Our nicest day's cruising on the Thames so far. We completed 13.3 nautical miles, negotiated six locks and safely navigated under 13 bridges. For the first time we had to lower our mast and remove our flagstaff and winch, but the fine sunny weather and still airs, whilst still navigating against a downstream current made these processes easy for Lady Martina to handle. The main concern was the shoaling depth on certain reaches and under bridges but the multiple echo sounders and forward looking sonar kept us out of any trouble and it has been two days since we even touched the bottom.

We moored up just upstream of Cookham bridge where the crews of neighbouring boats were very friendly and told us of the local facilities, which included the Peking Inn, popular with locals and boat crews alike. Our walk into the village revealed another local facility - the grand looking offices of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

We had come further than intended on this leg but we decided to take advantage of the favourable weather and are pledged to do so again should the next day be as good. Lady Martina went well and was undaunted by dog-leg lock entries and lock keepers who are helpfully progressing us quickly through the locks with enthusiastic sluice opening.

Typical estimates of an hour per lock are much too high, as we rarely need to queue and are often the only boat being locked through. River levels seemed higher than normal, judging by the bridge heights, so we guessed that the shallows could present even more difficulty in the summer draught season. This has been an ideal time of year to cruise the Thames with very little traffic or competition for prime mooring spaces.

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Cruising Statistics

Distance: 13 nm

Total to date: 314 nm

Avg Speed: 5 knots

Duration: 4 hours

Wind: S/SW 3-4

Mooring: £4

Electricity: N/A

Locks

Old Windsor

Romney

Boveney

Bray

Boulters

Cookham

Bridges

Ham 14'3

Albert 18'8

Victoria 20'3

Black Potts 19'5

Windsor 13'2

Windsor Rail 17'9

Elizabeth 20'6

Summerleaze 24'

New Thames 25'6

Maidenhead Rail 32'3

Maidenhead 18'7

Boulters footbridge 17'3

Cookham footbridge 12'6

Cookham 15'2