Sunday 21st June 2009

We had a good start to the day after an uneventful night in Paddington Basin. As it was fine we went for a walk to investigate the local area.

Lottie and Lee arrive for the day

As it was Father's Day, Lottie and Lee arrived at lunchtime to spend the day with us.

Lottie on Lottie

We walked round to Little Venice admiring all the boats on the canal. It was quite busy as yet again the sun was shining.

View through from Little Venice to

The Paddington Arm turning

The "Boat House" Restaurant

where we had an enjoyable

lunch and catch up

We stopped at this canalside restaurant for lunch and had a pleasant afternoon catching up and watching any movement on the canal.


We waited for half an hour

but he didn't move
( well cast iron doesn't)

I had to take this picture as I thought it was one of the living statues but it turned out to be a sculpture. I wondered how he had managed to stay so still for such a long time.

A last cuddle before the off

All too soon it was time for them to go as they both have work tomorrow and believe it or not they had four tube rides to get home!

"Lottie" all


"Shipshape and Bristol Fashion"


awaiting a diesel fill - up








We set off at 0900hrs on quite a chilly morning - back to long trousers and a jumper. It took us about an hour to get to Bull's Bridge with nothing of interest to note on the way. It is very industrialised and some very strange smells come from the many different factories.


There was a huge Tesco store at Bull's Bridge, so we took the opportunity to stock up yet again. The canal was fairly wide for most of the journey, even after turning down PaddingtonArm .

Moorings along the way



I decided to get off once again and have a long walk on the towpath for just over an hour. It had started to warm up by then and was really enjoyable.

Christine Power Walking The Towpath

Crossing the North Circular by Boat!!!

As it is Saturday there were plenty of people about and we were particularly surprised to come across a group of young men diving off a narrowboat. The water is very murky and has quite a lot of litter, so rather them than us. Tom had to get another two plastic bags off the prop tonight that had got entangled during today's journey.

Rather them than us

Entering "Little Venice"
It started to look a lot more scenic as we got to Little Venice and very soon after we entered the Paddington Basin. It was quite windy in there and although I managed to turn the boat, I let Tom do an intricate of reverse mooring into a narrow "finger". Our neighbours were looking on anxiously!!!!

The Old

The New


Entering The Paddington Basin

Once we were settled we went for a long walk around the area. We are allowed 7 days free mooring here but will probably not be staying that long.

All tucked up for the night

Friday 19th June 2009

We set off at 1100hrs for a much easier day - only two locks to go through. This was a sign on one of the boats that we passed which caught our attention.

There were some nice properties with gardens leading onto the canal, often with their own boat moored. This was one of the more unusual ones.

We passed through Uxbridge and when we reached Cowley, we nearly missed the turn to the Slough Arm as it was fairly concealed.

We had heard lots of conflicting opinions about this arm, but wanted to try it for ourselves. In the 1970's there was a proposal to extend it to meet the Thames at Windsor, but it was rejected by Slough council. As a result it now ends abruptly at Slough with a litter strewn winding hole.

The canal itself is fairly straight but is very choked with weed and an unbelievable amount of litter in the form of beer cans and plastic bags. The poor wildlife!

Each way took 2 hours, and half way along there was a marina with boats rafted up on the canal bank for a long stretch.

The end of the arm

We were lucky or unlucky enough to meet this huge barge on the way, but luckily before we came across the moored boats.

Our boat really struggled both ways with all the weeds and rubbish in the water, and at times we wondered if we would make it back as she was so sluggish.

When we came out of the arm it was gone 1700hrs and we moored up as soon as possible. Tom had a look in the weed hatch and we had all sorts of rubbish round the propeller, including weed, plastic and a belt with metal buckles on it.

It wasn't our best day on the canal but we are both pleased we did it, just won't be repeating it in a hurry.

Thursday 18th June 2009

As promised pictures of the boats from our overnight mooring. We found out why the canal was so quiet yesterday. A body was discovered at one of the locks in Hemel Hempsted in the early hours and police had closed the canal. As a result it was busier this morning. We weren't in a hurry so Tom went off to find a DIY store while I gave the boat a bit of a clean inside.
Boat Houses ?

or House Boats?

Some of the more unusual craft we have come upon

We finally set off at about 1100hrs and shared the first lock with a school trip. At the next lock we met a family with young children, who again were fascinated by the intricacies of the lock and seeing the boat descend as the water level dropped.

Nice Roof Garden on this one

We have seen some fabulous floral displays on the roofs of boats (a bit too twee for Tom) we think British Waterways should hold a canals in bloom competition

As promised you are in our

Blog


We couldn't hang around for him

It's amazing what you see on the canal system. On our entry the other day we showed a picture of the Loch Ness monster who appeared in the rushes, and today we found this chap monkeying around. We also had a chuckle at the ducks who were very happily having a snooze on the dinghy.

We joined a school trip at

Batchworth Lock

It's so up-market here that

even the Ducks have boats

The weather stayed fine and we made our way past Rickmansworth and Harefield to settle for the night just outside Uxbridge. We caught up with Beryl and Gary on "The Answer" and Ray and Saffy on "Ivy Rose"are moored next to us.

In all, we went through 10 locks today, the last one being the deepest on the Grand Union Canal at 11ft 1in. We met an 82 year old man there who has been on his boat for 40 years. He had just completed over 100 locks to get to the River Lee from his mooring up north and was now on his return journey. He was quite a character as he said he had the dog so that he never had to do any washing up as he licks the plates clean!!!!

He also asked Tom if I was for sale to help him through the future locks - those that know Tom well can guess the answer.

Wednesday 17th June 2009

It was still bright and sunny but quite windy this morning. We were in a really nice setting and it was tempting to stay there another day, but the weather forecast wasn't that good so we decided to keep going while it was dry

Synchonised Locking?
We had a few things to do on the boat and finally left at 11oohrs. I decided to walk to the next lock for my daily exercise and met Ray and Saffy on Ivy Rose, just about to enter.

Little Saffy who kept us company
through six Locks

We waited for Tom to catch us up and then proceeded to share the next six locks. It helped both of us as he is on his own and some of the lock gates were so heavy I could hardly move them. I had to chuckle when I told him that I was trying to lose a bit of weight, he said "Well you'll never be a size zero, will you" I wonder why he is on his own?


There's no holding Christine back
now! What next, jumping from boat
to boat?

We passed through Watford and Rickmansworth and were surprised how little any craft seem to move on this stretch. The canal is very busy but mainly with boats that don't look as if they ever move.
We got to Batchworth at about 1500hrs and it was trying to rain, so we decided to call it a day.

A pretty picture postcard Lock Keepers
cottage
(wish the same could be said for the helmsman)

I had heard there was a Tesco nearby, so went to investigate while Tom found a few more odd jobs to do. There are all sorts of different craft moored up here, some don't even look like boats. I will take some pictures tomorrow.
Having stocked up on a few essentials, it was back to the boat to tuck in for the evening. It is raining quite heavily as I write this, so we won't be venturing out again tonight.

Tuesday 16th June 2009

A beautiful sunny day and we were on our way by 0910hrs. The canal was very quiet and we didn't meet any boats going our way and only a couple going in the opposite direction. This meant that most of the locks were against us and were much harder work, although we managed to go through 16 in total.

The first part of the journey was very much like the previous day with lots of trees and the locks fairly close together. We both walked between a lot of them as it is easier than trying to get on board again, especially as you have to close the gates as you leave. We passed through Hemel Hempsted and then stopped for lunch for an hour. When we set off again we started to see a change in scenery, with some lovely riverside properties and quite a few cyclists and pedestrians. We were passing through Kings Langley and Abbots Langley and decided to moor for the night in Grove Park, which is renowned for it's ornamental bridges. It is a really pretty spot and we still had a couple of hours sunshine. Tom took the opportunity to wash the other side of the boat and I fell asleep.

When I looked at the map, I realise we have just entered the tube network. We are definitely on schedule for our stay in Limehouse, and can probably relax a little in the coming days.

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.