A trip through London – London boaters

From a visiting boater’s perspective, what is the real London?

Is it the two prop-wraps we suffered because the water was full of crud? Is it boats moored two abreast for large chunks of the network and the strange boat contraptions that people call their homes?

Or is it boaters putting up signs in their windows saying “double mooring welcome” or, if not, giving a reason why. There are moorings to be found, maybe a little further away from the main transport hubs, and you can pre-book visitor moorings on the Paddington and Regency canals via the CRT website.

And boaters are friendly and helpful.

We were unfortunate that our Morse cable snapped in Paddington basin. As it was late on a Saturday on a Bank Holiday weekend, we were worried that we might not find an engineer to sort us out. But help came within 20 minutes of me posting something on Facebook. Precise information on which marina had the required spare part, when they’re open on Sunday and how to get there, with an offer to come and help us install the cable if we needed it. Our boat neighbour, an Iraqi CCer provided us with a phone number for a local boat engineer whose boat was moored minutes away from ours.  And the manager of the Paddington e-boat hire company gave us a tow to our mooring.

Lovely Dennis, the engineer, came by on Sunday evening to help Steve fit the new morse cable. Steve particularly enjoyed that Dennis let Steve do what he was able, correcting him, giving him hints and tips on how to do things better, and offering to be on hand in future, via facetime, to help with any further engine problems.

Then, on the way from Limehouse, up the Limehouse cut, at Old Ford Lock, just by the London Stadium and Olympic village, the CRT lockkeeper gave us a tour of the Bow Back River. We’d originally intended to go all the way round the canal system in that area, but the heat and the dirty water put us off somewhat. So we had a guided walking tour instead; of Carpenter’s Road Lock, the reflective Olympic Bridge by the stadium, the horse stables by the lock and a whole lot of local history thrown in for free.

That’s the memories I’ll take away about London boaters.