Sunny September sail

We are planning to have a long weekend away for our one year anniversary, but Kate suggested that before we leave we go for a quick sail. Good on ya darling.

We went down to Valmik and she appeared to have quite a lot of growth on her bottom.

After harvesting the seaweed farm I also found our lunch, one prawn and a mussel. Actually we had some of Kate's lovely organic carrot cake instead.

With so much weed on the bottom I was a bit nervous about sailing valmik thinking she would be very slow. It was also a bit breezy with a force six forecast. Anyway we found the nerve and had a really lovely sail. We put the second reef in before we left. The old seagull outboard fired up on the third pull and was very smoky, I shut it down, it would be our back up. I have wanted to test our skills for a while now with sailing off and onto the mooring buoy without touching the outboard. I was a little bit nervous as we had not done any close maneuvering for some time. We worked really well as a team. I did run forward to help Kate with the mooring as it was the first time we had used our mooring hook and I was not sure if I had lined Valmik up well enough for Kate.

Here are three short videos for your enjoyment. I have attached the camera to the boat for these and I need to learn how to edit them as they are very basic. The wind sound is very loud.

SAILING OFF

COMING IN

SAILING ON

Adventure holiday over

Well it is sad, but our holiday cruise up the Thames River is now over! We were lucky to have such absolutely  stunning weather for the last few days. The cruise down from Henley was really nice. Apart from a eight manned rowing boat trying to place them selves directly under our bow with little warning, all was pretty relaxed and very enjoyable. We then had a pleasant two night stay at the Islands in Cliveden Reach which we both love. Kate's parents joined us for a trip to the gardens and stayed for dinner and a fire. Today we cruised the last leg back to Staines and again the weather was stunning. Bare footed with only shirt and shorts on all day I believe this was the warmest day so far for me.  We are about to have fish pie with Kate's parents tonight. Tomorrow we are going to a car boot sale before we pack the car and head back to Devon and the real world.

Sunset over the River Thames at Henley

I think I could easily retire early and spend the rest of my life cruising the inland waterways of Europe on a gorgeous Dutch Barge.

Breakfast at the Islands

A Heron and the closest I have ever been to one. This one was focused on the carp at the Cliveden house water gardens

Me in my favourite helming position

Friends of ours own this wonderful big barge
 

The most relaxing holiday ever

we woke up on the 9th day of our holiday feeling good. We cast off and started to turn around on our rope under engine power. The turn went well and we were off heading down stream when we realised the end of the rope was around the prop. We are not sure how this happened as we thought we had pulled it all in, we even took her out of gear whilst the line was close to the prop. Well I was very keen to chuck out the mud weight to slow us down, but Kate said to first try going astern a little to try and throw the line off. It worked and was no hassle at all in the end. A good nice and easy learning experience.

                                                                           SEE VIDEO

The weather finally seamed to improve today and we were able to enjoy some sunshine without a cold breeze associated with it. Nothing went wrong and every close manoeuvre was slow and smooth. We especially liked Shiplake Lock and it is probably our favourite lock.

Shiplake Lock layby

Shiplake Lock our favourite

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I think this is my most relaxing holiday ever and Kate and I will both miss this little boat so much when she is sold.

Starting to cruise down stream

Well we had a lazy Sunday morning as you should, then cruised down river to the lovely Abingdon town. We had planned to stay in Abingdon for two nights because we like the moorings there and we really like the town. I managed to get a bit more work done and Kate checked out all the shops. The weather was windy and rainy on Monday so it was a good decision to stay.

Today we left Abingdon  mid morning and started our cruise down river. I am sorry but I do not have many photos again today. I really enjoyed just chugging along down the river. To speed things up a little at the self service locks, Kate worked the locks as I helmed Aukje in and out of the them. She is such a lovely barge to handle once you get the hang of her.

We are now moored up alongside a green grassing field close to Pangbourne which is a very little village. We are planning to moor in Henley tomorrow.

We made it to Oxford

Well, yesterday was a big day. It started off with a morning in the lovely Abingdon town, wandering around. We found a little market beside a very old town square building. 

We started cruising upstream before lunch and planned on stopping in Oxford for the night. Once again the scenery was absolutely stunning. I did not take many photos today, I just tried to enjoy it all. 

We were making good progress and heading into Oxford centre when a bridge appeared in front of us. We slowed down straight away as it looked like it would be a tight squeeze to get through. We instantly doubted our position as we thought there would not be any low, narrow bridge arches until after the next lock. It turns out that Folly Bridge is one of the lowest bridges on the non-tidal Thames and has a turn just before it. Well, it was a little tricky getting through and we ended up having only one foot clearance. Going really slowly under the bridge we then came to a sharp turn with a split in the river. The flow was divided and we turned upstream without any problems. 

The river then became much narrower and windier. We were a little worried that there might be something coming downstream and it wouldn't be able to stop. I also hit a big overhanging branch with the mast around one bend. We thought that maybe we should not be coming up this far. We soon arrived at Osney Lock just before Osney Bridge which is the lowest on the river. We did not want to go any further than this bridge as one lock keeper warned us that it gets very shallow and it would be difficult for us to turn around. Kate scouted out ahead of the lock as I got some local knowledge from a very friendly charter boat skipper. We did not like the mooring and decided to go downstream and tackle Folly Bridge today so as not to worry about having to navigate it tomorrow.

This is folly Bridge viewed from upstream. I took this photo on the way upstream.

We turned around and headed back the way we had come. As we approached the bridge I knew what had to be done. I had to do three difficult manurers in quick succession: a sharp left hand turn, followed by lining up for the small centre arch, then a sharp right hand turn.

I misjudged the first turn and could not line up for the bridge in time. I abandoned the attempt and put her into reverse. The Second attempt worked  much better. I struggled a little to get her lined up and then we discovered that a big trip boat was moored just behind the bridge making our sharp turn after the bridge much more difficult. We got through the bridge and I put the tiller hard over and into the turn we went, hoping that there were no boats coming upstream. As we came around the corner and swung wide there was a bunch of canoes just waiting there. As we came around the corner clear of the canoes, the mast went through another massive unavoidable overhanging branch. Loads of people enjoyed this bridge navigation, especially those at the very busy pub just downstream.

I am working on a traditional decorative piece called a Click. It goes on the tiller above the rudder.
 

We continued downstream a couple of locks and found a quiet mooring under a huge oak tree and next to a lovely old pub.

Could it get better?

Well I do not really have much to say today, Just taken away by all of the beauty this place has. Could not be possible to be feeling more chilled out right now. Just moored up in gorgeous Abingdon and the sun is shining on us. We are about to go to the pub for dinner which is just down stream and in the picture.

Love the upper Thames, and cruising!!! And I loved the rain/hail/sleet we got today.

Enjoy the pictures

This lock took 20 minutes to fill, so we had to wait a while

This may look a bit funny but it is a really comfortable position and you can steer really easy with your legs.

And this is our stunning mooring for the evening. gorgeous weather and barely anyone on the river. I think we passed two boats today.

Day 3 on the Thames

We woke up in Henley this morning to a beautiful sunny day. There was frost on the fore deck and it was very quiet even this close to town. The boat had not come to collect their mooring fees, oh well we had to go.

The cruise today was again stunning with lots of gorgeous scene's which gradually appeared into view as we motored up the meandering river. After Marsh lock there is a special little stretch with a row of amazing house's which appears after a maze of wild islands. The next lock which is called Shiplake was my favourite lock. It is a very pretty and well maintained lock with rolling hills in the distance and a colourful welcoming willow overhanging the river.

The river is very lush at the moment and we are lucky to not have much traffic at all.

Today as we were enjoying the scenery a small arched bridge appeared before us. Sonning bridge it is and we soon discovered that it had a powerful fast flowing weir stream cutting across the path you must take. The arch we needed to aim for suddenly became very difficult to line up for. I needed to step on the power and get back on course. It was a relief to come out of the powerful cross stream and snap back on course just as we entered the archway.

And we are now moored up for the night and just about to have a nice dinner.

De Kleine Aukje day 2

Kate and I woke to a beautiful symphony of wild birds calling. No wonder these special islands are one of Kate's favourite places. We had a lovely night sleep and a relaxing sleep in followed by a delicious scrambled egg breakfast. I cracked on with some work on the cockpit whilst Kate studied the Thames river map. I had a quick scrub of the hull which only slightly annoyed the nesting Canadian geese.

The cruise from Cliveden Reach heading upriver to Henley-on-Thames passes through Marlow. This cruise starts off in a very untouched place with steep wooded hills on one side and lovely little islands scattered around the river. The locks are all very pretty and the scenery slowly becomes more rural. Most of the house's by the river are stunning! Passing through Marlow is very special and I wish we had time to stop at more places. Marlow looks gorgeous from the river, a very pretty little town.

Arriving at Henley-on-Thames we found a very easy, perfectly placed mooring for the night. Moored just down river of the stone, arched Henley bridge and opposite a row of eight gorgeous old boat house's. After a little shop and a snack we are now enjoying a nice glass of wine whilst watching the had working rower's and listening to some chilled out music.

Today passed mostly uneventful from mishaps. One narrow boat tried to overtake us as we were about to enter a tricky lock. He got pretty close about one metre away which distracted me enough to ruin my planned nice and easy, smooth entrance into the lock. We bounced off the lock from Kate's perfectly placed fenders and I poled Aukje back into position. I don't know what they were thinking! Poor seamanship award, for sure. Some people think it is a race into the lock.

We learnt that there are a lot of locks with fast flowing weir streams directly in front. These can be tricky and definitely need to be spotted in advance as they could catch you and send you quickly off course. The river is still flowing rather quickly which is described as yellow boards, but the rate of flow is expected to decrease.