Upton upon Severn strikes again

Last night on the river. Beautiful, calm and magical. I'm still not a fan of the Severn but it does have it's moments.

Not sure what it is about Upton, although it could be us, but things do seem to happen when we are around. First it was the cat rescue and yesterday a lady came rushing down boat pole in hand saying she had lost her washing!! It had been on an aluminum whirly gig and a sudden gust of wind took it clean over the side. She saw it disappearing past our boat and thought she might be able to retrieve it. 2 new shirts bought by hubby as well as the bedding all disappeared under the waves. Now even though the river levels had dropped, we know for a fact that it is at least 7ft deep if not more at the mooring. She was convinced the aluminum would float but hadn't put in the equation of the weight of the washing! It never was found and we very gingerly set off this morning hoping that the sheets wouldn't be wrapped round our prop!

Leaving around 9ish in drizzle, the same monotonous journey back to Worcester took around 4 hours. Nothing much of interest other then meeting the holiday boat again and some wildlife. I could have kicked myself though when this Kingfisher plopped into the river and came out with a huge fish (well huge for the Kingfisher) and because of the drizzle my camera was hanging up in the engine room. I just about got this photo which is awful but it does show you the size of fish.

As I said not a great photo but look at the size of that fish!

This time of year being May, the Mayfly are out in abundance. Noticed them all round the cratch last night and loads were hatching along the Severn. The fish were rising and having quite a feast. It's closed season on the rivers otherwise my rod would have been out in a flash

 Bank Holiday you either love it or hate it. I love it because we dont have to worry about rush hour traffic, hold ups, road rage or getting hot and bothered screaming at the kids. I only mention this because nearly every road bridge we cruised under had rows of stationary cars.

This is so much more tranquil, no worries, no hassles, birds singing, ducks quacking and the gentle lapping sound as FS glides through the water.

Now wouldn't you rather have this?

And holiday makers having a river cruise. Much nicer.

Then there is the wildlife. There is nothing to compare!

Arriving at Diglas lock a Viking boat was leaving. We were convinced that as we entered the approach to the lock we would sail right in. It was not to be as, rounding the corner, the red light was on and the lock was filling. The bollards on the right hand side wall are obviously there for the larger vessel and with our little low down boat  they were impossible to reach. A convient ladder was there at the bow for Ian to grab hold of but nothing for me. So my handy tool came good as I was able to grab the pilling and hold on.

The bollards are on top of the grassy bank

Eventually the lock keeper put in an appearance and the light started flashing. When the gates opened no boat emerged! So why did he fill the lock??? He did apologise once we got in saying he hadn't seen us. See, I told you our boat was to little and twee!!!

The wire hawser

Worcester basin is literally a stones throw from the lock. Ian went ahead to get it set and I had just got in to the lock when a Canal time arrived from the opposite direction. He rattled the side on entry and I wondered how the young lad stayed where he was.

 Now moored on the 48 hours near the facilities. Most convenient. There wont be a blog tomorrow as we are off to Thomas's first birthday party. Might put some piccys on Sundays blog if I have time. We have more family visits so one never knows. Might as well make use of the hire car. We have it until Tuesday.