Well that’s that then! The day was going oh so well too..
Set off early this morning to get clear of the K&A, get upstream to Goring lock for Friday night, and possibly Saturday night.. Managed to get down Fobney lock before a work boat and butty that were double breasted got there, not that we wanted to be first.. I just wasnt sure how they were going to get down the river without taking trees out – and if we were following..
Pulled in at “The Better boating Co.” to get a pump out, a tank of water and a 13kg gas bottle. With all that done, we had to wait a bit longer as the work boat we beat to the lock pulled up next to us to get Diesel.. so we needed to wait for them to finish before we could pull out.
Checked the EA web site again, and the Thames is starting to show “Red Boards”.. ie.. “Caution Strong Stream – We advise users of all boats not to navigate because the strong flows make it difficult and dangerous” – however – Caversham is still on yellow, and there are some moorings beyond it.. so if we get through we can stop..
Decided to move upto Caversham lock.. the next one up – its only a few bends away and yea.. the flows against us are a little extreme! With the engine set to what it normally is on the Thames.. before.. 4.5MPH.. now.. 1.7MPH!
Got to the lock.. It just went Red..
Pulled up, checked with the lockie (after they came back from lunch) and yea.. advised to not proceed. But – they did state that due to this, we can stop on the lock landing and check in tomorrow to see if the flows have dropped and its safe to continue.
So for tonight – were moored at Caversham Lock – possibly moving on tomorrow.. possibly moving back to the K&A.
There is no more rain (hopefully) for the next week.. so the levels and flow should start dropping.. once everything upstream has got this far down..
Whatever happens.. We MUST get to Abingdon before Nov 4th.. or we cant get through as two of the locks are being taken out for 4 weeks for maintenance… Ideally, I want to be on the Oxford Canal and moored in Kidlington before the end of next week.. Nov 1st is fast approaching.. and there will be plans..