Tuesday 16th June 2009

Friday 12th June. We left the end of the Wendover arm and went over old ground to continue our journey. One of the boats that wasn't tethered was still across the canal, so yet again we nudged past it, stopped off for diesel at Cowroast Marina and continued on to Berkhamsted.
The moorings were very busy by the time we arrived, but we managed to squeeze in at the end. The moorings are for 14 days, although some of the boats looked as if they had been there 14 years!
Saturday 13th June. A change of plan and I am now going to London tomorrow. We are right next to the station here so decided to have a day in town. The church fair was on and the market, so it was quite lively everywhere. A really nice town with lots of little shops to browse around. We also found a launderette, so took the opportunity to strip the bed. There is no problem washing on the boat but the drying of such large items can be challenging at times. One big disappointment - our villa in Italy for Lottie and Lee's wedding has been cancelled due to the pool being out of order! Spent hours on the internet looking for an alternative.
Sunday 14th June. I was up bright and early and was on the train at 0840hrs to London. Tom breathed a sigh of relief to have a day to himself, working through his list of jobs.
I was at Lottie and Lee's by 1000hrs and we set off for Lakeside. I think Lee sighed with relief too and he also had his list of jobs!! It was great to have a girlie shop and we managed to buy the brides shoes and choose the bridesmaids' shoes, so we are slowly getting there.
I arrived back in Berkamsted at about 1900hrs and Tom's peace was shattered. We spent the evening still looking for a suitable villa - not easy when you have poor signal.
Monday 15th June We pottered about when we got up, bought some last minute groceries and were on our way by 1130hrs. We immediately teamed up with "Elysium" who had 4 crew on board.Four sets of friends had clubbed together to buy her, and two sets were out for a few weeks on her. It was great having company for the next 7 locks, before they turned round.
The landscape here is very pretty with lots of canalside pubs but the locks are quite hard, with some really heavy gates.
Once we were on our own, I took the tiller and soon Tom had an electric swing bridge, where he had to put the barrier down to close the road and then turn the bridge to make a path for me. I am so pleased I didn't get that one!! It took him a bit of time to work it out, so there would have been no hope for me. We continued on until about 1530hrs and then found a sunny spot to moor for the night, just before arriving in Hemel Hempsted.
Just in time, within a couple of hours the sky was black and we had a downpour.