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We took our boat (the Western Star) with some basic instructions and even more basic explications from someone of the company, called Julia, who helped us exit the canal from Stourport, and we thus found ourselves on the Severn even before we knew it. It was great excitement, and everything went smoothly, including the passing of three locks (Lincomb, Holt and Bevere), which were man-operated. Although we initially got scared we wouldn't arrive to Worcester in time, it was actually very fast. It took us roughly 2h30 to get there, with an average speed of almost 12km/h. We quickly got sight of Guille who was waiting for us from the bridge and had spotted us as well even earlier. Our first attempt to fetch him was unsuccessful, as we couldn't get the boat close enough from the quay while still managing to get it stuck to something. After a good fright, and quickly understanding we were surely doing something wrong as our little operation was attracting much attention from people from the bridge, we managed to to free ourselves, and went down the river looking for a more steady mooring spot. We found one at Diglis junction, where we could recover Guille. It was unsuitable to moor for the night, however, and we didn't feel ready to enter the canal. We thus went back upstream and moored between the stone and the railway bridges.
The Severn, easy to sail and very pretty. Exactly the feeling of freedom we were looking for. This part featured beautiful rock formation.
Worcester in sight! We got there faster than we thought. Guille is on the bridge down there.