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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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