Having booked locking with both Limehouse and Brentford for tomorrow (Sunday) to traverse the tidal Thames, we were ready for the rest of the weekend. The weather forecast was not good. Our guests, Bill & Carol – first timers on the boat – arrived a little late after an unexpectedly tortuous journey by bus from South London to reach the Bakerloo line at Elephant & castle and thence to Warwick Avenue. The trip through Regent’s Park is especially lovely at this time of the year and at 8.30 on a Saturday morning there were no other boats moving. Camden was quiet with only the stallholders setting up in the market and a row of colourful Goths (mostly black & white of course) decorating the bridge. Locking is always a bit slow and “irregular” with novices aboard as I have found it best to be relaxed about things, safety permitting of course. So both gates seemed to open, causing a bit of confusion about picking up at the lock tails, but no real problems. After the Islington Tunnel, City Road lock presented a challenge to the unwary with its self-opening bottom gates. We now know by experience just to leave them on exit. At Victoria Park we stopped for lunch and were overtaken by Matilda, an Australian themed boat that in fact stopped a little way ahead and joined us after lunch for the rest of the way down to Limehouse. The Australian crew had spent several months touring the UK and were returning later in the week to Australia.
At Limehouse, the rain which had been only short showers all day, set in with a vengeance so that taking water on the pontoon got us soaking wet. Thank goodness for the Squirrel Stove which makes drying wet clothes so much easier. We adjourned to the Grapes for a pub meal and a few beers before settling down for the night.
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