Another sleepless night.

The latest flood notice is that the Thames will peak in Oxford at 6.30pm and will be at peak until 9 am Tuesday. Ho hum, such is life.
We had a visit from another unknown blog follower, Pete, an Australian living here in Oxford. Check out his sites nice to meet you Pete. Some great pictures on his blogspots.
Residents of the street are still in party mode sitting out in the sunshine, socializing, and waiting for something to happen. What is alarming is the parents bringing their families down to the riverside to gawk at the river and allowing the kids to run around too close to the river bank. If one of them falls in it will be goodnight nurse as they would be swept away so fast they wouldn’t have a hope to save them.

Crunch time.

1pm and there is no change in the river but more rain clouds are appearing on the horizon. We now have a helicopter hovering overhead probably carrying a news team so we may be on TV tonight.

2pm and I have been approached by Sky TV News to do an interview which I did standing on Botley road bridge. We have also had the police call again taking names and a head count and telling us to go to the railway station should we need to be evacuated.

Bobbing along in the swell.

Still moored above Osney lock.
547 locks, 677 miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

As time ticked by last night we had several visits by the fire brigade and the St Johns Ambulance emergency team. Sand bagging was still being carried out at midnight. Dot took first watch while I had a nap.
At 1am we changed shifts and I went out and adjusted the 2 bow ropes so that I could make some fast adjustments if needed later.
2 am and there are still a lot of houses in the street with lights on so there must be a few concerned residents unable to sleep tonight. The river level is no higher than it’s been in the last 24 hours. A guy has just walked past who I think may be a lock keeper as he was wearing a life jacket so the situation is being monitored closely. The next 2 hours are supposed to be the critical period.
4 am and all is well and Dot has taking over flood watch. The river is still at the same level but is running very fast.
There was a beautiful sunrise this morning with lovely blue skies. Gongoozlers with cameras abound up and down the street since about 7 am.
9 am and the radio station is broadcasting that water at Kings lock is higher than the 2003 flooding levels and high water level at Lechlade hasn’t peaked yet. There is flooding in villages all around us but we haven’t suffered any YET.
9.30 am and the water level has risen by about 6 inches and the radio station is keeping a constant flood watch running.
The allotments about a mile or so up river from here are now flooded which are about the same height above water level as where we are but there are sluices between here and there.
11 am and the river has dropped marginally going by our marker on the building opposite. The fire brigade have been up and down the street again and if you didn’t know any different you would say the street appears to be carnival mode with all the neighbours standing around out in the street chatting. Gongoozlers just keep on arriving walking up and down the street as if there was going to be a visit by the queen or something similar. The Botley Rd bridge is amass with gongoozlers taking photo’s and videos of the river surging under the bridge.

We are still awaiting the peak, more to come later.

Floodwatch - All night vigil.

Still moored above Osney lock.
547 locks, 677 miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

This morning we took advantage of some fine weather for a trip into town. The crowds were over whelming to the point where there was no enjoyment in doing any sight seeing. We did manage to find our way to Isis lock to check out the conditions on the Oxford canal which although high in water were calm.

No go area, the red boards are up on the Thames

This afternoon we had a visit from a very attractive police woman who has been going door to door along the street warning residents that EA have posted another flood warning for the area. The river is supposed to rise later tonight and peaking some time early tomorrow morning. Householders have been boarding up their front doors in anticipation of what might be to come. If the water comes up high enough to flood the street it will be a rise of 18” to 2 foot and we will have to be on our guard to adjust mooring ropes.

Rising flood waters

The mooring pontoon below Osney lock is now underwater with levels still rising

The lock keeper feels certain that it won’t come to anything but there are no certainties in these matters. So it looks like we will be keeping a 1 on, 1 off all night watch.
The fire brigade has just done a surveillance visit. Hopefully we won’t require their services but we are making preparations should evacuation be necessary.
There are a lot of nervous people wandering up and down the streets on both sides of the river watching the river racing past.

It’s raining part 2.

Still moored above Osney lock.
547 locks, 677 miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

1730hrs and I have just returned from a walk down to the lock. As I suspected the locks are on red boards and the lock keeper told me that the river came up very fast and took everybody by surprise. He said that providing there is not too much more rain the situation should improve in the next 48 hours.
Listening to the radio traffic report I am picking that there will be thousands of commuters getting home very late tonight if at all.
The internet towpath telegraph is working well. Andy on n/b Khayamanzi was planning on a trip to the K & A from Rugby and requested info from anybody in the area. John and Fiona on n/b Epiphany knew where we were and sent Andy an email. Andy has checked our blog and is thinking of a change of plans or at least he will when he reads my email to him.
Tonight is going to be a sleepless night with the noise of the water racing around the boat and swirling around the corner of the building opposite.

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old mans snoring.

1 Lock, ½ Mile, Now moored above Osney lock.
547 locks, 677 miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

The weatherman has got it right this time because it has been raining since about 11pm last night. When we arose this morning we could see that the river had already risen quite a lot. After breakfast I donned my wet weather gear and went for a walk to check out mooring availability above the lock. There were several slots available with 3 boats about to depart leaving plenty of space. One of these boats was a hire boat who wanted to go through the lock, wind below the lock and come straight back up. He was a bit concerned about casting off because of a yacht, minus mast, moored in front of him. So being the good Samaritan I gave him a hand and then went back to Gypsy Rover to await his arrival through the lock.
Two cabin cruisers had gone through the lock earlier but one of them broke down in the lock. They managed to restart it albeit coughing and spluttering and he coughed his way down to the railway bridge where he hoped to fix the problem.
We eventually got up through the lock but mooring up against the fast flowing river was tricky as we had to come into the mooring under power avoiding the moored yacht.
We are now comfortably moored listening to the local radio station reporting on the devastation going on around Oxfordshire with thunder storms, flooding, school closures and a forecast of up to 100mm/4inches of rain before the storm abates. Storm water drains are not coping with manhole covers being lifted by the pressure of the water.
1600hrs and we have just heard that the Oxford canal has been closed between Napton Junction and Banbury with the towpath being over 2 foot under water. The radio has been non stop with problems arising all over the area. Now First Great Western trains are reporting problems with all trains in or out of Paddington and are taking passengers to hotels to make them comfortable until the situation improves. Stations all over the system are being closed due to flooding.
It has been the highest rainfall in one day for forty years and the emergency services are stretched to the limit.
From our mooring we have been able to watch the level of the river rise and fall as more water arrives from further up river and the EA lock keepers open more sluices to get it away. I am picking that yellow boards or even red boards have now gone up as the water is racing past the boat at a head spinning rate. Hopefully the situation will improve over the next 72 hours and we can get away from here.

Lovely weather.

3 Locks, 8 Miles, Now moored below Osney lock.
546 locks, 676½ miles, 18 Tunnels, 37 swing bridges and 10 lift bridges since Nov 2006

So far the weather man’s prediction of heavy rain and storm conditions has failed to materialize but not wanting to get caught with our pants down so to speak. As much as we would have loved to stay longer in Abingdon we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and cruise on up to Oxford.
The journey was very pleasant with hot humid conditions which caused me to change into shorts and strip off the T shirt for a while. We passed an amazing fleet of Gondola’s of various sizes manned by men and women young and old. The last 2 boats were flying flags that we did not recognize and the language being spoken was definitely not English.

Tonight the weather man has re-issued the severe storm warning but the sky gives no sign of foul weather yet. We have spoken to the lock keeper and he is not aware of any flood warning being issued so far but he did say to move above the lock if conditions deteriorate, in the meantime I won’t hold my breath waiting.