London calling
Well, I'm finally here in IRIS at her new mooring in West London at Willowtree Marina. We got the boat here lat last sunday afternoon after about 6 hours coming up the canal from Brentford, there were 10 locks to go through. Apparently it was hard work, which I managed to avoid by playing the 'I need to drive the boat' card. Mary did it all really. Still, it'll keep her fit.

The trip from Penton Hook to Brentford was not without problems. I arrived there last friday night and had a pleasant evening watching the sun set etc. I was up at 6:00-ish on saturday morning and was underway by 7:10am. The Thames was lovely at that time with the sun coming up and the water completely still.

My aim was to be at Teddington locks where the tidal part of the river starts by 13:00 in order to catch the tide. I was there at 11:30, but was told that the river was shutting at 12:15 in order to allow a boat race to start ( the great river race). I rushed through the lock and was down by Eel Pie island when I was stopped by a Port of London Authority boat and told to wait. It turns out I had to wait for almost two hours while they started various boats off racing down the river.

I had actually decided to head back to Teddington, as I barely had one hour to get to Brentford lock before it shut for the day. I phoned the lockeeper at Brentford to let him know and he told me that the Thames would also be shut on sunday, as they were closing the Thames barrier and there would be no tide in the river!

So I turned round and ran flat out for 50 minutes in order to get there. This is all relative, but for a canal boat it was fast as the tide was ebbing too. In fact I was worried I'd be carried past Brentford and out to sea, as the boat may not have enough power to turn round and go into the lock.

I made it to Brenford lock at about 15:12 - the lock closed at 15:15. Still, nothing like a little drama eh?