Too Risky

Friday August 10th… After leaving our overnight mooring we continued our journey south, eventually stopping just short of Lower Heyford.

Having checked our usual weather internet sites it was apparent that the forecast for the forthcoming week was looking grim. Gale force winds and torrential rain were being forecast for the Tuesday/Wednesday and so after discussing our situation over dinner we’ve decided to abandon our plans to go onto the Thames, we’re also running out of time as we need to be back at Wigram's no later than September 1st!
Thinking logically the flood plains surrounding the Thames area are still saturated and boggy, even the towpaths where we are now are still extremely soft and any further rain will simply have nowhere to go, other than back into the rivers! We really don’t think it will take much for the Thames to go back into flood and thus marooning us. This summer is so unpredictable were simply not going to take the chance.
We’ve actually met several boats at locks who incredibly had been stranded on the Thames for over 5 weeks during the recent floods and had some pretty horrendous stories to tell. One lady we passed, almost in tears, told us that she’d simply had enough, wanted to go home and would never complete a river again! Another couple told us that they were asked to abandon thier boat several times but refused and sat it out.
Saturday/Sunday August 11/12th.. After our decision to abandon our Thames trip we decided to remain at Lower Heyford for the weekend. The weather has been superb and the Lower Heyford marina now has an excellent café were you can get a great traditional afternoon tea. We took a train into Oxford on the Saturday morning, which was typically a ½ hour late, and enjoyed some shopping and civilization before we had withdrawal systems for the seclusion of the water and made our way back. On the Sunday night both Dee and I wrapped up well and camped out for a few hours to watch the Persied Meteor Shower. This is actually an annual event for us but this year the conditions were excellent, no moon and clear skies. We did see a few dozen meteors over an hour and a half but Unfortunately I have to say that this years display was disappointing, we eventually gave it in at around 1.30am.
Monday August 13th… After a lie-in we set off around 12.30pm and took on water before continuing south. The plan was to find a good sheltered mooring in the knowledge that the approaching gale would hit sometime in the early hours of Tuesday. We’d actually only gone 2 miles before we came across the perfect spot just after Dashwood Lock at bridge 209, a single mooring on armco and with good views of the River Cherwell and slightly sheltered. Here we’ll remain and will update in a day or two and let you guys know how we get on.