Sunday, 21st May 2023

It’s been an eventful six months but not on the narrowboat so hence my silence! Arriving at Farncombe Boat House in early December, I had no notion we would be there five months later but that is narrowboat life for you – always expect the unexpected! It meant we were able to make full use of “Hector’s”, the cafe on the cut. It’s not open every day, but when it is I thoroughly recommend a visit.

The high water levels we experienced in November continued throughout the winter months and even in early May we were prevented cruising along the Wey as much as we had hoped due to heavy rainfall. On the occasions we ventured out we found ourselves getting into difficulties, due to the height of the water, under two of the bridges on the outskirts of Guildford. The  wood store on our roof, along with the excess winter coal supply, found itself flattened along our roof top as we passed below the low bridges. On one occasion we got well and truly stuck. R had to shimmy along the outside of the boat, keeping his head ducked, to  rearrange all the items before we  could reverse out of the bridge. More flattening followed to enable us to continue forward, with barely an inch to spare. Even if we had wanted to leave the Wey and continue onto the Thames we would have been discouraged due to the Thames being in full spate. Nevertheless we did have a few breaks in the weather enabling us to offer  trips along the Wey. Our visitors book is testament to the times we were able to travel the six miles between Godalming and Guildford – a stretch of the Wey we now know well! It wasn’t always plain sailing. I now know how easy it is to literally get stuck in the mud and how useful a pole can be when trying to extricate the boat from such a situation, especially with a strong man at the end of it, although it’s probably rather unPC to say that! I’m also aware of how unnerving it can be to be on the boat alone when the current is fast flowing and the bends in the river occlude the view ahead. I was grateful that not many boats were moving in the opposite direction. Infact we passed relatively few moving vessels throughout the winter period, until we were upstream of Guildford last week. The locks were a challenge at times and we had to make full use of both the stern and bow ropes to keep the boat static in the lock.

On one occasion we decided to reverse the boat 300m back to its mooring in preference to having to go through a lock, turn around and go through the lock again. Naomhog doesn’t do reverse. At least not in any useful way. She has a mind of her own! So R was pulling her by a rope and observed by C, the Farncombe boat engineer. He offered to come aboard to show us how easy reverse is once you know the technique. The upshot is that he couldn’t reverse her either! The solution is expensive – replacing the steering column and, even more expensive, a larger propellor. My solution – sell the house to help pay for the boat! So now our house is on the market!! It does coincide with us wanting to downsize so my comment is partly in jest!