Home Counties Cruise: Day 20

It was chilly this morning, probably the coldest start we've had.  Adrian even gave in and put jeans rather than shorts on, although he swapped back again later in the day.  It was a bit misty, but sunny.

We were away by 8am, soon passing under the M25 link road, and then the M25 proper.  Although we've done this section twice, both times have been in the opposite direction -- and you see different thing when you're going the other way, like the dinosaur at King's Langley, which is hidden by bushes when you're travelling south.

At Nash Mills, they've done quite a lot of work on the latest stage of the housing development since we passed in August.  Then there was no more on the waterside than a few concrete columns.

There are lots of locks along this stretch, but at least quite a few are grouped together, with two or three at a time.  We worked a few of these mini flights each.  We stopped at the water point at Apsley and filled the tank to the brim.  Boxmore Lock was where we stopped on the way down in August.  There are views of the different ages of Hemel Hemptead, as demonstrated by its buildings.

At Fishery Lock, a boat was preparing to come down;  Adrian had just made lunch, and we had time to eat it while we waited.  At Winkwell Swing Bridge, I pressed the buttons, but held up only one car.

At Top Side Lock there's a rennovated lock cottage, which has a very nice extension which they were building when we came this way three years ago.  There's a glass linking section to separate the new and the old.

At the same lock, we saw a squirrel doing a high level run along a telephone wire, then sit at the top of the pole.  Then another followed.

We did the three more locks up into Berkhamstead, and moored in the pound by Waitrose.  We've done 23 locks today which have raised us just over 146 feet.  And there are still 7 locks before we reach the summit.

10 miles, 23 locks.  (245 miles, 178 locks)

Spring cruise - Day 5

We had a bit of excitement last night.  It was pouring with rain about 8 o'clock when Adrian looked out of the front of the boat -- to see the widebeam moored ahead of us across the canal.  The stern was on the towpath, and the bow on the far side.  We put on shoes and waterproofs so we could go and rescue it, when I noticed that there appeared to be lights on inside, and smoke coming from the chimney.  I knocked on the roof, and told the rather surprised owner that he'd come adrift.  It was news to him!

This morning the cutting was bathed in sunshine, in contrast to yesterday's rain.  We had a modest target for the day, so it was 9.15 before we set off.

Cowroast Lock was the first landmark, and it looked very pretty.  Like all the locks on this stretch, there are signs asking that the lock be left empty with a bottom paddle raised, so we had to fill each one before we could go down.

There was a CRT man at the second lock of the day, as the short pound below had drained overnight.  He'd been alerted by a couple on a tiny little boat, who were waiting in the lock below.

Locks came and went at regular intervals as we decended towards Berkhamsted.

At the first of the Gas Locks, we met the unpleasant boater of the day.  As I arrived on foot, there was a widebeam boat in the lock with no-one around.  The owner eventually emerged, and as it appeared he was single handed I asked if he wanted help filling the lock.  He said no, rather abruptly.  He then explained that he had a Harley Davidson on the back deck (which it later transpired he sits on to steer) so it was important the boat wasn't bumped around in the lock.  I left him to open a ground paddle, and then he opened a gate paddle on the same side.  I suggested that if he opened the gate paddle on the opposite side instead, the boat would sit nicely against the wall rather than being swept over to the other side.  At that, he said it was his lock, his time, and I should go away.  So I did, down to set the lock below.  By the time I came back he was leaving the lock, failing to shut any of the paddles behind him.

When we got to Berkhamsted, there was plenty of room to moor in the Waitrose pound.  There's a winding hole below the next lock, but Adrian was sure there was enough room to turn above it, so he did.

We went out for lunch, as we had virtually no food left on board.  A nice looking cafe had no tables and a few people waiting, so we went to Ask over the road instead.  On the way back to the boat we went to Waitrose to restock the cupboards.

As it was nice and sunny we went for a look at Berkhamsted Castle, the ruins of a motte and bailey castle just the other side of the railway lines.  Judging by what the locals were saying, it appears the moat doesn't usually have so much water in it.

Back at the boat, Adrian did some work while I washed the towpath side of the boat.  Last night's heavy rain combined with a very muddy towpath meant it was pretty filthy.

It'll be a longer day tomorrow, as we begin our journey back to base.

4 miles, 7 locks.  (40 miles, 32 locks).

Autumn Cruise - Day 6

Last night we walked through the reservoirs back to Marsworth, to eat at the Angler's Retreat.  We both had pie and veg, which were good, although all the other customers seemed to know each other, which we always find a bit disconcerting!  The state of the reservoirs was quite shocking.  Tringford and Marsworth were both several feet lower than they should be, but Startops End was verging on empty.

The moorings at the current end of the Wendover arm are very quiet, and we slept well.  This morning was sunny and calm, and we set off at about 8.45.  We'd planned to do a wash load while on the lock free section, but the Travel Power (engine driven generator) wouldn't come on.  We tried it a couple of times, and checked all the basic things.  In the end, we gave up.  The Wendover Arm seemed to have much more water this morning -- I guess the levels had recovered a bit overnight, while the locks weren't being used.  We reached Bulbourne Junction in about half an hour, and turned right.  A little way further on is BW's Bulbourne Depot, where lock gates are made.  Part of the building has clearly been let to someone who creates metal scuptures.

We entered the Tring Cutting to find a boat across the canal.  Adrian got off and pulled it to the side, banging in its one mooring pin; the other ropes had apparently been attached to bit of wood stuck in the ground, which may explain why it had come loose.

The cutting itself is lush, green, and chilly.  It's not as deep as some of those on the Shroppie, but remarkable none the less.

At Cowroast, we turned into the marina to see if someone could look at the Travel Power.  In the mean time, Adrian had posted a question to the Briadbar Owners' Group, and had replies saying that sometimes these things take a while to wake up.  That probabaly explains why it worked fine when an engineer came to look at it.  He recognised Briar Rose: the previous owner had bought it there, and stayed for a while in the marina.

I reversed out of the marina, while Adrian went down to the lock, where a boat was coming up.  They stayed in the lock quite a long time after it was open, as they went to empty their loo.  As we finally went in, another boat arrived, so we had a partner for the locks down to Berkhamsted.  Radinka had two ex-squaddies on board, one of whom was recovering from a broken back -- yet still managed to work quite a few of the locks.  Some of the locks here need to be left empty and with a bottom paddle open, so needed filling.  Some need a BW key to unlock the gear.  At some, we met boats coming up.

At Berkhamsted, we moored up below Lock 52 at lunchtime.  We went to Waitrose, which is alongside the canal, for lunch in the cafe and provisions.  We then decided to stay put for a while and do the washing;  while that was going on we washed the towpath side of the boat (using the Washmatic system we bought at the IWA National; you really can do a whole boat side and the roof with one tiny bucket of water), and I did the mushrooms and portholes.  Until now, we've been about half a day ahead of schedule, and Berkhamsted was in the plan as tonight's overnight stop.  So we decided to stay where we were.  It's a nice spot, opposite a park, although the Virgin trains are quite loud.  I decided to start trying to clean the brass Houdini hatch, and Adrian started setting up the satellite dish.  A couple of minutes later, I heard a splash, and saw Adrian swimming to the side: he'd fallen off the gunwales.  He was OK -- a little shaken at first, but was able to stand up get out of the water.  It certainly gave our neighbouring boats something to talk about.

7 miles, 7 locks.  (75 miles, 55 locks)