We were expecting visitors for
coffee so there was house work to do – we need to have visitors more often!
Guy and Mary got caught in the
traffic in Gloucester (Food Festival remember??) and were quite late getting to
us. I haven’t seen Guy for ages and
hadn’t met Mary before. We had a coffee
and a good catch up before they left to go to the Food Festival.
We said goodbye to Gill and Phil
with dogs Emmy and Sonny. They are
leaving Gloucester tomorrow to go up to Tewkesbury. You never know we might see them there! Gill and Phil are new friends and I know that
they will remain good friends 😊
 |
| Muffin eager to be off! |
We left our mooring to go down to
the lock but had to wait for ages. We
saw Sceptre, the British challenger for the America’s Cup in 1958, she is
believed to be the only UK challenger still sailing in British waters. Built for the Royal Yacht Squadron to
challenge for the 17th America’s Cup, she has a colourful history from her
early racing days to today, with members of the Sceptre Preservation Society
nurturing her future and ensuring that she remains racing and cruising on the
seas off the United Kingdom coastline. Many
changes were made to convert Sceptre from a fantastic racing yacht to a
stunning cruising yacht, and work has carried on over the years to maintain and
improve her, to preserve her for future generations. She is obviously in Gloucester for more
renovation work.
We also saw Halycon who was
commissioned by the Lancashire industrialist Sir Samuel Turner in 1929 and he
kept her until 1944. Below deck the original teak saloon and main accommodation
have been preserved perfectly throughout her long life. During the war we believe she was
requisitioned by the navy and spent some time as the flagship of a minesweeper
flotilla based in Greece. In 1957 she
was acquired by the Warsash School of Navigation she proved so successful that
the British Merchant Cadet Training School kept her for 32 years, training
hundreds of seamen, many of whom went on to be masters of their own vessels and
who will perhaps remember her fondly. Throughout
her life Halcyon has been involved in a number of adventures. She came
unscathed through the storm which hit the notorious 1979 Fastnet race. She also
raced in the Hamilton, Bermuda to Halifax, Nova Scotia leg of the 1984 Tall
Ships race in which the Marques was tragically lost during a squall. Halcyon started her new life as a luxury
charter yacht in April 2007. Whether it be an Adventure Sailing trip, corporate
hospitality day charter or private or family holiday, Halcyon will provide the
perfect platform for your experience.
She too must be in Gloucester for more renovation work.
When the gates opened a narrow
boat and a motor cruiser came out. As we
went in the Lockie said that the narrow boat hadn’t told him they were coming
and then missed the lock and were heading off down the river to the weir. He said that he had to pull them back!! The lock has a bridge going over it which
doesn’t need to be moved unless there is a high boat coming through.
There was a lot of debris as we
came out of Gloucester Lock and it was a question of steering round it but
other than that it was an uneventful journey.
Upper Lode Lock is huge and I felt quite lost down in the bottom!
We went through Avon Lock and onto
the River Avon and reversed down to moor by Quay Bridge. It was late so I walked up the road and got
Dominos pizzas – they were lovely and hot as it was such a short way from the
boat.
14.09 miles
3 locks
Monday 31st July
We moved up the river to
Tewkesbury Marina where we are leaving Mary H for a week while we go home. I need some Granny time and we are having a
family barbecue on Saturday.
0.5 miles
0 locks
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