We left our moorings at 7:50 and descended Fobney Lock and County Lock. County Lock is in much better condition that last year, so no problem there. There is a notice under the bridge before the lock which invites boaters to "alight here" to work the lock. I could not because the wooden top to the piling is so high that it would have damaged the cabin paint and side doors. There is a pontoon just round the corner which is quite useful. Because of the narrow channel and the strong current, the next section known as the Brewery Gut is controlled by traffic lights. We got a green traffic light immediately on pressing the button and proceeded down the Brewery Gut with no suggestion of any difficulty with the stream. Blakes Lock was unmanned, so we dealt with that ourselves and made Sonning Lock exactly at opening time to get a visitor's licence. The three day licence was an amazing £48.60. We could make Teddington in 2 days we were told, but that takes no account of the tides. We will need to be at Teddington for the 14:15 high tide according to my information.
We had also worked out that the Henley Royal Regatta was still on and that must mean further delay. At Marsh Lock we were given an instruction sheet, and all through traffic is herded to the west bank past the boom marked course. Never having "done" the Regatta it was very interesting to see several races at various stages as were moved along. The most impressive were the female 8's, all looking tanned and incredibly fit, though more noisy that the men. One could almost smell the hormones! We also noticed the gradual transition in the spectators from the smart hatted ladies and well dressed men at the town end in the grandstand to the more informal gatherings with beer tents and icecream vans at the farm end. A day's mooring on the opposite bank we noted will cost you £50.00 inc VAT.
Fortunately thereafter, most of the traffic was opposite direction, so no real hold-ups along the way and we found good moorings for the night at "the hangar" by Boveney.
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