Narrowboat Just Heaven

Away at abut 8:00, the weather not so good, a bit cold and we had to put waterproofs on for a while. By the time we got to Gloucester the sun had come out but there was a cold wind blowing.
We had planned to have breakfast on the finger pontoons in the docks, but there was no room. So we went under Llanthony Bridge and onto Llanthony pontoons where we first did a pumpout and water and then had breakfast. The pumpout machine says that you get 8 minutes, you dont it’s more like 18, so you dont need to rush.
As we came under the new swing bridge we could hear the warning sounds going and saw the barriers come down on the road. It seemed a bit odd as we couldn’t see why. Then we rounded the corner to be faced with the Oliver Cromwell paddle steamer coming toward us! At first I thought that we should pull over to the bank, but in fact she negotiated round the bend and past us with ease.
We were soon at Saul. We found our allocated mooring spot and tied up. Spent a little time cleaning up, carried our stuff to the car, which was still there safe & sound, and headed back home.
We’ll be back on Thursday for the duration of the festival. If you have cause to go to the Information Desk during the festival and there’s a guy there in a green tee shirt who clearly doesnt know what he’s doing, it could be me !

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Woke up to a nice bright, sunny morning and set off just before 8:00. The trip down to Worcester was uneventful, very little boat traffic about. We shared Holt lock with a small cruiser and passed one narrowboat going up but that was all.
We stopped at Worcester for breakfast at about 12ish (it’s our custom to have a late breakfast when boating). The river was busy with lots of youngsters from the rowing clubs training hard. Down through Diglis locks and on to the long reach to Tewkesbury. This stretch can be rather boring as there is not much to see on the banks and there is nothing to do. Chatting to another boater at Stourport on Friday we had heard that the Jazz Festival was on at Upton and that it was likely to be busy. That was an under statement! There were boats everywhere. Our first encounter was about a mile above Upton, two RIBs were coming towards us VERY fast. They were obviously racing. At this point the GRP cruiser that had been following us for a while decided to move over to the wrong side of the river. The RIBs just squeezed through. As we approached the bridge the MV Conway Castle trip boat was coming towards us mid river. There was not much room on the right hand side as boats were ‘rafted out’ five deep. It was at this point that the cruiser following us decided to overtake! We slowed down and moved over as far as we could, the Conway Castle altered course slightly and the cruiser slipped though the gap. I could see the Conway Castle skipper saying something. I dont know what it was, but I doubt if it was printable. The cruiser then cut across the river and into the marina, what was all the hurry about!
We could hear the jazz bands playing and there were lots of people sat outside enjoying the sunshine and a beer or two.
Through Upper Lode lock and onto the moorings at Lower Lode for the night. It was a lovely evening, there were several families in the pub garden, some young lads had to borrow a rubber dingy twice to retrieve their football from the river.

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We left home in two cars, picking up friends Teresa & Lindsay on the way and headed for Saul. I had arranged with the Saul mooring organiser to leave one car on the site over the weekend. However when we got there I could find no CCT people around. So we found a safe looking corner and left it there.
Drove on up the M5 to Kidderminster.
Loaded up and away by 18:30. A gentle chug down to Stourport, through the basins, down the staircases and out onto the river. The visitor moorings were occupied by one large GRP cruiser moored right in the middle with not enough room either side for us. I tentitavely asked if they could move up a little for us, and they were very obliging, but it took a while as they were tied up with nine (yes nine, I counted them) ropes! We tied up ‘Just Heaven’, which was twice as long and weighed considerably more, with just two ropes. We were entertained by a river cruise trip boat going up and down with the disco music playing and coloured lights flashing, but only about half a dozen people on board!

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