Guildford (1)

After our night outside the Anchor Inn, on Wednesday (6/8) morning we reversed back to Pyrford Marina. It is a large marina with a very swish dry dock. We took on fuel, which was no problem except the increasing price and the fact that we needed 104 litres, but the pump-out was another matter. We seem to have a jinx when it comes to pump-outs. Last year on the Oxford Canal the pump-out at Heyford Wharf was blocked and this year the pump-out at Pyrford was also blocked. It took two men over half-an-hour to fix it. Still once fixed it did a great job and we were on our way by around 11:00.

Anchor Inn, Pyrford

Walsham Flood Gates

The trip up through Newark and Papercourt Locks was delightful although we still struggled with the strong flows and working the locks alone.

Newark Priory

However, we were soon joined by the cruiser Idler. Sharing the locks that have strong flows with a fibre-glass cruiser appeared a little daunting at first but we soon developed a technique which involved the use of bow and centre lines which kept Albert from moving across.

Send Church

The section of navigation between Send and Burpham was particularly pretty. It probably looked at its best in the summer sunshine. This section passes close to Sutton Place and is also very twisty with a particularly difficult turn and bridge (Broad Oak Bridge) which, just to make things more interesting, also incorporates a weir.

Damsel Fly

Egyptian Geese

Not wishing to travel through Guildford yet, since we are hopefully mooring here over the weekend, we stopped just below Stoke Lock. There are some delightful meadows here but earlier on this evening the A3 road just beyond was noisy. As we settled down for the evening Brian and Irene O’Neill came out of the lock going downstream on NB Rangitoto. From New Zealand, they moor their boat next to Albert at Kingfisher Marina. They left Yardley Gobion in June and are having a slow cruise. It appears their global average distance per day is a mere 2.1 miles per day. Brian explains there slow progress in terms of how much they are enjoying meeting people and admiring the countryside. It looks like we might see them again as they are planning to explore the Regents Canal. We will have to keep an eye out.