Hanky ~Bols.

[oldgit]

My house is slowly being wrecked by the grandkids..............So....
Drive to the 02.
Clipper to the Aquarium.
Tube the see the Dinosaurs at Natural History.
Tube to Embankment.
Clipper back .to 02 through some of the foulest weather ever.

Remind me never ever to go to London on a Bank holiday ever again.

Now packing to go up to Maidstone over night
Many of you know my location.,probably more sheltered than Teddington.
There appears to be mini white horses on the top of the waves out of my front window.

Whats everybody else up to ?

 

[boatone]

Remind me never ever to go to London on a Bank holiday ever again.

No point, you'll do it anyway !

 

[rosssavage]

Sitting in WID. Not so bouncy now, was quite lively last night... We had white horses in the dock too

 

[JorgeinLondon]

Went out on Friday - was really lovely. Sun actually produced warmth! Went from Chiswick Quay to the anglers arms in Teddington where my passengers had double brandy and coffee. They don't remember much of the return trip but I can say it was very pretty - stunning light etc.

Today went to a penthouse flat in Victoria (17th floor) and watched the pulses of rain come in. Very impressive.. Had far too much to eat and then watched Cambridge ladies almost sink in the boat race - they were pretty much sunk actually. I have no idea how they made it across the line.

Just struggled in - waiting for Katie to get going.

 

[mlines]

Well we got out today....

 

[Steve Grubb]

We didn't!

 

[byron]

Sitting in WID.QUOTE]

'WID' ?
Wimbourne in Dorset?

 

[rosssavage]

West India dock. Where oldgit isn't, cos the RCC rather sensibly decided to sit it out this time!

 

[Brayman]

Sitting in WID.QUOTE]

'WID' ?
Wimbourne in Dorset?

I think I would know about it if he was!!!!

 

[oldgit]

Just got back from Maidstone Town Centre.
Poured all night, boat blown every which way.
Water level rose a couple of feet, enough to flood the path and subway.
Purely by chance decided to go down to lock early.
Probably the fastest journey time from town to lock ever.
On arrival, lock keeper suggested we go now, flood water is filling the river,giving sufficent draft to float ,but if we wait for any incoming tide,no way on earth will we get under Aylesford Bridge.
Flow expected to be even higher in next day or so as catchment area drains.Poss stuck up there for days.
Really weird whizzing down stream on the boiling flood water,got a bit shallow as the river widened,the flow slowed and the depth of the water lessened,but no incoming tide to give you any depth in the lower reaches.
About a foot clearance under the bridge.
Poor old Murv, a bit of a baptism of fire especially with his nice shiney new boat.
Very "interesting" going past weir in order to get into lock cut as well.

 

[Gavi]

Chilling out in the Virgin Islands. Done a bit of boating and a lot of rum drinking.

 

[oldgit]

Chilling out in the Virgin Islands. Done a bit of boating and a lot of rum drinking.

sounds awful

 

[boatone]

Chilling out in the Virgin Islands. Done a bit of boating and a lot of rum drinking.

Disgustingly selfish attitude - whatever happened to solidarity ? ?

 

[oldgit]

Disgustingly selfish attitude - whatever happened to solidarity ? 

"We are all in this together ?"

Not sure where I heard that... sure somebody did say that in another context, cannot for the life of me remember where , but it sounds wonderful

 

[Medway Mudlark]

was watching with interest as you approached the cut. I was inside relining the cabin ably assited by swmbo. nice going both of you. Not helped by the workboats no doubt.

 

[oldgit]

was watching with interest as you approached the cut. I was inside relining the cabin ably assited by swmbo. nice going both of you. Not helped by the workboats no doubt.

The interesting bit was going down to Aylesford and discovering out if there was sufficient headroom for a flybridge.
The duty lockeeper certainly knew his stuff and we were grateful for his advice.
Murv and I had discussed a plan B,fortunately it was not required.
It would have actually been possible with care to turn round and head back up to lock and wait it out.

 

[Murv]

It was certainly a challenging trip
Must admit we wouldn't have gone if I'd known what the conditions would be like, but I'm extremely glad we did. You don't learn anything if you only go out in perfect conditions, it feels as if we've crammed a Years worth of experience into 2 days!
It was quite surreal hurtling down the river in that floodwater, going slower was certainly impossible as steerage was limited enough at tickover as it was and it was a real white-knuckle experience entering the cut!
As always, a huge thanks to Fred who was instructing over the radio, reading depths etc on the tidal sections and keeping everything and everyone safe.

A few random snaps from the weekend:

 

[Flynnbarr]

Your boat looks good Murv.
Old Git.....you need a bigger sign

 

[Murv]

Your boat looks good Murv.
Old Git.....you need a bigger sign

Thank you! I must admit that was the result of a lot of days spent polishing and vinyl-applying, trying to get her ready for the club trip to West India dock!

 

[kelly-rose]

We have experience all types of weather over two day which was handed very well not much sleep but a good learning curve for us all, don't really want to do that again in a hurry x