Skip to content
Saturday, January 17, 2026

Mort's Riverwatch

An occasional look at the ebb and flow of the Thames

  • Home
  • About Mort Smith
  • Recent developments
  • Events
  • History
  • Nature
  • Rules and regs
  • Local people
  • Terra Nova

Month: December 2010

Events

Smells like happiness

30/12/201002/12/2012Mort SmithComment(0)

When Lt Colonel Bill Kilgore, the character played by the wonderful Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now, tried to express his feelings for the Vietnam War he said he loved the smell of napalm in the morning – it smelt like victory.

Books

Well, wooden it be nice…

16/12/201002/12/2012Mort SmithComment(0)

It’s wintertime. There are icicles hanging from the gunwhales of your boat and even the water in the bilges is frozen solid. Spring seems a long, long way away and you’re wondering how to fill those dark evenings and dreary weekends.

Rules and regulations

Seeing red over diesel

12/12/201002/12/2012Mort SmithComment(0)

A change in European law means that, with effect from January 1 2011, a new type of gas oil will be required for diesel-powered boats on inland waterways – but that change could create real problems for some skippers.

History Local people Nature

Skating on thick ice

04/12/201002/12/2012Mort SmithComment(0)

Amateur meteorologist Harry Kershaw from Manchester reckons this winter could be the coldest for 270 years and he says the Thames may freeze over. Judging from the weather over the last couple of weeks, he may not be too far out.

Archives

Get in touch

To contact Mort, email him at mortsmith32@gmail.com or call him on 01787 226974. He’s always pleased to hear from old friends who provided such a wealth of information and great stories for Riverwatch.

These columns appeared in the Surrey Herald.

Tags

Association of Dunkirk Little Ships Beaulieu boat jumble birds boats book review Canal and River Trust crab Desborough Island Desborough Sailing Club Doug Myers Dunkirk D’Oyly Carte Island Environment Agency fish fishing Floods historic boats Jenny Beagle lock keepers London International Boat Show paintings Project Kraken Queen Mary Sailing Club Richmond Venturer River Thames Boat Project river users groups rowing Royal Yachting Association safety sailing Second World War Shepperton Shepperton Marina Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society Surrey Police swimming Terra Nova Thames21 Thames islands Walton Bridge Walton Yacht Company Weather Weybridge Ladies Rowing Club Weybridge Sailing Club wildlife
Copyright © 2008-2025 Mort Smith. All rights reserved. | Editorial by MysteryThemes.
  • Home
  • About Mort Smith
  • Recent developments
  • Events
  • History
  • Nature
  • Rules and regs
  • Local people
  • Terra Nova

Notice: ob_end_flush(): Failed to send buffer of zlib output compression (0) in /home/public/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5481