It was a much brighter evening so hopefully the weather is settled again.              Wednesday 4th August

Before setting off - Bridge 26

Day 3: Norton Jct to Bridge 26

We started quite early for us, up by 7.30 and set off by 9.15 with all jobs done so we can both be up on deck. Norton Junction is very pretty and easy to navigate which set the tone for the rural meander to Watford Locks.  Having negotiated the locks as directed by the lock-keeper we continued on to Crick tunnel. Once through we stopped and decided to walk into Crick village.  Here we found the chap in the P.O. most welcoming.  Set off again about 4.15 to stop at Yelvertoft for water.  We then carried on passing the new marina and continued to just before bridge 26. Again good pilings and good TV reception. Shared the mooring with Nb.Moon Shadow.  The couple from the boat pointed out hares in the field opposite.  We thought we were taking our time but they were cruising even more slowly than us.  First rain of trip started at 9.00pm. OK because we were all tucked up indoors.                                         Tuesday 3rd August.

Entering bottom of staircase - Watford Locks.

Continuing the commentary of our Summer Cruise.

Well having started the blog while we were away everything got involved with the cruise and we decided to leave writing this until we were back home.  Although the dates will be out of sync. we will try to keep some sort of continuity by post dating each post.

We cruised until 4.30 Sunday and stopped between bridges 79 & 80 on the Oxford Canal. Good pilings therefore making easy mooring.  However next morning we realised the boat behind us had an extra tilt to the day before.  A chap on Nb Misty Blue moored up and said it needed more secure ties as it was sinking.  If it tilted too much and sank it could cause a problem across the canal.  Eventually we set off towards Braunston, which was actually much quiter than in January when we first cruised this way.  Stopped at Midland Chandlers to get replacement headlight bulb which would be needed for the tunnels.  Set off to Braunston and stopped for lunch and a walk around the marina. We had decided this was going to be a leisurely cruise but at this rate we won't get the ring completed.  Headed off for Braunston Locks which we shared with Rose hire boat 'Sunset' which made the going much easier.  Next bit of excitement was Braunston tunnel which is 1 1/4 miles long. Fortunately we only met one boat.  Finally we moored for the night just before Norton Jct at 6.00pm.  Water mucky but mooring quiet.           Monday 2nd August.