We are so lucky my trusty friends and crew Wyn and Donna were willing and able to help me with the last stage of the trip down to Devizes.

And of course, I am so disappointed Karen wasn’t able to be part of it.

I did manage to keep her updated with pics of what was happening.

Newbury

Wyn and Donna picked me up from Devizes on Sunday morning and we drove to Newbury. Made good time and arrived at the boat about noon.

I had wondered if we could avoid collapsing the wheelhouse, but the marina manager said the first 2 bridges were very low. And he wasn’t kidding!

So first job was to take down the wheelhouse. By the end of the trip we had this down to about 13 minutes!

And 15 Mins to put it back up at the end of the day.

The passage through Newbury was great from a scenic point of view, but quite challenging from a boat handling aspect. Especially with a widebeam.

Newbury looked lovely. I am sorry we did not have time to explore the town itself. I have heard there are some very good restaurants there.

I am not sure why but wherever we go seems to attract funfairs! No different here.

Reminded me of our first trip on Shangri La to Zwolle in the Netherlands in 2013

And of course another swing bridge:

Other waterway users

Other than boaters, many people use the canal network. I am used to walkers, cyclists, canoeists and fishermen, but the latest craze seems to be stand-up paddle-boarding.

Personally I cannot see any fun in this at all! But hey.

We moored up in Kintbury, handy for the Dundas Arms where we had the obligatory pint!

Stats for the day

Today we did 6 miles, 8 locks with a total rise of 47 ft 05 ins, and 1 swing bridge.

I love to compare the rise and fall with our Europe travels: In France we would do several locks each with a rise or fall of 6 metres in one day!

Next time I will look at the art of handling a widebeam!

Happy boating.