TRIP REPORTS

FESTIVALS AT RICKMANSWORTH AND BROOKWOOD

May & early June, 2006
Part 2 the Brookwood rally and back to London.

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We resume the story at a mooring on the Wey Navigation close to the junction with the Basingstoke Canal.

We wondered about going down to Pyrford Basin for water, but ran out of time - and David Pearce told us of a water point on the Basingstoke. At 8:46 once again we were the last away of the boats that had been waiting, but others came along to join us later. Soon, at Woodham junction, we joined the Basingstoke Canal. Rodney Wardlaw, harbourmaster for the event, had asked all the boats for today's lockings to be there for 09:30, so there was quite a queue. We ended up paired with Zavala, with Chérie & Knot Normal quite way ahead, followed by Triskids, Galatea & Gnashers II also ahead of us locking these three smaller boats together. The pair ahead of us were the Shackletons on Jay's Nest and Summerlee, whom we'd moored next to in Paddington Basin earlier in the month. Shirley Trott on Tristan III and friends of hers on Slowworm were behind us and Brighton and Nuneaton further back.

It was slow going, partly because the locks are slow fillers, partly because in a procession of boats one inevitably gets a bad road, and partly because the pounds were shallow and grot-infested, giving several of us weed-hatch problems. Zavala waved us past when she suffered from a weed-hatch problem. At Woking services point we found that Chérie and Knot Normal had stopped for water, and were about to set off again as we arrived, so Sally took our ropes, for which we were very grateful as the bank wasn't easy to come into. We took on water and disposed of rubbish. Zavala passed as we were taking water. At the St John's flight we were once again with Zavala, who took delivery of a grand-daughter who they were going to look after for a few days while her Mum went into hospital to have another baby. We reached the Brookwood rally site at 17:39 but weren't yet on our proper mooring - that was to be sorted out on the morrow.

Libby Bradshaw stayed with us for the weekend itself. The Vacu-flush loo stopped functioning, so we were forced to use the Porta-Potti. Fortunately there was an elsan emptying point not too far away. I sprained my ankle and had to carted off to an NHS Walk-In Centre in Woking, the first stage of the journey, and last of the return, being in an armchair on a trailer behind the site team's tractor, courtesy of Moose. The rally was well-attended (about 130 boats) if rather wet and very muddy.

We set off at 07:58 for the winding hole, where I managed to get round without difficulty despite there bring a small boat moored right on the corner of the winding-hole. we found ourselves queuing before Kiln Bridge. We'd thought because so many boats had gone down the evening before we'd be the last in the queue, but we weren't by several. We locked down with Paul Garner, single-handing Destiny II because his wife had to work that day. We envied his speed & agility at the locks. Hampshire was in the locking ahead of us. Wendy was working the locks for us because My ankle was still recovering. The Woking pound was shallow, with some nasties for the prop. At Woodham junction we join Wey Navigation. Paul turned right to head for his home mooring at Guildford, and we turned left to head for the Thames. We stopped before New Haw lock for a late lunch and for Wendy to clear the weed-hatch of stems, roots, plastic, cloth, tape & twine.

When we set off again we were on our own, with me working the locks as the gear was too stiff for Wendy. Coxes & Weybridge Town locks were open ready for us (hurrah for river navigations). We reached Thames Lock while the lock-keepers were still on duty. They worked us through (including the stop-gate) and we reclaimed our deposit on the Wey windlass. Back on the Thames at the West end of Desborough Channel we turned into the old course of river to head for a free mooring we knew, reaching it at 18:30. The free moorings were already overflowing into the "no mooring" section (apparently this doesn't cause a problem in the close season for fishing). We moored nose-to-nose with Hampshire and the boat they had been locking with earlier. Their people helped us to moor. A little later another boat moored alongside us. The cats seemed to enjoy the mooring once all the other boats' dogs had gone to bed.

The boat outboard of us was away early, but we took our time as we weren't going far, and set off at 10:28. Back on the main line of the river, we headed straight to Shepperton Marina where we'd arranged to have a few jobs done on the boat. We sat on the Marina's visitor mooring while an engineer looked at the Vacu-flush loo - which promptly behaved itself, then he did the oil change, connected the new horn and topped-up the batteries. I went off to London for the Canal Museum lecture. Then another boat was moved so that we could have a long pontoon opposite the office. Before we moved, Finisterre moored to us for a pump-out. They said there was a new facilities block above Brentford Gauging locks.

The Marina had its own recycling bins as well as rubbish disposal. Wendy walked to a huge Sainsbury's in Walton-on-Thames. I rang to say I'd stay at the flat again overnight.

My return was delayed by my bad ankle playing up, but I arrived mid-afternoon and we were off almost at once, at 15:29, backing between lines of moored boats and then winding by the fuel jetty. Out of the Marina, we ran across a regatta with half the river buoyed-off for its use. But there was plenty of room. We reached Hampton Court visitor moorings at and found them very full, but moored up breasted to Oggi, from Packet Boat Marina, which had been at Brookwood. The trip boats were extremely noisy overnight, with the late-night picnickers across the river only marginally less so.

We set off at 8:05 (early by our standards) to catch the tide at Teddington. There were rowers everywhere, sometimes seeming to claim the whole of the river. We made good speed up the tideway and reached Brentford visitor moorings above the Gauging Locks at 10:37. Here, on the towpath side is a water point (which we used), card-operated pump-out, rubbish disposal, small launderette, showers, loos and electricity.

Brentford

We stayed at Brentford for a couple of days, then pottered slowly through London, while I did the first two sections of my annual task of judging the London Region of BW's Lock and Length Competitions.