England narrow boating: 2 Oxford Canal & Thames River

Saturday, June 5, 2010

After a leisurely start we caught a train from nearby Wandsworth Station to Heyford, where the narrow boat was located across the canal from the station. Marilynn's suitcase is particularly heavy, so we had a tough time dragging it up many stairs to the first platform, but for train changes at Reading and Oxford there were elevators and escalators, so no problem. Instead of tackling the stairs to cross the canal on the footbridge, we used the wheels on the suitcases to drag them out the vehicle entrance to the station and over the road bridge.

Bob & Gaybrielle were late arriving, so Marilynn & I settled in on the boat. When they arrived Bob and I were given a very comprehensive lesson on where everything was, how electrical and mechanical systems worked and the rules of the "road" on the canals by an instructor who then rode with us through the first lock to take us through opening & closing procedures, as locks on the Oxford Canal are all self serve. We dropped him at his house a short distance from the lock.

Our boat, the Blenheim, is 57 feet (17.4 meters) long and 7 feet (2.13 meters) wide. An open deck on the back has engine controls and a tiller attached to the rudder to manually control direction. Maximum speed through the water is about 5 mph (8 kph), but because of the number of boats moored along the sides of the canal a lot of the time we were at half that speed.

Inside is a living area and table which comfortably seats four, a kitchen with fridge and stove, a double bed and en suite bathroom with a small bathtub & shower, then at the bow two single beds with an en suite bathroom with shower. On the bow is an open seating area where Marilynn spent almost all her time armed with her cameras. The trip was amazing for reflection and wildlife photos. The multitudes of swans, geese and ducks all have this year's babies with them - I've never seen so many waterfowl.

Going through locks on our first afternoon we were assisted by more experienced boaters, who had no problem figuring out we were rank amateurs. Other boaters on the canals are usually very friendly and helpful. We had planned to stop for the night at a pub catering to narrow boaters; however the banks of the canal were occupied in both directions for miles. When we found a place to tie up it was so far from the pub we decided to cook dinner on board.

Sunday June 6 to Wednesday June 9, 2010

Getting used to one another's schedules over the first days took a bit of adjustment. Bob & Gaybrielle are used to going to bed at midnight and getting up at 8 or so in the morning, while Marilynn and I are in bed by 9-9:30 and up at 5 AM. The first morning I was up at 5, but gradually we moved towards one another's time, playing cards until about 11 PM each night and getting underway by about 9 AM.

We soon had lock procedures down to a system - Marilynn and Bob became very adept with the manually operated locks and I manoeuvred the boat through them. The boat was equipped with windlasses for cranking the locks opened and closed, and with metal stakes for driving into the ground at the side of the canal when tying up for the night.

Our second night was spent on a beautiful stretch of canal just before Oxford, where there was a pub and small shop across an arched bridge where we moored. Dinner in the pub was great, and they had wireless internet which let me get the first part of this story out and we all checked our email. The only downside was that when tying up my prescription sunglasses fell off and disappeared under the dirty water of the canal.

The following morning we navigated through a short connecting canal to join the River Thames, which at this point was not a lot wider than the canal had been. It is necessary to pay 30 pounds ($47) per day to be on the river, so we bought 3 days. Most locks on the river are manned, so are opened and closed by lock keepers who are also a great source of information. Most of the locks will take several boats. Our stop that night was at the town of Wallingford, where we had dinner at a riverside pub/restaurant and then made good use of the town's facilities the next morning to get laundry done, have a great English breakfast, change money, buy umbrellas and stock up at the big supermarket.

The weather has been generally cold and cloudy, with some short rainstorms but none that have caught us while travelling so far. On occasions when the sun came out it was wonderfully warm, but this did not happen often.

Tuesday afternoon we stopped at Reading, where Marilynn was able to purchase more memory cards for her camera, as she has already loaded the cards she brought along. We were moored alongside a large city park walking distance from downtown. The ladies cooked us up a super dinner of BBQ lamb chops with all the trimmings, using a disposable BBQ beside the boat. My personal downside today was that while travelling a cold gust of wind carried overboard the 20 pages of Google Earth shots of our route - four days work which included labelling en route locks, bridges, sites to see and pubs. Fortunately Gaybrielle brought along a book with detailed canal routes, and we were able to purchase a book on the Thames from the first lock keeper.

Wednesday we arrived at Windsor, again mooring at a city park with the huge Windsor Castle towering above the stern of the boat. We walked to a local pub for drinks and dinner, and then returned to the boat to play cards.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

A discussion was held this morning as to whether we should turn back to where we rented the boat on the route we already covered, or carry on. We have used almost half our time to cover barely a third of the distance. I worked out times and mileages, and it appears we will need to average about 9 hours a day motoring to get back on the appointed day, but we decided to go for it anyway.

I managed to get this written in the morning before we left, while the other three walked to Windsor Castle. I've been to Windsor before, and as my legs will no longer carry me long distances opted to remain on board and get some things caught up.

We got underway about noon and headed downstream hoping to reach Brentford, where the Grand Union Canal begins. The day was cold and windy with intermittent rains, making standing on the open stern a thoroughly miserable experience. While steering down the ever widening river a gust of wind took my Tilly hat off and deposited it in the river behind us. After some difficulty in getting the long, not very manoeuvrable boat turned around (including bouncing off a moored narrow boat) we were headed back for my hat. Marilynn managed to get it on the boat hook, but it fell off in front of the boat, which then ran over it. We hoped it might appear behind us but it did not. Losing my third important item to the river put me in a truly black mood. My comment was that I couldn't believe we paid a lot of money for the privilege of suffering through all this.

The next lock keeper noticed our efforts and held the lock open for us. When we were in the lock and ready to tie up, as usually I pushed the throttle to full reverse to stop the boat, and Marilynn called out excitedly that my had was floating in front of the boat. We suppose that it hung on something under the boat when we ran over it, and the reverse thrust from the propeller washed it back out. At least the river gave one item back!

The lock keeper did not have good news on the tides - below Teddington Lock the Thames is tidal, and as the tide can run at more than our 5 mph maximum speed it is not possible to run against it. Also, the locks for the Grand Union Canal can only accommodate boats from two hours before high tide until 2 hours after high tide. The next tide we could catch from Teddington would be at 2:30 the following day - which meant we needed to buy two more days extension of our Thames permit, and we would lose a precious day of travel time. The town of Hamstead was after the last lock before Teddington, so we pulled in and went to the local pub for drinks and another good dinner.

Friday, June 11, 2010

There was no point in starting the one hour run to Teddington before 12:30, so we did some shopping, got a load of laundry done and had a proper English breakfast. We arrived early, and had to wait for the tide, however we met a fellow who had done the route before, so we followed him straight down to Brentford where the Grand Union Canal begins.

The next challenge was a series of 12 locks one after the other - after the 12th we decided to call it a night. I sat down with the book we have on the canals and worked out the time required to get the boat back on schedule (if it is not back on time there is a penalty of 50 pounds per day) - about 13 hours of running every day. This will change from a holiday to a route march - and there are still 113 manually operated locks to get through as well. The canal is filthy in this area - floating garbage, garbage along the banks, derelict boats and barges - not exactly scenic. We did find a nice spot to spend the night once out of the industrial zone and the ladies cooked dinner on board.