2025 Trip - Mercia Marina to London return

The forecast was for a mild breeze and sunshine, so all good.  We'd booked our lock exit for 3.25pm and had spoken to the lockkeeper the day before when we'd watched him let two boats through. He told us we'd be going through with another boat, but didn't have its name or details so we didn't know whether it was another narrowboat or something else. On Wednesday morning there was time for a last shop and a top up with water (there was no nearby water tap, so for a week we'd been filling and carrying 5L water bottles from the tap by the lockside) plus a last coffee with Eddie, another boater we'd got to know. He kindly agreed to video our departure from Limehouse. Denis also took a video, from the boat. The radio sound in the background is the VHF which is required on the tidal Thames and which Giles used to let Port of London Authority know when we joined the river. Leaving Limehouse Lock  First part of the trip upstream from Limehouse, the choppy part :) A...

After Catnap's gearbox was repaired, we were hoping to leave Limehouse as part of St Pancras Cruising Club's next convoy on Friday 13th.  However, we decided to have an experienced helm, Giles Williams, onboard for our trip and postponed the date to 18th to fit with his schedule. CRT had given us an extension of stay on the Wall, so we were OK to stay put until then. Another disconcerting event had occurred on the morning of 12th, when a narrowboat limped in from the Thames after the engine failed. The boat then went aground, was stranded on a bank overnight and had taken on a lot of water before being rescued. We never got to the bottom of exactly what had happened, although the owner told us that he'd "nearly lost the boat".   The nearly ill-fated narrowboat Muchgigglin, turning to pump out the port side after becoming seriously waterlogged on the Thames Sooo.. we asked the local mechanic to return to thoroughly check all connections and anything else he could t...

Simon arrived at 9am for a briefing, which included how to secure our boats once inside the lock.  Unlike most canal locks, which let water in and out by raising paddles this lock controls water flow by opening the massive hydraulic gates - a tiny crack at first and then more as the water equalises.  The effect is to suck boats forward as soon as the gates start opening, so boats must be secured bow and stern by ropes looped around 'risers', steel cables vertically set into the lock wall. Simon's plan showing how boats must be secured in the lock. The outer boats are roped to risers and the middle boat to a boat alongside   Promptly at 10.30am, Best of British and Medusa descended the lock and took holding positions on the river and then it was the turn of Catnap and the other two boats to enter the lock. Denis steered Catnap into position on the right and Jan stood on the bow ready to loop the rope around the forward riser.  However just at this point, Denis suddenl...

Next is a section of canal 9 miles long with 12 locks descending a total of 86' to the Basin, where we're going to moor up on the wall this side of the lock and go through the lock tomorrow.  We're joining 4 other boats, so will be going through the lock in two batches, with the first 2 boats going into a holding position - pointing into the incoming tide and maintaining sufficient speed - on the river to wait for the rest. This isn't an easy manouevre, so we're assuming that Simon will choose experienced tidal river boaters for it. On the way to Limehouse today, we'll pass by Regents Park Zoo, King's Cross, Islington and lots of other places we knew from living in London for more than 20 years - but we're sure this will be from a different perspective.  Oh and there are two tunnels, both one-way so we have to be sure of no oncoming craft when entering. We left at 9.30am and had the most demanding day we've ever had on the canals, so much so that we ...

After a few days of heavy rain it was a relief to have a dry day. We'd prebooked a visitor mooring at Paddington Basin for a reasonable £25 for the night and the 16 lock-free miles from Uxbridge was straightforward, only slightly held up by a few cruisers which had slipped mooring ropes and which we had to carefully avoid. We set off at 9.15am and arrived at 2.30pm, to find our reserved spot immediately outside Paddington Station.   Difficult to believe - Catnap at Paddington! One of the bridges at Little Venice As everywhere in London, new high rise buildings going up We've been studying the 'bridge arch' notes that Simon sent - this is the one for Westminster Bridge. We must go under the arch marked with the upward arrow, unless there's a stop light on it in which case it's the next arch going from right to left.  There's also the HofP exclusion zone, which if breached results in armed paras boarding, or something like that