Day 49: The leaving of Limehouse

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 :)

Approaching Tower Bridge and the Shard

Nearly at Tower Bridge... the boat on the right was in Limehouse Lock with us, it's travelling up to Brentford for a festival there.

Passing the historic Wapping pub The Prospect of Whitby, established in 1520 and with a very 'interesting' history. For one thing, it must be the only pub with a gallows outside. We had dinner there a couple of days ago and it has wonderful views of the river.

 

Tate Modern, the Millenium Bridge and St Paul's


 Southbank, Hungerford Bridge and the London Eye

The Houses of Parliament. We're only travelling at around 8mph, but it feels incredibly fast!

A Port of London Authority tugboat. If we break down, one of these will come alongside and escort/tow us into safety. See this video of a narrowboat rescue for how it's done (though we definitely wouldn't be walking along the roof like this owner, what was he thinking?!).

Our immensely capable and reassuring guide Giles, who steered the really choppy first part of the journey from Limehouse to Teddington. He was ultra meticulous about checking everything beforehand, too - our lifejackets, the anchor, the engine (oil, coolant, stern gland).

Denis steering

Jan steering and Giles examining his timesheet to make sure we're still on track :)

Two huge refuse barges being towed by tug up to Battersea, where one was left and the other continued to Nine Elms. They're travelling at a much faster speed than we are, hence the overtaking - and the respectful distance between us!

Our berth beside Teddington Lock, kindly booked by Giles since we arrive about 7pm which is after the lock closes for the night, so we'll go through tomorrow morning.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 39: Packet Boat Marina to Paddington Basin

Image
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  
Read more

Day 15: Stoke Bruerne to Milton Keynes

Image
 Lee and Gina setting off from Stoke Bruerne   Looks like water being pumped into the canal - we're not sure why or where from. It could be a way of maintaining levels in dry weather (which it has been, very). Jan tries steering by intuition (she's a bit sleepy) - not recommended Another handsome Dutch barge  Will go extra slow! Toblerhome Is this a Ent?? Lovely gothic limestone bridge built in 1800 at Cosgrove - it's known as Solomon's Bridge Great advertisement for a solar installer Volunteers restoring the Buckingham Canal arm, 11 miles in length, running from Cosgrove to Buckingham. One said "it won't be ready by next year" so we understood there's some way to go. Descending Cosgrove Lock Widebeam entering the lock as we depart Cosgrove has a quirky and cosmopolitan feel - and a selection of original Dutch barges A splendid mast on this one This looks like a doll's house   This aquaduct, the first of its kind in the world, was built in 1811 and...
Read more