Our gardens are mowed while moored at Thrupp

Moored Thrupp, Oxford Canal

Just a day of doing some bits and pieces on No Problem.  We have finished putting in the skirting boards right through the boat, and I stained up the edging strips today to go around the floor and fixed cupboards etc.  Really now it is just a matter of odd jobs to be done to complete the fit out, oh and some bookcases at some stage or other!  I popped into Kidlington on the bus this morning to go to the butchers… got completely out of food I did, and got some fresh veg from the market and the usual bread and milk to keep us going for a while.  It is a lovely mooring here and very convenient having the two boats together..

They even came along this morning and cut our lawns!!

Bit more then on our Thames trip..

Tuesday 15^th – Teehee, don’t tell her..

A very early start and it wasn’t long before I headed off between the concrete buildings to Blakes Lock,

the last one on the Kennet and Avon.  This one is normally manned and is where you buy the licence for the Thames, but we arrived early before the lock keeper so did it ourselves hoping to be at Caversham Lock just on 9am as the lock keepers arrived for duty.  Here Paul having found the magic pole pushes open the gates..

And yes, raining again! , but it didn’t dampen our hopes and we turned left and out onto the Thames against the flow.  For sure it was going to be a longish trip, I didn’t want to push No Problem, I had no idea how the new boat would shape up with a good 7 hours to go.. Nor did I have any sort of idea what speed to run at, but for sure I didn’t want to overheat!

Two locks up river and out came the increased flow amber boards.. well there had been a lot of rain the last few days, I was not surprised!..

As the day wore on I increased speed myself with No Problem against the flow, and for sure there was no indication whatsoever of over heating, although I did find the hydraulic gear box was acting a bit strange.. there was quite some delay in the gears actually working from neutral.. so that was getting a bit hot.. we will check that out later.

I did my share of turning the wheel on locks that were unmanned although a lot of the unmanned ones are electric with a big obvious button to press.. at one of them the two boys watched me turn the wheel a good hundred times to get the sluices up and open the gates.. “Go get the boat then” barked the orders from Vic.. I duly did and waited in the lock for Vic to take his turn at the dreaded wheel, but I suddenly heard this whirling sound.. the lock gates were closing under power!! .. “Hey how come”… “Well it’s the magic finger” says he laughing his head off!.. Apparently one can ‘stick one’s finger in a hole’ and make the whole thing work under power… Ah well if I shed a few pounds then it was worth it!

We made Days Lock which was well over half way, and moored just above it on the right outside the pill box on the meadow.. Lucy was well pleased, it meant a nice walk for her late in the evening..

Wednesday 16^th – River rage fury

And still it rained as once again we pulled the pins very early so we could do the first 3 miles or so and arrive at the next lock at 9am when the lock keepers come on duty.. the cloud formation was incredible, and as you can see in the pic above it looked just like a tornado in the sky!.. yet another wet day!

Approaching one lock a small cruiser type boat was coming out .. this was great to see because it was lunch time, and lock keepers don’t man the locks between 1pm and 2pm, and I lined up Tara to head straight in, Paul having taken No Problem today.. but horrors, this guy started to close the gates!.. I ‘onked me ‘orn.. shouted and screamed at him, but still the gates kept on shutting.. wind, wind, wind on the wheel he was going.. then I saw the sluices going down.. I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I then had to make a huge stop and try to get over to the moorings for the lock having been on the wrong side ready to enter the lock.

Got there and jumped off to try tie up just as he was leaving in his boat… “OI!” I raged “Wadda you do that for??”.. nothing, completely ignored me.  So I tied up properly and Vic started on the winding wheel to open the gates and sluices.. I went to help and low and behold the guy in the plastic boat appeared again and tied up behind Tara, now wanting to go up the lock!..

We opened the gates and Paul brought No Problem in, then this guy brought his plastic boat in and promptly set it about half way inside the lock giving me not much room to get in myself.. well with that I did have a good ol’ rage at him! .. felt better after that.. hey it was a very wet day.. had to take it out on someone!!

He did apologise in the end.. he had no idea how to do locks or how to drive boats.. “It said shut the gates and sluices after you leave the lock, I was just doing as it said”.. sheeeeeeeesh!!

And so to the end of our trip along the Thames, and here Paul bringing No Problem round the awkward bend from the Thames to enter Isis Lock, the first of the narrow locks on the Southern Oxford Canal..

Thanks to Paul and Christine without who’s help we would have really struggled to get both these narrowboats along the rest of the Kennet and Avon and up the Thames.. you have both been diamonds.. , but we have had great fun too. and of course, quite challenging times!