there are more than 20 flood alerts in place and weather forecasters a warning of persistent
heavy rain throughout the day the storm alex hits the country
two days worth of rain two months i don't know i read it on the daily mail so it might just
be raining okay um we've got some help which is good we're taking an obstacle at a time
we didn't think that the rain is going to be a big issue today so we stuck to our cruising plans
we are on the kenneth navin canal traveling from reading to newbury
this part of the canal is a very lucky there seems to be one around every corner
but we were not the only crazy ones to be traveling in this kind of weather so
for a while we are sharing lock duties and swing bridge openings with another boat
my waterproof jacket is completely soaked it's unusable so i'm gonna have to wear a different
one so i'm taking out a brand new never used sailing jacket and my house is gonna wear here so
i'm gonna have to much that's okay it's not um it's out of necessity that we match
tell me about the lightning sign we've bought a lightning bolt so that it's plugged into the 240
volt so we know when the inverter's on because our inverter's down by the oven so it's a proper
like yoga stretch and lean to switch it on and off and sometimes we forget whereas if
we've got the lightning bolt we'll know that the inverter's on and it looks really cool
ready to go so we're out there
this area is also full of swing bridges but some of them are electronic and very easy to navigate
one of the locks was especially tricky the bottom gate didn't seem to close and there was a big
gap so our new friend had to actually hold the gates until the water reached a certain level
otherwise we actually thought we're not going to be able to go up the lock
why was it touch and go because there's only got door panels and it's really
deep locked it just gonna head off first then and we'll set the next one out yeah brilliant
cruising in torrential rain like this is definitely not for everyone but it felt safe
enough to do and warm enough and it felt like an adventure after all a writer and an explorer
alfred wainwright used to say there is no such thing as bad weather only unsuitable clothing
doing some serious moving today the weather is not as good as we hoped however the
change of outfit was the best idea in all day um i am completely dry i've got waterproof trousers
uh walking boats and a sailing jacket and i'm totally dry apart from the wrists but yeah
it's really really good also we have a plan um we are now aiming for the woolhampton
for past woolhampton lock where the river kenneth joins the canal so that's a bit of a tricky bit we
would like to do today and that's probably where we're going tomorrow up so that is four locks away
so wool hampton lock is next to get into the lock first the lock itself needs to be set up and the
gates open then there is a swing bridge that also needs to be open and then and only then the boat
can get through the tricky bit here is that the river kenneth joins the canal just before the lock
making the navigation challenging and pushing your boat towards the bank we've heard that
many boats hit that bank and that's why the cit placed another canal boat there
covered with tyres specifically for the purpose of protecting the bank and that the boaters can hit
the boat so no one lives there and is there specifically for this purpose
he made it
well done
how was it
we have arrived
we made it we made it
such a different day today it was supposed to rain today all day as well but luckily the weather
changed if we knew we obviously wouldn't have done as much cruising yesterday but that's okay
it was quite fun it was challenging windy days are more challenging than rainy days so
as long as it's not cold it's it's fine we're taking it really slow today we had a
very leisurely morning um so we're setting off around 12 o'clock and aiming to get to newbury
is this all for me last night i emptied this yesterday
do
it's still very green isn't it yeah very great
first week in october leaves are falling off but they're not like yellow yet
are you reversing
is it raining again
the canada naval canal has a unique charm and from our experience people
either love it or hate it east of newbury to reading and the thames is the river can it
so it looks pretty wild and we've heard it can flood at times from bath to bristol the
waterway follows the river haven from newbury to bath is a fully man-made canal that is 57 miles
long and it also has riveresque sides so in the most parts the plank is a very
necessary and sometimes even two the whole stretch of the canada navy canal is 87 miles from the
river thames to bristol the name is often used for the whole navigation but strictly speaking
the only canal section is from newbury to bath and there are 105 locks on the whole navigation
three more locks with this one we're just waiting for the lock another break just coming down
and then we're good to go it's a w3 two more after this one yeah
i'm walking ahead to the next bridge there is a swing bridge ahead and we just met a boater
in the loch who kindly opened it for us but within the five minutes someone else chatted so
i'm going ahead and gonna open it again
we've got one more lot to do we are on the outskirts of newbury so we're very happy to
arrive which should happen very very shortly we've got something on tonight we have another
zoom with our patrons so we are very excited to get there and see some familiar faces how are
the conditions today much better but it's still rained had a few showers yeah it's quite nice so
yeah it's quite windy but yeah it's nice it's not too cold
we haven't done this much cruising in one weekend or even continuously on the consecutive days since
we left the dna four months ago so we are both completely exhausted yeah i think it's the locks
some lock puddles are easier than others
uh
hello
thank you for saying hello be aware of the boat it's coming it's coming to get you
it's so nice to be finishing the cruising weekend in sunshine slowly traveling
in what seems like a forest with golden rays of sun escaping through the trees
thank you all so much for watching if you enjoyed our crazy adventure please
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