On our way again

(posted by Cath)

An extremely hot day, although the mist took until very late to 'burn off', leaving even nearby hills faint and faded.

We were getting ready to leave the mooring when 2 very large "Caversham" cruisers came past us covered with young people wearing life jackets.  As Alan was sure that he had seen 4 of these boats together the previous day, we set off towards the lock, hoping that we might get through the lock with the first two of them.

Delayed by photo call!

At the lock someone off one of the "Caver- sham" boats told Alan to go ahead, as they were waiting for the other 2 boats to catch up - but just as we got into the lock the other boats arrived.  As Sandford lock is very large we managed to get all of us into the lock, and all the young people posed for a group photo.  They were foreign, I don't know what language they were speaking, a germanic language, but not German or Dutch, I think, as I can speak a little of each of those, and I would have recognised some words.  Perhaps something Scandinavian, although it is surprising that their English was not better if that is the case - most Scandinavians put us to shame with their command of other languages.  The guy taking the group photo was also trying to operate the lock, and was having little success despite adults on the boats shouting "Oepen schlueses", as he perused the options on the mechanism.  He did finally manage to find "Open sluices".

They were refilling with water when we got to the next lock, which was a much smaller lock, so we went on ahead.

We don't think they expected it to be so hot.

At one lock we were joined by two young men, who are canoeing from Lechlade to Teddington to raise money for the Japan disaster fund.  Both were looking very sun-burned, and were grateful for some sunblock on their knees.  They were with us in several locks, and although we eventually pulled ahead of them, we saw them at the end of the day, working through Mapledurham lock, on their way to Reading.

Abingdon

Clifton Hampden Bridge

Our plan was to get quite a few miles done today, to try to offset the delays we had in Oxford.  So we carried on through picturesque towns, and under the elegant arching bridges of this section of the Thames.  Early in the day we were not wearing our inflatable life jackets, but we try to make it a policy that if we are on the back of the boat we wear them, just in case one of us goes off.

I went to some trouble to make sure that we ate proper food at lunchtime, not just another sandwich, so I prepared bowls of hot food, and took two of them up to the back of the boat where Alan was steering.  I flicked the brass step down on the side of the boat, and just began to climb up onto the back, when I heard a loud noise hissing noise, and my ears were pressed firmly against my head.  I looked down to see the self inflation toggle from my life jacket caught in a small brass catch on the back of the boat.  Alan took a moment to work out what was going on, but by the time that the whole of the lifejacket was inflated he realised.  Once it's inflated it's not actually very easy to get off in a hurry.  OK, the toggle should have been tucked away, it normally is, I hadn't noticed that it had worked it's way loose.

Mapledurham overnight mooring

Although our plan was to carry on late, Maple- durham looked very inviting, and it would have been very late before we could have got to the other side of Reading.  A Canal World member suggested a few safe places to moor in Reading, but we got to walk the dog, have a relaxed meal in a meadow by the river, and were treated to an acrobatic display by a small aeroplane.  Charlie got to romp in the field with some of the many passing dogs out for an evening walk with their owners by the Thames.

Sandford Lock to Mapledurham
Miles: 31.0, Locks:9
Total Miles: 204.0, Total Locks:105