Murv
Well-Known Member
I have a new boat
Spotted just before Christmas at Penton hook on the Thames, she looked reasonably clean, well looked after and possibly available for a realistic price.
The survey came back OK, VolvoPaul very kindly did a sea trial (as much as you can on a 4knot limited river, anyway) and cast his expert eye over the mechanicals before declaring it as looking promising.
So, I bought it.
Just the small matter of running it back from the non-tidal Thames to the sparkling waters of the Medway then... except for the fact that I don't actually know how to drive a "large," twin screw boat.
Step forward young Fred (oldgit of this parish) and the offer of driving it back for me.
The trip was planned for the forthcoming weekend, upon which the Thames promptly flooded. So, it was cancelled.
The following weekend was looking promising, the river levels were dropping and plans were hatched.
Upon which the heavens opened and the river flooded. Again.
Attempt number 3 was looking decidedly better, river levels were only up a few feet until the weather decided to unleash its trump card in the form of 60mph winds.
Scroll forward to the weekend just gone, light winds all week, dry, and looking promising. The only blot on the landscape was, of course, the stiff north easterlies forecast to hit Friday evening until Sunday evening (obviously.)
But, enough's enough. Cabin fever was setting in, I'd already started shopping for net curtains and potted plants to line along the decks, it was time to leave!
Saturday morning saw us heading Thames bound armed with provisions for the journey ahead.
Aboard, lines were cast off and Fred nosed her out of the marina.
A bitterly cold wind and a fair bit of flow propelled us downriver and a reasonably uneventful journey down through the locks towards our overnight stop at Teddington.
Just a quick note here, the Thames locks are superb! None of your frantic winding away with handles, everything is push-button.
And, most of the time, you don't even have to push the button yourself as a very obliging chap appears and pushes the buttons for you, brilliant stuff!
They do have a slightly odd send-off tradition though, on leaving the lock they leap up and down, waving their arms and shouting something about a license fee. Must be a London navigators thing? All a bit odd, but very nice people none the less
A brief stop outside Hampton court whilst Fred attempted to get to grips with the plotter.
Seemingly, reading through the manual in a structured fashion actually gave far better results than my blindly stabbing away at buttons and hoping for the best.
So, overnight stop and a very pleasant meal at a pub recommended by Mr and Mrs Fred, and a very good choice it was too.
Decent grub, decent beer and safely isolated from that bitter wind.
Safely moored at Teddington
Sunday morning dawned bright and, er, well, dark.
Actually, it didn't even dawn, we were up way before that.
I'm not sure I'm overly convinced by this nautical twilight thingy, back when I were a lad, we simply called this "dark."
Anyhow, after a tense moment when one battery bank had completely flattened, the engines were running, nav lights lit and enough layers of clothing donned to safely cross the antartic.
Sadly, the aforementioned clothing whilst perfectly adequate for crossing the ice caps was rendered utterly useless by a good ol' UK North easterly and fairly soon after setting off, various body organs were systematically shutting down until the inevitable defeat and departure down below to hot coffee and a roaring eberspacher.
Onwards and downwards through the hustle and bustle of a bust central London.
To be accurate, there was actually very little activity at all. Anyone with a modicum of common sense was wrapped up safely indoors...
To be continued...
Spotted just before Christmas at Penton hook on the Thames, she looked reasonably clean, well looked after and possibly available for a realistic price.
The survey came back OK, VolvoPaul very kindly did a sea trial (as much as you can on a 4knot limited river, anyway) and cast his expert eye over the mechanicals before declaring it as looking promising.
So, I bought it.
Just the small matter of running it back from the non-tidal Thames to the sparkling waters of the Medway then... except for the fact that I don't actually know how to drive a "large," twin screw boat.
Step forward young Fred (oldgit of this parish) and the offer of driving it back for me.
The trip was planned for the forthcoming weekend, upon which the Thames promptly flooded. So, it was cancelled.
The following weekend was looking promising, the river levels were dropping and plans were hatched.
Upon which the heavens opened and the river flooded. Again.
Attempt number 3 was looking decidedly better, river levels were only up a few feet until the weather decided to unleash its trump card in the form of 60mph winds.
Scroll forward to the weekend just gone, light winds all week, dry, and looking promising. The only blot on the landscape was, of course, the stiff north easterlies forecast to hit Friday evening until Sunday evening (obviously.)
But, enough's enough. Cabin fever was setting in, I'd already started shopping for net curtains and potted plants to line along the decks, it was time to leave!
Saturday morning saw us heading Thames bound armed with provisions for the journey ahead.
Aboard, lines were cast off and Fred nosed her out of the marina.
A bitterly cold wind and a fair bit of flow propelled us downriver and a reasonably uneventful journey down through the locks towards our overnight stop at Teddington.
Just a quick note here, the Thames locks are superb! None of your frantic winding away with handles, everything is push-button.
And, most of the time, you don't even have to push the button yourself as a very obliging chap appears and pushes the buttons for you, brilliant stuff!
They do have a slightly odd send-off tradition though, on leaving the lock they leap up and down, waving their arms and shouting something about a license fee. Must be a London navigators thing? All a bit odd, but very nice people none the less
A brief stop outside Hampton court whilst Fred attempted to get to grips with the plotter.
Seemingly, reading through the manual in a structured fashion actually gave far better results than my blindly stabbing away at buttons and hoping for the best.
So, overnight stop and a very pleasant meal at a pub recommended by Mr and Mrs Fred, and a very good choice it was too.
Decent grub, decent beer and safely isolated from that bitter wind.
Safely moored at Teddington
Sunday morning dawned bright and, er, well, dark.
Actually, it didn't even dawn, we were up way before that.
I'm not sure I'm overly convinced by this nautical twilight thingy, back when I were a lad, we simply called this "dark."
Anyhow, after a tense moment when one battery bank had completely flattened, the engines were running, nav lights lit and enough layers of clothing donned to safely cross the antartic.
Sadly, the aforementioned clothing whilst perfectly adequate for crossing the ice caps was rendered utterly useless by a good ol' UK North easterly and fairly soon after setting off, various body organs were systematically shutting down until the inevitable defeat and departure down below to hot coffee and a roaring eberspacher.
Onwards and downwards through the hustle and bustle of a bust central London.
To be accurate, there was actually very little activity at all. Anyone with a modicum of common sense was wrapped up safely indoors...
To be continued...
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