Back to the Thames

Monday 24th August 2020

Herons Breakfast

Today we got drenched, twice, and the second time lasted for about an hour. Two sets of wet clothes each, ten numb fingers for Brenda and we are promised more tomorrow.

Paddington Arm Bee Hives

Graham was up and at-em early, leaving Paddington basin just before 8am. A brief stop for a self pump-out at the offside sanistation on the Paddington arm and on upto Bulls Bridge through all the clawing floating weed. We turned left at Bulls bridge junction and headed down to Norwood top lock. All down through the Hanwell flight there wer boats travelling towards us and a couple of Volunteer lockies to aid us on our way. Graham found one of the Hanwell lock gates to be the hardest gate to open for a very long time.

After we left the flight Graham also noticed that the cabin alternator warning light was on. We continued down through Osterly and Clitheroe’s locks before pulling over on Brentford visitor moorings to swap out the alternator, always a spare handy of course. Whilst there Brenda decided to leave some surplus paperbacks in the sani-station as she remembered there was a book swap there last time we came this way. The BW key fitted the lock but a digital entry code was required as well to open the door. No-where is there a clue as to how boaters are expected to obtain the code. A bloke wandered up and went in the door, a few minutes later he emerged so she asked. He told her that all the local boaters know the code and then told her what it was. Another boater, nearby, also heard and wrote it down.

At Brentford lock, Graham asked the lockie about the situation at the sani-station. He said that he did not know the code but believed that it changed weekly. That is how CaRT stop boater’s loos and showers being used and abused by anyone. Yet Brenda got the impression that the bloke who told her the code was not a boater anyway. We asked how visiting boaters could get the code but the lockie had no idea.

Alternator swapped, a lock share identified, Graham went to set the guaging lock just as the heavens opened. We both got utterly drenched as we descended and then moored up waiting for Thames Lock.

Leaving Brentford looking back

Out onto the Thames and turn right, heading upstream/ No trip boats about so no bucking bronco moments this trip. We travelled through another rain storm up to Teddington lock where the keeper remarked upon how wet we’d got in a very short time. He also offered up the information that tomorrow was going to be worse as we were in the overture to storm Francis.

We continued up stream to Kingston where we moored on the visitor moorings on the North bank of the river, registered with the on-line moorings website for our free 24 hr pass and then sat down to a nice warming curry. We plan to explore Kingston-in-the-wet tomorrow morning hoping the bad weather will pass before we need to set off.

Overnight mooring ///pets.fund.film

Timelapse videos -  Bulls Bridge to Brentford https://youtu.be/8izPKYe-F8k 

Brentford to Kingston  https://youtu.be/PXma9UVulEw