Red Boards

Due to the persistent heavy rain over the last few days 29 locks on the River Thames 7 are on yellow boards 'Stream Increasing', 21 are on red boards ' No Navigation' and just 1 is on 'No Stream Warning' (above Blakes Lock which is the entry to the Kennet and Avon Canal).  

We're quite safe on the rising pontoons in the Mill Stream that is part of the Hambleden Marina site.

The piece of wood that you can see fixed to the pontoon is about 18" (approx 46cm) long below the bottom edge of the pontoon side.  It's been put there to prevent moored boats' gunwales from slipping beneath the pontoon during low water.  As you can see the river must have risen at least 26" (66cm) and so the pontoon has started to rise.

We can now seeThe Mill Stream rising up the grass bank and have to step up from the pontoon onto Still Rockin's deck instead of stepping down onto her! The incoming water is murky as it lifts, pushes and moves the silt along with the increased flow.

This stream runs from under the main road and enters the Thames just to the stern of SR and on Wednesday it was empty except for the last few yards at this end.  The forecast is mostly rain in the Henley area until the early hours of next Wednesday morning ... should be interesting!