Going Solo
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Not the scariest thing I have ever done but it pretty nerve racking.
This was the first time of taking our home onto the river and through locks without professional/any support. Some of it went really well but there were also some not so very nice bits. You would think by this point in my life I would have mastered left and right but apparently not (so it’s not just Nicki who can get that one wrong). Thrusters are very useful but when you forget that they are on and are trying to navigate with rudder and power, it can go desperately wrong, as I found out.
On the positive side, we got through the locks without disgracing ourselves. We made sure the lock keepers were aware of our novice status and they were excellent and very tolerant. In fact, though I say so myself, we actually did quite well. I had envisaged crashing from side to side but we actually got through without any bumping, not bad since we only have a half meter clearance either side, and although that might sound like a lot of space, over Shensi’s 19 meter length, a slight twist can easily reduce this clearance to zero. Mind you, it did help that there was only a slight breeze, so mostly we only had to contend with just the current and momentum. A major highlight was overtaking a canoe, mind you I think that took about 30 minutes.
We had planned to stop at a cafe for a break at one point, until I realised I had left my wallet at home. That was, until I remembered that actually we were driving our home! So no problem, I just picked it up and off we went for our treat and lots of self-congratulation for getting so far and doing so well.
