Maidenhead to Sonning
21.5 Miles 9 Locks.
This Dutch Barge passed us this morning before we left our mooring.
Enjoyment of all outdoor activity depends on one thing, the weather, and the worst weather that a Narrowboat can encounter is wind, today it was blowing gale force.
The heavy showers of Monday had gone but the wind made controlling the boat difficult, fortunately at 8 of today's Locks the direction of the wind was blowing boats onto the Lock waiting moorings or the Locks were sheltered by trees, but at Hambleden Lock which is next to open fields it was blowing the boats off the moorings so it was a case of getting ropes on quickly, Jayne is getting quite good at lassoing mooring bollards from the front of the boat.
The first 2 Locks today had the "Self Service" sign showing as the Lock Keepers was adjusting the weir flow, one of the crew from the other boat using the Lock pressed the buttons on the control panel to operate everything.
The weirs are adjusted according to the amount of water flowing down the River to maintain the correct levels.
We then went along a straight section of river used for the the Henley Regatta and, through Henley which is a very Boaty place with plenty of nice moorings, free for a few hours to visit the Town but £9 to stay overnight.
We came across a Narrowboat which was in trouble, 1 of the crew was standing on a very expensive looking lawn belonging to a large waterside property holding the front rope with the rear of the boat sticking out into the River, the steerer was waving frantically at us so we went over, they had engine failure so we tied their boat to the side of No Direction and moved it across to some visitor mooring on the other bank, they had called a boatyard for assistance, so we left them there.
The boat with engine failure was crewed by 3 New Zealanders
Wednesday. 25th August 2010
Sonning to Beale Park.
10.75 Miles 3 Locks.
The weather forecast for today was rain in the afternoon so we off the mooring by 8.30, the first stop was the moorings outside Tesco's in Caversham, they were pretty crowded so we moored along side Narrowboat Enigma (we always ask first) and went shopping. Jayne always checks the bill to make sure that any Discounts/offers/2 for 1 deals have been deducted, today she spotted a mistake with the price of the Yogurts, the offer price said 12 Muller Yogurts for £3, we were charged £6 the normal price, so off she went to sort out Customer Service while I took the rest of the shopping back to the boat, it turned out that the 12 Yogurts for £3 offer finished yesterday but someone forgot to take the sign down, ha ha Jayne won, they gave her a cash refund.
After packing most of the supplies away we moved off as there was a queue forming for the moorings.
We then passed through Reading where there seemed to be plenty of moorings, it was also gearing up for this weekends Reading Festival with lots of fans queuing with there camping gear waiting to get in.
Eager fans wait in the rain to get in and put their tents up in the rain and spend the rest of the day and possibly the weekend in the rain, a tickets only £180
I also spotted a least 4 rescue boats patrolling along the river waiting to pull the the over excited one's out.
The temporary bridge built to get Fans from the campsite to the Festival site and back, in previous years they used a ferry.
A more permanent Reading bridge.
After Reading the rain really started to come down and I thought about those people putting there tents up, we were wet as well but a least we could switch the central heating on after we had tied up to dry out and get warm.
So we are now moored at the I.W.A. Festival at Beale Park warm and dry, it hasn't stopped raining since we go here so we have stayed on the boat, if the weather is drier tomorrow we will go and sign in and collect our Commemorative brass plaque, might even venture into the zoo if they will have us.
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