Nick Mayne

My wife and I plan to take our narrowboat down the Grand Union and sail the Paddington Arm returning along the Thames to rejoin the Grand union...I think about 3 hours on the Thames. I have read about the suggestion of doing this anti-clockwise but wondered about the tide effects. Would I try to plan this around high tide so if tasking the anti-clockwise direction we would not be swept past the Limehouse entrance? How would I coordinate this with avoiding the tour ships which I hear create a great wash that would not be good for us. I would love to actually talk to someone who has done this and my email is nickbomayne@tiscali.co.uk (I have no problem revealing this) if someone would be kind enough to 'chat' other than on this blog. Another simplistic question is how far from the bank does one sail ie. a compromise between getting stuck and avoiding faster boats? Are there marker buoys? The anchor discussion is interesting but it would be hard to have it on the cramped back of our trad boat but would safety considerations mean no-one should pass inside the cabin....so my wife would have to be out the front manipulating the extremely heavy anchor? Thanks, Nick