Have you noticed how winter sometimes refuses to give way to summer ? April gave us a false 'dawn' with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures, but the month of May has brought the winter cold back again as if to teach us not to be too complacent.
We had planned to embark on our summer cruise adventures about the second week in May, but as John Lennon once said....... "life is sometimes what happens whilst you are busy making other plans"
Family commitments and various other influences has delayed our departure into the beginning of June. Perhaps this is for the best as the weather has been cold, wet and windy, a combination that takes most of the pleasure out of cruising the inland waterways.
Long term weather pundits in most of the media newsrooms have prophesied a big improvement in the weather from June onwards. I have heard all this before and is usually the kiss of death for a good summer, but we will have to wait and see.
Our 'Plan A' for the summer is to head towards the River Severn again via the Trent and Mersey/Staffs and Worcester canals, joining the longest river in the United Kingdom at Stourport following it to Gloucester docks and continuing onwards to Sharpness on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.
As we hope to return via the River Avon, we will have a 'Plan B' just in case the hot-summer prophecy is wrong and heavy rain turns both Rivers into raging flooding torrents. Having navigated both rivers in the past we know this can happen. River Avon in particular is full of 'record' high flood markers well above the level of the locks and until recently a narrowboat hung precariously forty foot above the level of the River Severn where boats lock into the River Avon at Tewkesbury, being swept there during floods in 2012. This boat was left hanging where the water left it until a brave couple purchased it last year and had it craned off it's perch.
So if it rains for 'forty days and nights' during the summer I think we will stick to the canals.......so watch this space.
Keeping myself amused during the winter I entered the Inland Waterways 2016 calendar photographic competition and they chose both my entries to be used for the months of June and November. It is nice to see your photographs actually used for a purpose ( apart from this blog ) and I think some family members will be getting an IWA calendar for Christmas :)
So with boat serviced including engine and gearbox oils renewed, fuel and engine filters changed. We are good to go at the beginning of June. I just hope the rain gods are kind to us and take a holiday of their own from creating torrential downpours. A little Camelot-like rain in the early hours of the morning will be sufficient........thank you :)
We had planned to embark on our summer cruise adventures about the second week in May, but as John Lennon once said....... "life is sometimes what happens whilst you are busy making other plans"
Family commitments and various other influences has delayed our departure into the beginning of June. Perhaps this is for the best as the weather has been cold, wet and windy, a combination that takes most of the pleasure out of cruising the inland waterways.
Long term weather pundits in most of the media newsrooms have prophesied a big improvement in the weather from June onwards. I have heard all this before and is usually the kiss of death for a good summer, but we will have to wait and see.
Our 'Plan A' for the summer is to head towards the River Severn again via the Trent and Mersey/Staffs and Worcester canals, joining the longest river in the United Kingdom at Stourport following it to Gloucester docks and continuing onwards to Sharpness on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.
As we hope to return via the River Avon, we will have a 'Plan B' just in case the hot-summer prophecy is wrong and heavy rain turns both Rivers into raging flooding torrents. Having navigated both rivers in the past we know this can happen. River Avon in particular is full of 'record' high flood markers well above the level of the locks and until recently a narrowboat hung precariously forty foot above the level of the River Severn where boats lock into the River Avon at Tewkesbury, being swept there during floods in 2012. This boat was left hanging where the water left it until a brave couple purchased it last year and had it craned off it's perch.
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| Narrowboat swept by flooding onto a high perch between the River Severn and and River Avon, Tewkesbury . |
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| Flood level markers River Avon |
So if it rains for 'forty days and nights' during the summer I think we will stick to the canals.......so watch this space.
Keeping myself amused during the winter I entered the Inland Waterways 2016 calendar photographic competition and they chose both my entries to be used for the months of June and November. It is nice to see your photographs actually used for a purpose ( apart from this blog ) and I think some family members will be getting an IWA calendar for Christmas :)
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| River Thames at Abingdon - chosen for the Inland Waterways Association 2016 calendar (June) |
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| 'A winter's walk' chosen for the Inland Waterways Association 2016 calendar. |
So with boat serviced including engine and gearbox oils renewed, fuel and engine filters changed. We are good to go at the beginning of June. I just hope the rain gods are kind to us and take a holiday of their own from creating torrential downpours. A little Camelot-like rain in the early hours of the morning will be sufficient........thank you :)
