13th June

Another bridge to drop the mast for ... 13 June

Its a long way down - 13 June

"You gotta remember that the wind always goes up-river", called out a helpful fellow mariner as we slogged the final mile of the day to Sandford Lock. Having passed through the peaceful Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire countryside, we are now just south of a drunken Saturday night Oxford.

Gannet Ripple is moored by a roaring pub and, as we shall have to do every night from now on, has been stripped of all her loose parts. We put in our first tack on the most northerly point of the Thames just west of Oxford, and were rewarded with a Red Arrows fly-past.

We have slithered through 13 greasy locks in two days and crawled under the lowest bridge on the navigable river. We dropped our mast 8 times yesterday and 7 times today using a spectacularly slick technique. The Master Mariner's awfully good at dropping things too. A brisk halyard release meant the gaff reached terminal velocity on his forehead.

The sail has been up most of the day. But the oars have also been out all day. More rowing than sailing; 'soaring' perhaps. Three knackered Maltbys out of a boat signing off.