Day 139 and we are staying Bristol. Museum day today along with a good lunch. First stop the M shed for the history of Bristol, then a long lunch at another of the restaurants in the containers (box E) we booked late so were on the chef’s table. Very hot place to sit, would not have wanted to be there when it was 32 degrees. Really good meal, and we got to chat to the chef, but we all preferred Tare. In the afternoon we went to the SS Great Britain. Really good exhibition, there was a wedding on the ship itself so we had to dodge around them.
Spent as long as we could but didn’t finish everything. Retired to the boat and later went to a floating bar for a drink before a very light supper.
Day 140 and Clare leaves us J and D return to SS Great Britain to finish the exhibitions we missed yesterday and had a walk around the floating harbour. Chat to a couple of the owners of other narrow boats, they had come down the Severn from Gloucester and up the Avon to Bristol – much braver than us! Quiet day. The harbour is busy today though with sailing, rowing regatta, SUPs etc. as well as the normal boat traffic.
Day 141 and a slow start as we have to wait for the lock to be opened. The spring tides mean that the high tide overtops the weir and we have to wait for the level to return to normal. We move off just ahead of “Megan” and “Gyptian” (the boats that had come down the Bristol channel). Had to wait a few minutes for the lock to open, quite a strong flow through the gate and really mucky water and you could really see where the tide had got to.
As we left so late (1045) we decided only to go as far as Keynsham as mooring on the river is rare and we didn’t want to arrive in Bath late again. There was already a small cruiser on the pontoon and a hire boat arrived soon after us. A bit crowded but a very friendly crowd all round. Picked more blackberries.
Day 142 and we move up to Bath and through Bath locks. Caught up a live aboard boat at the bottom of the locks and travelled up the locks with them. A grotty day with more persistent drizzle as the day went on. A nice couple on their “moving day”. The canal rules say you can moor almost anywhere on the tow path for up to 14 days so those who live aboard have to move on every two weeks. The pound above the big lock in the flight was really low, about half a metre below the normal level, and we both had a bit of difficulty getting over the cills leaving the big lock and entering the next one. Decided to moor above the locks as the weather was so grotty.
Day 143 and a dull morning. Slow progress passed moored craft and with many hire boats coming the other way. A bit of tricky manoeuvring required at one point as we came past some moored boats and a hire boat came the other way and skewed across in front of J trying to reverse. A day for obstructions, a large piece of cut off ivy under the bow making steering difficult, and later a log roll similar to the one we had in Wales early in the trip. Later a CRT work boat waved us forward as we approached Bradford on Avon but then skewed in front of us so D had to reverse back past a wide beam and let them go past. Went through Bradford lock with something on the prop, D said it felt heavy. When he cleared the prop it was a full length mooring rope, in fairly good condition. Moved onto Hilperton to moor. Just as we arrived we saw another boat which we thought was mooring come back off the side, then move up to another mooring. We later found that the reason they moved was that they had hammered a mooring pin into a wasp’s nest so had to move pronto! Good sunset.
