Rewind Boat Blog: Mooching (back) along the Grand Union (15)

Monday 27th May

Paddington to Limehouse

Nice spot! Now this hire boat either know the owners of the Regent’s Park mansion that they’re moored in front of or they’re not aware that there’s no mooring off or on-side here 🙂

I parked the car overnight in North Wharf Road, just behind Paddington Basin – there’s handy free parking there at weekends. I had some very grand plans to take the car down to Limehouse first thing in the morning i.e. at 7am and miss all the traffic – yes, well, early starts aren’t really me…

Having said that, when I briefly woke up at 7am, the traffic noise was quite intense, so maybe there was a rush hour, even on a bank holiday 🙂

We both overslept and I had barely started on a therapeutic coffee when we got a surprise phonecall – our friend Liam, who came cruising with us a few weekends ago, had been let down by their dog-sitter and asked if we’d look after Cassie the labradoodle for a few days. We said yes, though with some trepidation – we’re very used to having placid mature greyhounds on board; we weren’t sure how we’d take to a manic puppy type!

I psyched myself up for the drive across London – luckily the bank holiday traffic wasn’t too dreadful but I hate the city’s roads with a passion! In the meantime, Richard had a busy morning – Liam arrived with Cassie and helped Richard to finish rewiring the horn; Doug and James from nb Chance popped in to say hello and he filled up with fuel from service boat Archimedes, which was conveniently moored right opposite.

By the time I got back to Paddington, the boat was ready to go. We had a quick chat with nb Cherie moored in front of us – they were on their way to Limehouse too and would be joining the great Gravesend expedition next weekend.

Camden top lock at its busy best….

It was a lovely day, though horribly windy – a situation that lasted all day. We had a lovely surprise at Camden locks – Doug and James from nb Chance (moored in Paddington) joined us for the cruise down to Limehouse. They were excellent crew – James got busy at all the locks and was very diligent when it came to leaping off with the rope and holding the boat firm against the wind. In the meantime, Doug stayed on deck where he kept me entertained with witty banter and took care of the hounds – especially when it came to walking little Cassie.

We shared Camden middle and bottom locks with a truly incompetent boat whose crew failed to grasp that you can’t turn a boat by holding both front and back ropes really tight and leaving the engine in neutral! But after that, the day got better and better – we had sunshine and good company – what more could you ask for.

We got to Limehouse in the late afternoon and had a warm welcome from our neighbours, which is amazing considering how much time we spend away. There have been some interesting changes – the “Olympic” pontoons are starting to be colonised by narrowboats, for a pretty penny no doubt. We were slightly envious as the new pontoons are easy to get in/out of; on the other hand, our berth, while very tricky to get in/out of (especially in the wind), is part of a dog-friendly colony at the end of our pontoon and is a sociable place to be – hmmm.

We finished a fine day’s cruising with a shared bottle of wine on the back deck before heading for home. We’ll be seeing Doug and James soon – they’re joining us for the Gravesend adventure – can’t wait 🙂

Photoblog:

We were alarmed to see that the moorings by the little green in Paddington Basin are now private – reminded us of the privatisation of the towpath in Cosgrove – what is going on??

Cassie enjoying the view 🙂

This is a curious new phenomenon – some of the bridges in Rome were festooned with padlocks bearing people’s names – I hope it doesn’t become a trend – these lock beams are working structures…

Wow, these developments below St Pancras lock have really opened up since we last passed this way…

We remember this when it was petrol filling station!

New cafe just below City Road lock – it’s all changed so much in just two months!

Burnt out – what a sad sight – hope no-one was hurt…

Hell’s angel mobility scooter – brilliant!

Look look, a mooring space, at Victoria Park! Haven’t seen one there for years – shame we couldn’t stay here, just for the sake of it 🙂

Rooftop concert at Mile End….

That looks clever with a bit of foam behind the wood

Boat Blog: Rewind: mooching (back) along the Grand Union (14)

Sunday 26th May

Cowley (Bridge 189) to Paddington Basin

Dining alfresco at Paddington Basin after a busy day…

We needed to get back to Limehouse by Monday afternoon, so, for a change, Richard took Indigo Dream along the lock-free pound from Cowley to Paddington via a shopping stop at Tesco in Bulls Bridge. It was the logical choice, he had started to rewire our boat horn, which has been a bit erratic, and needed to finish so that he could replace the ceiling trim!

In the meantime, I got up early and packed the hounds into the car for a trip to Newmarket. The Retired Greyhound Trust has held an annual Greyhound Extravaganza there for the last 4 years – we went to the first but have missed the last two. I had friends, real and virtual, to meet and the weather was set fair. It’s a long drive, but I had a lovely time. I am “auntie” to a lot of hounds now and they needed to be cuddled! I also had some jars of jam to donate to Greyhoundhomer Essex; but surprisingly they weren’t there – the driver who normally transports their show wagon had let them down. However Greyhound Homer (Suffolk) was there – they were so pleased to see Ollie looking so well – it’s almost a year since they saw him, and he was still on the road to recovery then. He’s a different dog now and makes the very best of the luxuries available to him 🙂

I spend a large part of the day with my step-hounds as Sarah and Andy were there with most of their pack; but I also caught up with hounds Kryssy and Gilmour, who recently joined the Indigo Dreamers. And, of course, I gave David a hug – he’s the most famous of the internet greyhounds (also an Indigodreamer) and is very adorable – he has a facebook page and has published a book which includes his adventures on Indigo Dream (among many others)! I’m sure there were many other virtual friends there, but it was easy to miss them – there were hundreds of lovely greyhounds there.

Ty and Ollie were very well-behaved. Ty got lots of cuddles – although he’s a timid hound, he does like to lean on people and get a fuss. He was very enamoured with Jackie, Gilmour and Kryssy’s mum – I had to physically drag him away from her. Ty had several offers of a new home – he is very affectionate when he’s out and about. Ollie was far too dignified to go tarting up to strangers!

Photoblog:

Gilmour hound (who came cruising with us a few weeks ago) – he’s so gorgeous and he loves cuddles 🙂

My favourite pack – Ty enjoyed cuddling up to the rest of the boys..

Everyone had carried comfy beds for their hounds – it’s nice to spend time with greyhound owners, we’re all as mad as each other 🙂

Ranger dawg under the spreading (horse)chestnut tree….

Don’t jump!

Now the Grand Union is a wide canal, but three boats abreast really does cut down the available cruising space…

This long string of cyclists appeared to be a group from the continent (possibly German) – enjoying an unusual view of London..

Boat Blog: An Opportunity for a great trip to Barking…

Barking Flood Barrier – well worth the trip!

Well, here we are telling people about a great opportunity for some more tideway adventures before I’ve even finished reporting on the last!

Barking Creek – 22nd & 23rd June

The St Pancras Cruising Club are taking a convoy for their annual visit to the moorings at Barking Creek – it’s a great introduction to the tideway – not too long and with plenty of interesting things to see (and dodge) along the way. The resident boats at Barking Creek always give us a great welcome and, weather permitting, we have a big barbecue on the Saturday night to celebrate the event.

Crew: We are happy to take crew, particularly on Sunday – experienced boaters but tideway experience not essential. I’m afraid that this is a “pet-free” cruise. You will need to be reasonably nimble to get to/from shore at Barking as we will be breasted up to some big barges.

Boats: The club is looking for more boats to join the convoy – if you’re interested then get in touch via a comment or contact the club directly – their website is here. They will ask you whether your boat is equipped and river-worthy but as part of a convoy, it’s not essential for you to have a VHF radio. You will need to be reasonably confident that you have enough engine power to “punch the tide”.

The timings are as follows:

Saturday 22nd June:

9.30am – leave Limehouse

From 10.30 – lock out of Bow Locks; we will punch the tide to Barking Creek so that we get the benefit of the flood along the River Roding

Sunday 23rd June:

1.30pm – all aboard and ready for departure

2pm – passage through Barking tidal barrage to punch the tide to Barking Creek so that we get the benefit of the flood for the run to Bow Locks.

Dog Blog: You only live twice…

Archie’s Secret Dossiers #1: infiltration techniques

The name’s Bean, Archie Beanz – code name 008 – 8th in the service and licensed to thrill. My two lives? Fine racing hound now international playboy and adventurer – at your service…..laydeez…

10.30pm: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

11.30pm: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

12.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

1.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

2.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…”Richard, can Archie come up on the bed”….”Sorry Archie, my husband won’t let you sleep with me”

3.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

4.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

5.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

6.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…No

7.30am: “Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…”OK, Richard’s getting up so now you can have the bed” – YIPEE!

Later that day…….”Step-mummy Sue, can I sleep in your bed?”…”YES, I can’t be doing with you asking every hour, come on up”

Hmm, snuggle cuddle, push Richard against the wall, pin Step-mummy Sue’s shoulder with my head so she can’t move – result!

Archie’s Secret Dossiers #2: Escape Techniques

1. Find naive dog walker e.g. Richard or other boater who’s used to labradors/collies

2. Walk nicely to lull naive walkers into false sense of security

3. Persuade naive walker that mummy Sarah’s instruction “never ever let this dog off the lead under any circumstances” is a complete slander upon your good character

4. When let off the lead, run for long distances – return when tired/hungry/when the naive walkers have turned an interesting shade of purple

A good agent is always vigilant – I’m the only hound that saw this bridge coming!

No matter how big the adventure, there’s always time for lurve…

Enemy Agent – he was eyeing up our bacon sandwiches – let’s have some barking, Bertie…

007, Henry (has) Beanz – no longer an active agent – look he’s even allowed his sofa to be invaded…

Agent 009 – Herbie Beanz – specialist skills: food theft & bin raiding

Agent 011: Big Bertie Beanz – the gang’s muscle – not a 00 – we’re special…

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Me and “the muscle” – see our bullet-proof jackets – not the most stylish but “M” insisted…

Senior Agent 004, Monty, sadly passed away this week after many years of distinguished service.  http://www.dogsontour.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/monty-dog.html Run Free Monty

 

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Boat Blog: Gravesend Adventure – the convoy has landed!

Saturday 1st June – getting settled at Gravesend..

On the river buoy (thanks to Simon Judge for the photo) – it was mighty bumpy out there….

In the rush to offload the hounds, the shore crew forgot to take any cameras,  money or, most importantly, dog beds, with them!  So, Sarah, Andy and I had a slightly disconsolate wander around the town – first finding a handy bit of green for the hounds then mooching around the streets for a bit. However without dog beds or money for a coffee we couldn’t relax; and without a camera I couldn’t take photos of the convoy from the foreshore. I had a wander along the sand, and had intended to take the hounds with me, but the foreshore was littered with fragments of glass, slightly blunted by the tide but way too dangerous for bare paws.

Gravesend is an interesting place – it has a faded grandeur that hints at its rich history, but today the place feels very down at heel. The architecture seemed a bit Georgian but when I had a little rummage into the town’s history I found that it was much older. Gravesend is ancient – it was mentioned in the Domesday book and seems to have been a notorious haunt for seamen and smugglers. Follow this link for a potted history of Gravesend’s – http://www.kentfind.co.uk/about/gravesend/history.php  If you fancy more detail, then check out Gravesend’s “timeline” – it starts at 56AD so it could take you a while to catch up with the town’s rich history 🙂

We got slightly lost and found the old Fort – now a handy park littered with old guns and munitions – including a river/sea mine – I hope that there aren’t any of them left in the water! The fort, and, indeed, the whole town, was worthy of more exploration, but Ollie was flagging badly – he’s an old boy and we’d exceeded his normal walking limit by at least an hour!

Rafted up on the “shore” side of the pontoon waiting for the ferry to finish for the night – it was a jolly gathering 🙂

Luckily, Sarah had managed to remember her phone, so we could communicate with our transport. But there was a kerfuffle when we got back to the pontoon – Richard brought Indigo Dream in, but when he saw the ferry leaving the far shore he aborted the manoeuvre and left us standing. What we didn’t know was that the ferry was going for lunch and moored up at the adjacent pontoon for a break. We called Indigo Dream back in and got the hounds on board before swaying and clunking our way back to tug Major. Luckily both boats are made of tough stuff.

By now, we’d heard that the additional expedition to Dartford and Crayford Creeks had been cancelled – the wind was freshening and, as the tide turned, the traffic on the river moved from quiet to busy, and from big to gargantuan. We’ve had to totally re-write our definition of “large” craft!

I had though that our guest crew would go home now that our afternoon excursion was cancelled; but as Sarah wryly observed, I had underestimated the power of Indigo Dream’s hospitality. We had lunch then cracked open a bottle of Bollinger to celebrate our safe arrival. After that, we lost track of the bottles that were opened. It was very bumpy on the river buoy so we were relieved when the tide came in to give us enough depth to brest up to the rest of the convoy on the shore-side of the pontoon. That’s when the party really started! The adjacent crews got their ukelele’s out and started singing; there was chatter and laughter. I had been disappointed that our cruise to Deptford/Crayford was cancelled, but as the afternoon wore on, I appreciated how lovely it was to just relax on the mooring and celebrate our shared experience.

Happy crew – Kevin and Jan from Peace of Pearce were catching up with the other crews at the bow….

Surprisingly, we were later joined by two visiting narrowboats who were travelling back from a trip to the Medway. Well, that cut our adventure down to size 🙂 They joined the raft and cruised with the convoy to Limehouse the day after.

Just before 7pm, we said a sad “goodbye” to Doug, James, Neil and Kath – they’d been great company and perfect crew members. Jan, Kevin, Sarah and Andy (also excellent crew members) stayed on to join us at the pub later. I can’t tell you how important it is to have the right crew on a tideway convoy – everyone HAS to be able to get on in the confined space of a narrowboat because there’s no hope of anyone leaving other than by walking the plank 🙂

We then moved onto the river side of the pontoon, took the hounds for another break (just as well that Richard and Andy are big strong men!) then we went off for the “official” celebration – dinner at the Three Daws pub at the end of the Town pier. Now, the Three Daws looks very run down from the outside, but that’s hardly surprising – it’s probably the oldest pub on the river, having gained its license in 1565! It’s very proud of its history so do look at the pub’s website. The SPCC had booked an upstairs function room – it had great views of the river and the food was very good – we were given a warm welcome and the service was great. Three cheers must go to convoy member Andy Spring who researched and organised the Saturday night social.

How do you like your eggs……..Herbie? Or was it Henry, hmmm could have been Bertie. It couldn’t have been Ollie, he’s far too well-behaved and Archie’s too handsome to exert himself that much…

However, by the time we’d eaten I was so beyond of tired that my sense of humour was flagging; however I still had to laugh when we got back to the boat and found that one of the hounds (probably Herbie, though his mum defended him stoutly) had managed to get a dozen raw eggs off the counter and had distributed them through the boat. At least 3 had been eaten, many more were cracked and the rest looked as if they’d been thoughtfully rolled round a greyhound’s mouth before being abandoned. Richard and Andy took the dogs out for a final walk while Sarah and I made the boat habitable. It took some time to locate all the eggs!

By the time we were ready for bed, the last of my stoicism vanished as I realised that we would be severely buffeted by passing river traffic all night long. The big ships were moving with the tide, but what created the wash was the tugs and pilot boats. We were the inner boat in a raft of three narrowboats – the pontoon itself was well padded with thick tyres; but although we had fat fenders down, the narrowboats crashed against each other all night long. I was so relieved that Ty wasn’t with us (has was having a little holiday with Sarah’s mum) – it would have been beyond of cruel to put him through it. When we checked our “fat” fenders the next day, we found that both had burst with the pressure exerted by the wash.

I could have cried as I anticipated a sleepless night and had some wild thoughts about finding myself a hotel on shore; but in between the major crash bangs, which happened every 2 hours or so, I slept deeply, and warmly, thanks to Archie hound cuddling up between us!

Photoblog:

Big ship going upstream…

Big ship going downstream – they passed each other minutes later with room to spare – I’m glad we were moored up – we’d have been a thin filling in that sandwich 🙂

Bit of wash – that’s actually from the pilot boat, not the behemoth that’s passing. See that little sailing boat against the background of the big ship’s hull – and they call us mad 🙂

Kevin from nb Peace of Pearce and old friend Christine from nb Ketura..

I can’t call this the most comfortable mooring but it surely is the most interesting – when we use the phrase “we watched the world go by” , we really meant it!

“It’s behind you” – Eric from nb Cherie blissfully unaware of what’s looming in the background…

Ah, don’t light your stove yet Eric, that ship’s got a flammable cargo 🙂

Setting off for sunnier climes I guess….

A living industrial landscape – it was fascinating to observe the comings and goings of a busy port…

Port of London Authority facility – I think this where they co-ordinate the movement of the big ships – their website is full of interesting stuff to look out for next time we come here ! http://www.pla.co.uk/display_dynamic.cfm/id/547/site/port%20of%20london

View from the upstairs function room at the Three Daws pub – a great way to end a fine day’s cruising…

Boat Blog: Gravesend Adventure – novis aquis!

Saturday 1st July – Barking Creek Mouth to Gravesend

Oh yeah 😀

It was exciting to suddenly be cruising new waters – the river felt wider, wilder and uncharted; who knew what strange beasts we would encounter….?

But that was just my fancy – the river isn’t much wider at Gravesend than at Barking; the conditions were flat calm (though the tide was running at speed); and the river is well charted.

SPCC had provided us with charts featuring the main landmarks/waypoints with the advice to “make a note of these points as you pass them and always know where you are so that if you get into trouble you can call help to the right place”. Hmmmm, wise advice indeed – a 360 degree lookout is essential, but the river is also full of interesting distractions – this is why it’s so nice to have a large crew. Richard also had an app on his phone which charted our position. What surprised us was the depth of the river towards Gravesend; even a historic narrowboat wouldn’t be challenged for draft – the river is around 11 metres deep at low tide!

As we travelled past Barking. the riverbank certainly becomes more industrial, but it also becomes less inhabited and the river is often flanked by dusky green marshes. The call went out “there’s a seal in the water” – but we didn’t see it, even with binoculars. We certainly didn’t any optical enhancement to spot the BIG ships as we approached Tilbury Docks later on!

Ha ha ha – now we’ve passed under all the navigable bridges on the Thames – at 60 metres, this one has the best headroom though 🙂

I didn’t take any notes on the day so I’m finding it quite hard to write a narrative of the trip – there was just so much to see and there were an overwhelming number of new impressions to take in – everything seemed to be on such a large scale, even though the river isn’t much more than half a mile wide here! I do know that we arrived slightly ahead of schedule soon after 1pm. Although logic says that it’s only 20 odd miles, it seemed strange that what had felt so epic had taken less than 5 hours.

I may not have taken any notes, but we did take lots of photos – there’s an album of QEII bridge photos here….

The little notch in the riverbank is the entrance to Dartford Creek (which leads to Crayford Creek). We were due to cruise there when the tide turned later but sadly the wind came up so our powers of navigation weren’t tested 🙂

I also remember being amazed at how short the new Gravesend mooring pontoon was and how high it was (though we had been warned that it was 1.3m above the waterline – the top of the pontoon was level with the boat roof). We arrived just as the ferry left the pontoon – time for us to nip in quickly and offload the greyhounds. The hounds did not appreciate being lifted up to the pontoon but there was no time to be dainty – we HAD to be off the pontoon before the ferry headed back.

By prior arrangement, most of the convoy moored on the “shore side” of the pontoon; but we, along with nb Cherie, were scheduled to moor up to tug Major on a river buoy until the ferry stopped running at 7pm. However, for the sake of the hounds, we had permission from the marina manager to pop onto the pontoon for a “touch and go” to off/onload the hounds. This wasn’t the easiest manoeuvre with the wind picking up, wash from various craft (the local pilots boats were the worst), and the running tide. The ferry and local trip boat “Princess Pocahontas” were less than impressed by the influx of narrowboats, but this is being promoted as a visitor mooring so they’d better get used to welcoming visiting boats.

Note: If the latin in the title is wrong, blame Google Translate 😀

Bloggers Galore!

We were fortunate to have crew that are all talented bloggers – getting ready for the cruise took up a lot of my energy and I’m finding that my prose lacks its usual verve, however my fellow crew members were not so afflicted! For more entertaining posts and some fab photos visit the following:

From Neil & Kath of nb Herbie:

http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/fear-and-trepidation-no-4.html

http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/gravesend.html

http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/fun-and-games-at-gravesend.html

http://nbherbie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/why-you-need-lookout-on-tidal-thames.html

From Doug & James of nb Chance

http://narrowboatchance.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-full-monty.html

Photoblog:

Large ship? Nah….

Big barges? Hardly…

I will concede that’s a big chain though 🙂

It was slightly incongruous to see this sailing club so close to the giant wharves hereabouts – look at the angle of those mooring buoys – the tide was running apace by now…

What a grand sight 🙂

Giant ferry? Na…actually that IS quite large!

So this is where the Thames “oxygenating” barges live – we’ve met them in action further upriver on previous trips. Barking Reach power station mentions that if the cooling outfall warms the water to 21.5 degrees C then they use an alternative cooling method to avoid disrupting migrating salmon. I didn’t know that there were any salmon left here, but if they choose to visit they’ll be able to breathe 🙂

This is Cory Environmental’s “Riverside Resource Recovery” plant, producing energy from London’s waste – rubbish is brought in by barge and ash is taken away by river too! http://www.coryenvironmental.co.uk/page/riversideresourcerecovery.htm

Who would guess that this rather elegant building was part of the Crossness sewage treatment works – they’re going to add a wind turbine later this year which will “generate up to half the energy needed to power the site when combined with the energy generated from processing sewage sludge” http://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/10097.htm

Near miss! I got close to this buoy as well – the consensus in the convoy is that all the mooring buoys have powerful magnets – how else could you explain why we were all so inextricably drawn to them 😀

Some of the container ships are so large they look like part of the built environment of the wharf itself – until they suddenly peel away and head towards you on the river 🙂

Close encounters…..

Ok, now THAT is a big ship!

I loved these arches – I wonder what they are and how old they are?

The convoy turning to stem the tide as we get the mooring order sorted…

We were moored up but the rowers carried on – they’ve got a long way to go – http://www.gbrowchallenge.com/

Boat Blog: Gravesend Adventure – familiar waters

Friday 31st May

Happy crew 🙂

Richard came to the boat early in order to the last of his engine checks and change the filters. We were very fortunate that the weather was set fair – the Webasto objected to the filter change so we didn’t have a boiler all weekend – luckily it wasn’t cold, but we were a bit short of hot water on Saturday morning until we could get the engine running. He’d also got “Limehouse Sid”, an engineer, to check over the engine  – this was one trip where you really need to KNOW that your engine is in good order. Luckily she was fine 🙂

There are many benefits to joining a convoy with the St Pancras Cruising Club (SPCC) – the immaculate organisation, the company, the focus on safety, and the cruising briefings held the night before the convoys. They’re always informative and entertaining, and are a great opportunity to ask questions and clarify arrangements. In order to waive the room hire, we all ate in the Cruising Association so it became a very convivial evening – especially when Sarah and Andy, the first of our crew, turned up with veteran cruisers Henry, Archie and Herbie, together with relative newbie Bertie.

Saturday 1st June: Limehouse to Barking Creek Mouth

We were a tad too relaxed this morning after being told that the convoy would start locking out of Bow at 8.45am – we were in the 5th locking so we weren’t expecting to get onto Bow Creek until around 9.30am. This left plenty of time for the resident crew, human and canine, to get up and dressed, and for our remaining crew Neil and Kath from nb Herbie then Doug and James from nb Chance to arrive; we were also joined by Kevin and Jan from nb Peace of Pearce. Nb Peace of Pearce had hoped to be doing the convoy themselves but their insurance company was very iffy about covering them; it was such a shame – our insurance company insured us without a quibble and just considered it as normal “tidal access” on our policy! It was lovely to be able to offer Kevin and Jan a place – it would prove to be a magical cruise and really one to share with as many boating friends as possible 🙂

Ooops! Kath’s face is a picture after being caught by a current and almost giving the mooring buoy a close shave! She was teased mercilessly for the rest of the afternoon but it can happen to anyone 🙂

We got everyone a coffee then moved onto the pump-out pontoon – the tank probably would have been ok, but with 10 people on board today and 8 tomorrow we didn’t want to take the risk – especially if the crew got nervous 🙂

As often happens, I got busy on bacon sandwiches while we travelled up Limehouse Cut; we were expecting a wait at Bow Locks so we dawdled along. But when we got to Bow, Lenny the lock-keeper waved us on urgently – both gates were open – we cruised straight through! So much for the plan of letting the dogs off for an extra walk before the tideway – just as well we’d thoroughly emptied them in the park earlier….

Bow Creek was at it’s twisty best, with the water just starting to drain away – we would be cruising downstream with the ebbing tide. This made for a very fast passage – we seemed to get to our favourite landmarks in no time at all!

We were able to relax for this bit; we’d done it all before, the weather was perfect and the river was flat calm; there wasn’t any major traffic to worry us. Then suddenly we were at Barking Creek Mouth, with the lush green of Margaret Ness on the opposite bank. Dagenham beckoned and suddenly we were on new waters…

Photoblog:

We were surprised to see feet sticking out from under this bridge over Bow Creek – there are big works going on here 🙂

Going through the Thames Barrier – we must have seen the whole range of shapes and sizes of craft on the river this weekend.

Worried about cruising the tideway? Our crew wasn’t!

One of the rowers that shared the river with us today – they’re rowing around Britain.

Small boats, big river – that’s the Barking Creek flood barrier in the distance…

You don’t need a big boat to cruise the big river – nb Panacea is only 33′ but is veteran of many a tideway adventure…

Cooling water outfall for Barking Reach power station –  there’s interesting information about the modern power station here – http://www.barkingx.info/ Look at the environmental impact section – they have a strategy to stop the cooling system from damaging fish in the river, including migratory salmon…

Boat blog: gravesend adventure

Cruise ship Columbus 2, moored at Greenwich – we’re not done playing with the big boys yet 🙂 Sent from my iPhone

Boat blog: gravesend adventure

Greenwich – cruising conditions couldn’t be more perfect 🙂 Sent from my iPhone

Boat blog: Gravesend Adventure

I don’t think we’ll ever lose the thrill of going through the Thames Barrier – no matter how many times we pass through it… Sent from my iPhone