14th June

Hot Girls - 14 June

'Soaring' down the Thames

Rural idyll

Trying to fill the spinnaker (the exciting new 'Maltby rig') on a mill pond

Andy, the lock keeper at Sandford Lock, very kindly allowed us to tie up longside his lock, and he kept Gannet Ripple's sail and kit in his office overnight. Tonight, Sunday evening, Bob, the lock keeper at Benson Lock let us do the same thing.

Our thanks to Jim of the good ship Yr Brach who called us over and gave a fantastic donation to the RNLI Appeal.

We were hoping, at this stage along the river, to find some wind to relieve the tedium and the sheer physical effort of rowing a scow. But, while others chugged, glided and paddled on a hot Sunday in June, we were slogging away on our oars in order to reach Benson Lock before nightfall.

It's clear that our assumption that there would be at least a little wind was wildly over-optimistic. As we hauled past the Sailing Club at Abingdon, we asked a man undersail (just) in a Lark if there was ever any wind. He looked up at his limp canvas. "Couple of times a year", came the reply.

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Locks	6	7	7
Mast Drops	8	7	1
Successful Spinnaker Hoists	0	1	1
Unsuccessful Spinnaker Hoists	1	9	23
Miles Covered	19	18	19
Hours Rowing	10.5	10	9.5
Hours Sailing	0	2 mins	5 mins