On the Wey to Guildford

After a quiet night in New Haw (albeit with the background sound of the M25 which was about half a mile away), we set off upstream, towards Guildford. The locks on the Wey have their sluice gates within the lock gates themselves, rather than the more usual arrangement where the sluices are built into the sides of the locks. When filling an empty lock, the result is that the water gushes into the lock well above water level, creating masses of turbulence, and leaving you with the task of trying to stop your boat drifting into the torrent of water! All of this means that you have to secure your boat with ropes at both ends and then hang on tightly!

A pretty stretch of river

We stopped at Pyrford marina to get a new propane tank and refuel. We had to wait a while because everyone was at lunch, and then descovered that they didn't have the appropriate sized gas canister. They did however have fuel, and we filled the tank to the brim again. This boat is surprisingly economical, and we have spent approximately £8 per day for 6 or 7 hours cruising and all the power and hot water we need for the day.

A family of cute ducks

There are a couple of flood locks on the Wey - normally left open at both ends and closed when the river goes into flood to help control water levels.

Leaving Walsham flood lock



The river opens out after a while into wide water meadows stretching into the distance. On a couple of occasions, we came to a fork in the river with no clue about which fork to take. We were right 50% of the time! After taking the wrong turn, we had to reverse back onto the river before taking the right fork - a sign would be really useful! We passed some beautiful houses with fabulous gardens stretching down to the river.

Nice river frontage

Cute horses with cuter foals

We moored up fairly early this afternoon, deciding to take advantage of a lovely stretch of grassy bank and some sunshine.

Dogs waiting to explore grassy bank

 We sat on the bank and enjoyed watching a large hairly black dog leaping into the river, finding big sticks and then swimming back across the river. He kept this up for a quite a while bringing back several log size sticks!

Log gathering!

Shangri-La

As we left the Tideway yesterday, the lock keeper at Teddington said that after the excitement and challenges of  navigating the Thames through London, what followed upstream was like entering Shrangri-La! He was right, and today's cruise was wonderfully relaxing in the sunshine.


Passing strange houseboats in Kingston upon Thames

We passed through Kingston upon Thames without incident - the banks were busy with shoppers and pub goers but the river was pretty quiet. Then we turned the corner and were greeted by the sight of loads of small sailing boats in a race, zig zagging across the river as they tacked upstream.

And thay have right of way!

We weaved our way through the good natured sailors without sinking anyone, but we got very close to one or two!

We strayed onto the Mississippi briefly

It was really hot this afternoon, and we ushered the dogs below, out of the sun. We stayed on deck and have the scorched skin to prove it. We passed Hamton Court Palace before reaching our first 'normal' Thames lock.

Hampton Court Palace

Ah, Thames locks are lovely - automatic and with helpful lock keepers

Compared with the heavy locks of the river Lee, the Thames locks and their keepers make for a far more relaxing experience. You just have to glide in, place your ropes around the bollards and wait for the water to rise or fall before setting off again.

Typical stretch of river

The river remained quiet all afternoon, apart from another sailing race to make our way through and loads of canoists and small motor boats. The last Thames lock we encountered took a little longer that the others. As we waited for the boats coming downstream to leave the lock, we could see one was broadside across the lock. He had an engine failure and after unsuccessful efforts to re-start it, he was dragged out of the lock and we then entered. You find yourself in these large locks with a wide variety of different boats which on this occasion included a large trip boat full of German tourists.



Crowded Sunbury lock

After another few miles, we reached the junction with the river Wey, and everything changed. Suddenly we were back on a narrow river and immediately were into a stop lock used to adjust the levels between the Thames and the first lock on the Wey.

Waiting for a boat to leave before we enter the first river Wey lock

While we waited for the water levels to equalise, Angela emptied the dogs who had been extremely patient all afternoon. Once in the lock and after it filled, we sorted out the paperwork with the lock keeper and paid for our licence - £75 for the week. Gulp! It had better be good down here!

Tonight's mooring in New Haw

Riding the waves of the Thames Tideway

We can heartily recommend a night on Walthamstow Marshes! Our mooring amongst the undergrowth on the edge of the marshes turned out to be one of the best. It was pretty quiet apart from the foxes fighting(mating?) and the residents of the flats opposite shouting at the foxes fighting(mating?). We walked the dogs and made preparations for the forthcoming trip on the Thames. Attached the anchor (all too easy to lob it over the side and watch the chain disappear beneath the waves), topped up water, checked oil, charged and tested VHF radio, read navigation notes and dug out charts.We then set off towards the last lock on the river Lee.

Strange teeth and face - ON THE BUILDING!

Scene of last years excitement

This part of London is covered in loads of graffiti, mostly featuring lots of teeth. We passed the Olympic site which looks sad after all of the excitement of last year - now it is quiet apart from loads of builders.

We shared Old Ford lock with another boat, which had come from Brick lock on the river Stort and who we had chatted to a couple of days earlier. They had set out after us but were spending longer travelling each day since they wanted to get to Oxford and back in a fortnight - good luck with that! (more of this later)

Exhausted dogs!

The first cute heron of the trip!

We had heard from Philip who was due to reach Limehouse before us, and so we pressed on a little harder. As we reached the far end of the Limehouse Link, he appeared beside us on the towpath and was able to help us tie up on reaching Limehouse Basin.

Philip communing with Lola

Once secured, we checked in with the lock keeper who provided a copy of the current 'notice to mariners' which indicated that our trip was to be a little more complex than expected. Arches were closed at Blackfriers Bridge, we had to radio London VTS on reaching Battersea road bridge to receive instructions about which arch to use at the rail bridge, and there was a rowing regatta ending at Eel Pie Island! Additionally, we were asked to provide escort to another narrow boat who wanted to make the transit to Teddington but who did not have a VHF radio. So, we exchanged mobile numbers with the crew of Patience and at 15:00 prepared to enter the lock. The boat I mentioned earlier, heading for Oxford, had planned to stay overnight and catch the morning tide to avoid all of the trip boats on the river. They decided to join us and go this afternoon, but on trying to start their engine, had an electrical failure and we sadly left them waiting for River Canal Rescue (RCR - AA equivalent for boats)

Once in the lock, the gates closed behind us and the lock keepers started to empty the lock to drop us down to river level - very exciting because the water leaves at an alarming rate and the front of the boat drops lower than the back as the water level drops sharply at the river end - great fun!

The gates then opened and we immediately saw a massive trip boat fly past sending up huge waves in our direction! Despite turning our bows to meet the waves head on we still had a very wet front deck by the end of the trip.

Patience following us out onto the Tideway

The river was very bsy with large, fast boats coming at us from all directions, tossing Banjo and us about like corks. The engine note kept changing as the propeller came out of the water and water spray was keeping us cool in the brilliant sunshine.


Dogs unimpressed with their life jackets



Essential equipment - VHF radio and clock from the Pound Shop!



A big bridge and a small boat

We continued past loads of landmarks, keeping track of each bridge we passed to ensure we complied with earlier instructions, whilst all the while weaving around great big craft landing and leaving from the many piers along this part of the river.


Guess which bridge this is?

 

Massive boat approaching the 'bendy' bridge (and us....)

 

Patience passing the Houses of Parliament

As we moved upstream past Chelsea, the volume of traffic dropped off and the water calmed down significantly. This made bridge identification easier but it was still surprisingly easy to lose track, and Philip was tasked with the job of navigating.

Not asleep but pouring over a chart - I think it's Hammersmith Bridge!

When we reached Battersea I called Pilot boat Ravensbourne on channel 14 - they responded to say that they couldn't hear me! After a couple of attempts I decided to speak into the right end of the radio and all was well and we passed through arch 2 of the railway bridge without further incident!

Let's find the least stable way to travel over water......

We ploughed on upstream, reaching Richmond after about 3 hours, passing crowds of happy pub goers covering the banks. The regatta had thankfully finished by the time we reached Eel Pie Island, but we saw a winning team posing for photos and waving bottles of Champagne around.

Finally Teddington lock appeared and after a short wait we passed through and managed to find a mooring spot just large enough for Banjo, but between two fiberglass cruisers - a spell of very careful manouvering followed to avoid the slightest touch of our 15 tons of steel against their delicate hulls. We tied up and bade Philip farewell as he set off to find Teddington station and start his tortuous train journey back to Hampshire.

We walked the dogs in the woods alongside the river and then enjoyed some food in a local pub - too tired to think about cooking anything.

Tonight's mooring in Teddington

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.