Wednesday 10th June 2009

Our usual start of 0930hrs, although the weather wasn't very promising and sure enough almost immediately it started to rain. We did stop for a drink after about an hour to see if it was going to improve but in fact there have been showers off and on all day.

We knew we were in for quite a few locks today and unfortunately we didn't manage to team up with anybody. There were nine in total and most were in quick succession and we met a few boats going in the opposite direction to pass the time of day whilst waiting for the locks to fill or empty.

We were heading for Tring Station to see it's proximity to the canal ready for my journey to London on Saturday. Once we were through the last lock, the canal narrowed and was surrounded by wooded area on both sides. It became quite gloomy and we were unlucky enough to come across a wreck of a narrowboat that was diagonally across the canal. We managed to nudge past it very slowly and moored at the station bridge.

I went off to see how far it was and the frequency of the trains while Tom looked after the boat - I was back in no time with my ticket etc sorted and we found a winding hole to retrace our steps. Once again we had to gently nudge the wreck out of the way and I phoned British Waterways to make them aware.

We had decided to investigate the Wendover Arm, a short stretch of canal which has been restored. We had no sooner turned into the arm than we encountered another narrowboat drifting across. Another phone call to BW and a gentle nudge by and we were on our way.

This is a very narrow stretch of water, which reminded us both of the Fenlands from last year. There was not much of interest, unless you count the huge flour mill on one of the banks.

After about an hour, we came to the end with a big winding hole and some designated moorings. We are the only boat here, and we didn't pass any boats on our way, so we don't think it is used very much. Anyway it suits us for the night and as it was 1730hrs and starting to rain again, we didn't feel inclined to make the journey back.