Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Day 3 - a tale of nearly two rivers



I was sound asleep. “Wake up, “ said Kath, “it’s half past ten and we have to leave in an hour.“ I sat bolt upright and tried to shake of my drowsiness. “Oh no, sorry, it’s ten to six. I misread the clock!” she admitted. I bit my tongue.

So a bit later we actually got up and got ready. At the appointed hour we descended Brentford gauging lock and set off in the company of another boat down to Thames Lock. Kath was very nervous and was glad of her new lifejacket. Three boats went into the lock and we all emerged onto the tideway with not so much as a quiver. Luckily one of the other boats was headed for the Wey too so all we had to do was to follow them all day.

The tideway was in a benign mood and we had a very gentle ride up through Richmond and into Teddington lock. Kath was beginning to relax. Teddington lock is huge and very busy, but the lock keepers seem to take it all calmly and with a smile.

The sun was beating down as we cruised under Kingston Bridge. In 23 years of working in Kingston I must have driven over it thousands of times, so cruising beneath it held a special relish for me. On we went down to Hampton Court where there were actually moorings free. I bet there won’t be next week when the flower show is on.

The Thames banks seem to alternate between ramshackle yards and ultra posh residences. You can always tell when a posh bit is coming because the first thing you see is the weeping willows. A surprise was that there were as many narrowboats moving as there were plastic cruisers.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, here we are moored up at the entrance to the Wey navigation ready to go through the lock first thing in the morning. The barby is on, a G&T is to hand and all is well with the world.


I would post more pictures but this dongle thingy doesn't seem to like doing them in a hurry!
Tomorrow our first taste of the Wey.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Wey! As editor of the community site about the river www.weyriver.co.uk/theriver its always great to pick up on someone making a visit. We'll follow your progress. Enjoy! Phil K