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After a number of hire-boat holidays, we bought our first
boat in 1977, in partnership with our friends Roger and Christine Dale. The
boat was Jemson, later to be called Felis Catus. For more
information about the boat see here.
In fact we surprised ourselves with how soon we found a
boat. We'd not really expected to have it by the Summer of 1977, so had already
booked a hire-boat for a holiday. As the timing worked out, we actually took
over Jemson from its previous owner, John Etheridge, on the day before
our hire-boat trip started. Read about that trip
here.
TAKE-OVER DAY
FRIDAY 29th JULY |
Mike, Roger
Linslade local |
Jemson on its mooring
at The
Globe |
Roger and I came up by car to meet John on the
boat at its mooring at The Globe, Linslade, paid John what we owed
him and went for a short trip to Old Linslade Wharf, where we winded and came
back to The Globe. Then we dashed back to London to finish getting ready
for the next day's hire-boat trip. DAY'S RUN : 3.0 miles, no locks
in 55 mins |
GETTING TO KNOW THE BOAT
SATURDAY 6th AUGUST |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris, Ian (later to become a
partner in the boat), Trevor
Linslade local |
|
The six of us had been on the hire-boat trip
together and came to visit the boat on the way back from Ian Goode's
boatyard near Foxton. .We arrived at The Globe, and set off at 12:45. We
went down the first of the Soulbury locks, winded, then took on water (a silly
position for a water point!) and headed back, reaching our mooring at 16:50 and
setting off for home. DAY'S RUN : 4.9 miles, 2 locks in 2 hours
exactly |
Jemson on its mooring at The
Globe |
MONDAY 15th AUGUST |
Mike, Wendy
Linslade local |
Jemson : interior
|
We came up for a day of getting to
know the new boat. We left The Globe at 09:45 and went into Leighton
Buzzard, where we winded and came back to Wyvern Shipping, to take on water and
buy bought diesel. We winded again and went back to Leighton to do some
shopping, then headed back to The Globe and went home. |
DAY'S RUN : 4.3 miles, 2 locks in 3 hrs 15
min
MONDAY 29th AUGUST |
Roger, Chris, Chris' parents
Linslade
local |
Roger & Chris brought Chris' parents to see the
boat. They set off from The Globe at 13:45 winded before Leighton
lock and stopped to eat near bridge 109 Then they went on to the top of
Soulbury locks, winded and came back to The Globe, mooring at 16:05.
DAY'S RUN 5.6 miles, no locks in 2 hrs 35 min
THE JOURNEY HOME BEGINS
The mooring at The Globe
was an unofficial one, so we needed to find a proper home mooring, preferably
near home, so we decided to bring the boat into London.
THURSDAY 1st SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
Linslade to
Grove |
|
We left The Globe at 11:15, stopped at
Wyvern Shipping to buy gas, then used the sani station at Leighton Buzzard
after provisioning for the trip. We stopped for the night above Grove lock at
19:17. DAY'S RUN : 2.6 miles, 2 locks in 1 hr 52 min |
The stern end
|
FRIDAY 2nd SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
Grove to
Cowroast |
We started at 08:45 and stopped above Slapton lock
for an extended breakfast stop. We started again in the early afternoon and
moored before Cowroast lock at 20:05. DAY'S RUN : 10.6 miles, 17
locks in 7 hrs 5 min
SATURDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
Cowroast to King's
Langley |
We watered before starting off at 08:40. We made a
breakfast stop below Dudswell locks and a lunch stop opposite Berkhamsted
station. We were looking for a sani station, but instead found and used the
facilities at Bridgewater Boats' base at Castle Wharf, Berkhamsted, our first
meeting with Mike and Lindy Foster who were to become firm friends. Setting off
from there, a few locks later we came across on of Horsebarge Hotels
barges running as a horse-drawn disco boat. We went on to the top of King's
Langley lock, where we moored at 20:38.
The Rising Sun,
Berkhamsted
|
A horse-drawn barge
...
|
... and its horse
|
DAY'S RUN : 9.5 miles, 24 locks in 7 hrs 35
min
SUNDAY 4th SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
King's Langley to
Rickmansworth |
We set off again at 08:12 and stopped for breakfast
below Home Park Farm lock. then we went on to leave the boat at 14:45 by
bridge 174 in Rickmansworth.
King's Langley
lock
|
Below King's
Langley lock
|
Below 5-paddle
lock
|
DAY'S RUN : 7.3 miles, 13 locks in 5 hrs 18
min
LONG WEEKEND TOTALS : 29.9 miles, 56 locks in 21 hrs 50 min over 4 days'
boating.
WE REACH LONDON
FRIDAY 9th SEPTEMBER |
Wendy, Roger, Chris
At Rickmansworth |
Roger, Chris & Wendy arrived from home and ran
the engine to charge the battery. I was having to go to a meeting at Union HQ
on the Saturday morning, and would join the boat somewhere near Bull's Bridge
on Saturday afternoon.
SATURDAY 10th SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
Rickmansworth to
Greenford |
Bull's
Bridge
|
They started at 08:20 in very windy
conditions, and took on water below Copper Mill lock. Below Black Jack's
lock they stopped for breakfast, cooked by Wendy. Then went on to the Swan
& Bottle mooring in Uxbridge for their lunch stop. They discovered a
loo point at Cowley that wasn't in Nicholson's. I joined at Hayes station just
before we passed through Bull's Bridge junction and on to the Paddington
Branch. Our overnight mooring was at the Black Horse, Greenford, at
19:40, where Roger cooked dinner. |
DAY'S RUN : 14.4 miles, 8 locks in 7 hrs 37
min
SUNDAY 11th SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Wendy, Roger, Chris
Greenford to Camden
Town & Little Venice |
| We started at 08:19 and needed a weed-hatch stop
en route. Our breakfast stop was by the North Circular Road aqueduct
and we reached Little Venice at 12:50, crossing Browning's Pool and joining the
Regent's Canal. We stopped for lunch in Regent's Park then went on for some
sight-seeing at Camden Lock, after which we winded and came back to Paddington
Stop where we used the sani station and left the boat on the visitor moorings
at 16:31. Now we had the challenge of finding a London mooring. |
Browning's
Pool,
Little Venice
|
DAY'S RUN : 12.9 miles, no locks in 4 hrs 59
min
WEEKEND TOTALS : 27.3 miles, 8 locks in 12 hrs 36 min
WE FIND A MOORING
WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER |
Mike, Roger, Paul, Dave (who a few years later was to
become a partner in the boat)
Little Venice local |
We came up to show the boat to our friends Paul and
Dave and to meet Mary Turner, who might be able to arrange a mooring for
us. We talked with her. She then ran the Maida Hill moorings (among others)
between Browning's Pool and the tunnel and was allowed to double-bank boats on
them for the winter only. So she was able to offer us a winter-only mooring,
renewable from year to year. We accepted the deal and set off for a cruise at
19:02, to Cumberland Turn and back, mooring again at 20:40. DAY'S
RUN : 4.1 miles, no locks in 1 hr 38 min
THURSDAY 15th SEPTEMBER |
Roger, Chris
Little Venice local |
Maida Hill,
Little
Venice
|
Roger and Chris came up to take the boat on to a temporary
mooring for 2 weeks, next to what will be our winter mooring. They left
Paddington visitor moorings at 19:05 and tied up at the Maida Hill mooring at
19:50. |
DAY'S RUN 0.3 miles, no locks in 45
min
After that came a number of day-trips showing the
boat to other people and getting to know the area. We discovered the lonely
vacancy of Paddington Basin, and the regularity with which urban canals drive
one down one's weed-hatch. We also spent a few weekends painting the outside of
the boat and doing some re-fitting in the cabin. |
Painting
| |
