The Great Lee, Stort and Thames Trip

Here's the plan for our cruise on board Willow. The first week should be quite gentle, with plenty of time to explore the Lee and the Stort, neither of which navigations we have been on before. We have to be at the St. Pancras Cruising Club base by Limehouse Lock for 7 pm on the Friday for a safety briefing (and food). The first part of the next day looks to be "free time"; then it's through the lock onto the tidal Thames for a cruise in a convoy to the Thames Flood Barrier and back. On the Sunday we go out onto the tideway again, heading upstream this time, again in convoy with the St. Pancras Cruising Club, to Teddington Lock. There we say goodbye and thank you to the SPCC, and continue up the Thames. My original intention was to go all the way to the head of navigation at Lechlade, then back to the IWA Festival at Beale Park near Pangbourne, but this will involve long cruising days. All right with me, but I don't want a mutiny on my hands!

After three days at the Festival we have a gentle cruise back to our starting point: Willowtree Marina on the Paddington Branch.

Here's our schedule, then. Any comments/suggestions welcome.

Sun 150810 Willowtree Marina to Islington Tunnel (east end) (Grand Union Canal Paddington Branch) 16 miles 2 furlongs 4 locks 6 hours 45 minutes

Mon 160810 Islington Tunnel to Waltham Town Lock (Paddington Branch, Regents Canal, Hertford Union Canal, Lee Navigation) 15m 2f 13L 7h 30m

Tue 170810 Waltham Town Lock to Stanstead Abbots via Hertford (Lee Navigation) 17m 5f 15L 8h 30m

Wed 180810 Stanstead Abbots to Bishop's Stortford (Lee Navigation and Stort Navigation) 15m 2f 15L 8h 0m

Thu 190810 Bishop's Stortford to Dobb's Weir (Hoddesdon) (Stort Navigation and Lee Navigation) 13m 5f 16L 8h 0m

Fri 200810 Dobb's Weir to Limehouse Basin (arriving before 1900) (Lee Navigation and Limehouse Cut) 20m 4f 12L 9h 0m

Fri 200810 at 1900: safety briefing and meal at St. Pancras Cruising Club, Limehouse

Sat 210810 Lock out of Limehouse Lock 1545 to 1645; cruise to Thames Flood Barrier, arriving about 1815; return to Limehouse about 1945. 12m 2L

Sun 220810 Lock out of Limehouse 0830 to 1000; cruise to Teddington Lock, arriving about 3.5 hours later (i.e. between 1200 and 1330). We're then carrying on to Runnymede. 40m 9L 12h 30m

Mon 230810 Runnymede to Kennet Mouth 35m 13L 13h

Tue 240810 Kennet Mouth to Folly Bridge, Oxford 38m 4f 12L 13h 30m

Wed 250810 Oxford to Radcot 41m 7f 9L 12h 45m

Thu 260810 Radcot to Eynsham Lock via Lechlade and head of navigation 44m 2f 11L 13h 30m

Fri 270810 Eynsham Lock to Beale Park for IWA Festival 37m 13L 13h 0m

Tue 310810 Beale Park to Hambleden 20m 7L 7h 15m

Wed 010910 Hambleden to Windsor 20m 7L 7h 15m

Thu 020910 Windsor to Hampton Court 18m 8L 7h 15m

Fri 030910 Hampton Court to Willowtree Marina via Brentford and Grand Union Canal 18m 14L 7h 15m

Most calculations of distances etc done with the aid of CanalPlanAC.

It's ages since we've cruised on the Thames (other than as guests on others' boats). Are there plenty of places to empty chemical loos, and are they obvious? What about water points? And moorings? Should we expect to have to pay for moorings? Do boatyards sell diesel at split duty rates?

It's been raining heavily on and off all day today. I hope that's it for the next three weeks. A little warm and sunny weather would be nice!