Corkage

And so to another moving day. We had two days to get to Goring lock – and so it was back down the K&A to reading, and thence on up the Thames. It will not have escaped your notice, I am sure, that it had been continuously raining for about the last week. And the Kennet was very full, and very fast. In fact, I had spent several fun packed afternoons watching as boats ploughed there way into locks and other boats as they tried to negotiate the particularly tricky section between the swing bridge, and the lock that lies outside the Rowbarge. But now it was our turn, it seemed a little less like fun. And we also had the prospect of trying to wind round in the 60ft winding hole that had proved such fun last year.

Well, getting into the lock wasn’t too bad, and nor was winding the 72ft of Tyseley in the tiny hole – once I had taken the fenders off. But heading back downstream was a different matter. Because you don’t have nearly so much control when going with the stream. It was a very odd experience, white water rafting in an old working boat. But I think Tyseley enjoyed it as much as I did. The thing is that you need to have speed through the water in order to have steerage – and when the water is moving fast, that means that you have to be moving faster. Great! Except for those moments when you are convinced that the boat is going to end up facing the wrong way and disappearing down a weir. We didn’t, but there were a couple of moments, especially coming into Reading itself, when I did wonder…

I had been told that the Thames was on red warnings, but when we popped out by Reading, like a cork out of a bottle, there was no sign of any problem. So we tied up to some trees outside Tesco’s to enjoy our evening.