Apparently there was another severe thunderstorm last night, somebody slept right thru it 🤫, either way the river is very high with water cascading over the top of locks. A lot of the weirs on the River Wey have to be set by hand, and some of the lengthsmen have been caught on the hop after trying to conserve water for so long. Our plan was to motor back to Pyrford, in anticipation of a trail to Lechlade on Thursday.

Sunshine on the way to Send
Trying the tiller, an excellent job done

We managed to catch 2 boats in 2 locks, was waived on after sharing, so decided to stop at Send at the excellent New Inn.

Beautiful old oak trees line the banks of the Wey
Sea Otters and Stowfords Press Cider, 2 of life’s pleasures.

The weather started to look threatening, we ended up making 4 temporary stops due to lightening and heavy downpours. The sun did try though, giving some vivid colours and reflections.

River Wey reflections
Newark Lock with the remains of Newark Priory in background

Unfortunately the boat seemed to be getting harder to start, with a realisation that the key barrel was turning, I was able to hand hold it and we got back into the Marina before another torrential downpour. I went to find the engineer, he was on the phone requesting an immediate release of water from the Wey into the Thames, as his dry dock, with freshly painted boat, was about to be flooded. So tomorrow will see another round of jobs to do, and a decision made on wether to trail to the Thames.