A wet day in the Eastend

It was pouring with rain when we woke this morning, but the forecast showed that this would lessen by late morning, promting us to have a bit of a lie in. After breakfast we checked the met office site which showed the rain getting worse as the day wore on, prompting us to get a move on and set off. The met office lied - it rained for the early part of the trip and lessended significantly as the day wore on - we should have stuck to plan A!

Two cute shags and a coot

We headed south, deeper into north London, passing through some green countryside and some dismal industrial areas.


We passed this group enjoying a liquid lunch as we approached the North Circular from below

Our dog is bigger than yours!

We decided to take advantage of the facilities at Stonebridge lock, taking on water, emptying the loo and dumping the rubbish. Downstream we could see Canal & River Trust (C&RT) staff busy around the lock but we didn't take much notice - big mistake! Filling the water tank took ages and by the time we set off for the lock, the C&RT staff were packing up to to leave. It transpired that the automatic lock was out of action and we would have to use the manual lock. The C&RT staff had been there all day helping people through the lock aided by a powerful motorised windlass to operate the paddles and gates. We were going to have to operate it ourselves and it was seriously hard work. Opening a paddle involved winding a hydraulic pump for several minutes and it was extremely hard to turn. Thankfully one of the C&RT staff took pity on us and helped with the winding but it still took about half an hour to get through.

Angela wrestling with one of the hydraulic pumps



Operating instructions give no clue to the magnitude of the task!

3cm long cute lock dwelling insect

We finally made it through the lock and sailed on through Tottenham enjoying some sunshine along the way. We decided not to press on to Limehouse where there is little opportunity to walk the dogs and so stopped at Walthamstow Marshes, finding a gap in a long line of moored boats, and have moored against a bank of deep undergrowth.


Should have brought a strimmer

Angela took the dogs out into the undergrowth to relieve themselves whilst I finished hacking back weeds to find ground into which mooring pins could be hammered. After a cup of tea, we decided to walk to the Anchor and Hope pub which was opposite us. This turned out to be quite a trek along the river to the nearest footbridge and then back up the other side - about a mile each way. However, the dogs enjoyed themselves and the pint at the end made the trip well worth it.


We enjoyed a pint sitting here in the rain

View of Banjo across the river with marshes beyond

We made it back to the boat and Angela made us a gorgeous pizza. While we were eating it, we could hear voices and someone shouting commands.

These Sea Cadets were having loads of fun weaving about the river

We will set off earlier than usual in the morning, to cover the remaining few miles to Limehouse where we are due to meet up with Philip around noon. We then need to make final preparations for the trip up the Thames which we are scheduled to begin at about 15:00. Check radio, attach anchor, check oil and water, don life jackets and dig out navigation notes....

Eastenders scene re-visited

We awoke this morning to sunshine and quiet dogs. Nush and Lola didn't make a sound all night and this morning, still seemed tired out after yesterday's exciting first day on a boat.


Letting sleeping dogs lie

After a pile of scrambled eggs and a walk with the dogs, we set off into Dobbs Weir lock which was about 100 meters from where we spent the night. This section of the river Lee, heading down towards the M25 is fairly attractive for the most part, passing through lush greenery and open marshland. Shortly after Dobbs Weir comes Carthagena Lock which is always covered in flowers at this time of year.

Nothing but pretty things in sight

After pausing in Waltham Abbey to collect supplies (the missing chocolate, beer and crisps!), and empty the dogs, we moved south and under the M25. Almost immediately things changed and just as we were passing a group of eastern europeans sitting by a campfire fishing for their tea, it happened! The engine started to sound different and we slow to a crawl (down from 4 mph to perhaps 1mph!). We had seen the volume of blanket weed increasing and at this point, our propeller had gathered a great lump of the stuff. After a few fruitless attempts to free the prop up by thrashing back and forth, there was no option but to open up the weed hatch, and try to fish out the mess.

The unattractive sight of G down the weed hatch

Angela thoughtfully captured the moment on camera! Having pulled out a mass of the green gungy mass, we set off again only to come to a halt again as we entered Rammey Marsh lock. We managed to shake it off this time and pressed on.

A cute coot

The next notable sighting was the approach to Enfield Lock, which featured in the memorable scene from Eastenders where Gary leaves the soap in a rowing boat.

Gary in Enfield

Banjo in Enfield

It was getting increasingly dull and rain began to fall, so we put the hood up (thank you Hoodman!), just in time to enter Enfield lock. As you leave the lock, there is a low bridge, and the hood cleared it by a little over 1 inch - phew!

Blanket weed and bottles at Enfield Lock

The rain became more persistent and we elected to moor up for the night in Ponders End. A lovely spot between pylons and factories, although we have managed to find a small green spot the developers have overlooked.
It is still raining as I write this and we are looking forward to setting off down the towpath in the dark and rain with the dogs before we head for bed.

PS - thank you for your comments Lorraine  - it's good to be back.

Banjo gains 8 extra legs

Today, after several weeks of hard work, Banjo was ready to sail for foreign climes. (Well, ready to leave Harlow anyway...)

Banjo sitting in her new mooring at the Moorhen Marina

We have scraped, painted, varnished, added new stuff and removed old stuff and re-stocked with food and drink (although as we discovered, no beer, chocolate or crisps!), and Banjo now looks much more loved.

Over the next 4 weeks we plan to head down to London, onto the tidal Thames at Limehouse up to Teddington and then down the River Wey to Guildford and Godalming where we hope to meet up Sam, Jamie and Josh and Graham's sister Sue. Also hope Philip can join us for the trip through London. We then plan to go down part of the Basingstoke canal to the point near Woking where Graham grew up in a house which backs onto the canal. It will be interesting to see the canal from a narrowboat rather than a raft made of oil cans and string!

Depending on the how much time we have, we hope to head further up the Thames to Windsor and beyond before retuning to pass through London via Brentford and onto the Regents Canal through Little Venice and Camden  and back onto the Rivers Lee and Stort back to Harlow. During this bit of the trip we hope to meet up with a few friends and hopefully Dan and Tamlyn along the way.

So, today we left Harlow, but this time, with two additional passengers - Anushka(Nush) and Lola....


Pensive dogs behind newly added gate

Initially the dogs were a bit wary of their new, unstable environment, but after a few locks and a couple of suicidal lunges for the water by Nush, they seem to have settled happily now, although Nush has a strong aversion to passing through the bathroom??


Today's cute creatures - two hot dogs

 An uneventful journey down the Stort led us past Roydon (where the huge newish marina now looks to have at least 100 boats moored) and on through the beautiful Essex countyside. It has been a while since we headed out on Banjo, and getting used to where everything goes and how to deal with locks soon came back to us.
 

Angela reunited with her windlass

 We left the River Stort and turned south down the River Lee, and into the first of the large heavy locks which populate this river. Heading on, we decided to stop at around 7pm, and are tonight moored at Dobbs Weir - a lovely spot with a nearby lake which the dogs enjoyed looking at whilst on a constitutional.

Tomorrow we head on towards Tottenham and the fairly gloomy section of river weaving into north London.