Having stayed put for a day, we were ready to move!! We set out at 0900 and sailed through the meandering south Oxfordshire countryside. We saw all signs of new life again, and to add to the Cygnets, we saw Grebes and grebelings, Coots and cootlings and all manner of weensy cows and lambs. One lamb even made it lockside to eat the lock-keepers shrubs!
So - river cruising. Differences:
1) We don't work locks unless the lock-keeper is on a break. The locks are large and Bella usually sits alongside other boats as well as in front or behind other boats. This is a change! The deal is that Elizabeth stays on the bow with a rope around a bollard at the front and that Pete stays in the stern with rope around an aft bollard. This is the rule - one rope each end. Then the water goes down/up at increments and we have to keep the boat as still as we can. Of course, its all down at this stage. Elizabeth hasn't taken the tiller much on the river yet - she's sussing out the terrain.
2) We can travel faster! We can go 5 miles an hour and usually achieve it most of the time, as compared to 4 miles an hour on the canal where we rarely achieve it.
3) We don't have to slow down by moored boats. With so much water sloshing about we hardly notice Bella move when another boat whizzes past and we notice that we don't move moored boats very much at all.
4) We can run aground. And this we did, just north of Shillingford. We moved to the right to allow an oncoming boat to pass and found ourselves on the sandy bed. Elizabeth used the pole and Pete swished about with the engine and tiller and we were away again. What a hoot!
All in all, this is a wonderful experience.
