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Monday 11 October 2010

Day 7

Today marks probably the most exciting, nerve wracking and memorable part of bringing Angel home.  We are joining the River Severn, after a new moon only the day before, which means that the tide is extra high.  We have a health & safety talk so that all crew know what to do and what not to do.  Everyone we have spoken to has warned us of the perils of the Severn and in particular, the lock at Gloucester.  Life jackets fitted and checked, life buoy within a hands reach and anchor at the ready all before we set off.  We leave our pirated mooring before we were caught! 






The Avon Lock keeper starts work at 9am, we moor up just before and the nerves are beginning to kick in!  Geared up and ready to face the challenge, we call in on the Lock keeper ......... He advises us that the high tide is on it's way and we will need to wait for it to turn before even thinking about going anywhere, and it's likely to peak at lunchtime and be safe to travel at 2.00pm,  so we moor up and look forward to a 5 hour wait!






The Severn walk at Tewkesbury is lovely, Alfie & Shelley enjoy the morning sunshine with the sheep and eyeball the Upper Lode Lock, the entrance to the Severn.  It's so nice to have a leisurely time, on board.  The 5 hours pass quickly and it's 2pm before we know it.  Again, anticipation of what's ahead fills us with dread, but we're ready as we're ever going to be.  We lock through the last avon lock and head towards Upper Lode.






We share the Upper Lode lock with a friendly couple in Vark, we have a companion along the River which is reassuring.  We have been in broad double locks on the Grand Union, large river locks on the Avon, but the Upper lode lock is on another scale again.


The lock fills, the front gates open, and we leave the Avon behind us and enter the Severn,  Really pleased to report that the journey down the Severn is probably one of the most enjoyable.  It was as relaxing as some of the smallest canals, only faster, much faster! It's great, we have all driven the boat, there's so much room on this river!  Quite different from the Avon, which had a current.  Even when you cut the engine (or rather knock it back to it's slowest speed), the boat still steams ahead being carried by the returning tide.
























The scenery begins to look familiar and it feels like home.  In 2 1/4 hours we arrive at Gloucester Docks.

Approach to Gloucester docks from the eastern channel of the river servern

We have had strict instructions here.  There is a strong current towards the weir and we have to keep close to the left hand side wall, using the chains if necessary if the lock is closed.  I tried out reverse thrust and didn't quite manage to bring Angel to a dead stop, however, we have rung ahead and the gates are open waiting for us. We were told to keep the power on right until we entered the lock then slow up and moor next to the other boat (Vark).  This is the one part that I was warned would be the most difficult, yet when it came to it, everything went like clockwork, what a relief.  We continue our chat with the owners of Vark who inform us that they are heading for Saul Marina and it turns out that their mooring is two platoons up from ours!
  
Entering the Gloucester Sharpness canal with the docks behind us


We receive a call from two "pirates" who want to hitch a lift at Sainsbury's.  Mum & Allen are waiting excitedly as we pull up and let them aboard! They have walked two miles from Sims bridge to meet us and are now relieved to get a lift back!   We drop them off again at Sims Bridge so they can pick up their car and arrange to for us to meet at the pilot Inn.  They had very kindly driven to our start point at this last leg of the journey to pick up our car, for which we are very grateful.  Having that extra travel at the end of each weekend has been very tiring.


We are trying to get through the bridges to get to Saul but time & tide has been against us today and we will now have to go only as far as the Pilot at Sellars Bridge.

Sunset on the Gloucester Sharpness Canal







We were surprised to see on Sellars Bridge, a bi welcome home banner courtesy  of Mum & Allen with their artistic talents, what a great home coming.  We moored up, cracked open a bottle of bubbly and celebrated our return journey.  We finish the evening with a meal at the Pilot before seeing the boys off so they could go to school in the morning.












It's chilly tonight and the stove is lit, just another hour would have seen us through the next manned bridge at Parkend but the lock keepers go home at 6pm this time of year.  We'll finish the journey tomorrow with mixed feelings of a real sense of achievement and sadness that our weekends of 'bringing her home' have almost come to an end.








Todays Travel Map


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