Theoretically I need not have booked Thames Lock Brentford as the lock-keeper would have been on duty anyway at 8:00 am. However, the tidal window would close at 8:40 (ish) and to give a little more room for error I booked for 7:30. The tidal journey takes about an hour, so we left the moorings (£8.00 overnight) and hovered. There were three other boats, one anxious to have a bit of company, so we dawdled once on the tideway, making about 4 mph without much effort. By the time we reached Brentford we had cut power and were still making nearly 6mph. It had been a 7M plus tide at London Bridge. Sure enough, Kate the lock-keeper had the lock ready for us. It had taken an Hour. We joined nb Mona May in the lock and as it happened, continued up to Harefield with them. They also moor at Harefield.
Having exited the Gauging Locks we were not surprised to find nowhere to moor in the Brentford Basin. It seems that the moorings here are always occupied with long stayers, and the bank between the railway bridge and the A4, a much more pleasant mooring incidentally, has become the norm for overnighters. Here we picked up Sam as additional crew for the climb up Hanwell and beyond, I being fearful that the broken toe would seriously hamper our progress. As it transpired, with the additional person and the two boats, we fairly shot up the flight hampered only by the extreme shallows and weed growth in the Brent Navigation and the one dodgy lock in the Hanwell Flight that has leaky walls draining out into the side pond and one ground paddle U/S.
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