Sat 6th April
Overcast this morning, but we had a peaceful night with very
little traffic or train noise.
While James got the boat ready for a short cruise, Hazel
went for some last-minute shopping. When she returned, we decided to put the
washing machine on while we were on the move.
Several boats were moving, maybe because it is now the
weekend. A single boat came down the lock and we agreed to share locks
together. The boat was called Zephre, and the lady owner has been moored in
Stoke Bruerne until now, but she is going to move to a marina in London. We
have seen the boat, and she knows our friend Kathryn. There was another lady helping to crew the
boat.
The first lock we shared was straightforward. We cruised
past Apsley Basin where there used to be paper mills when we first ventured
this way in 1999. There is now a new pub called the Paper Mill. Just after this
there is an unusual canal bridge with a secondary arch to one side.
Paper Mill pub
Zephre following us past Aspley Basin
Bridge near Apsley
The next two locks are at Nash Mills, and they are within
sight of one another. At the first one there was a boat (The Moorhen) already in the lock, with one of the top gates open.
We assumed he had just gone in, and we were going to allow Zephre to go in with him as they were in a hurry. Then we realised
that he was reversing out, using ropes. When he was clear both boats were able
to go in. As we were descending in the
lock, we could see two boats coming up in the next lock, so we crossed over in
the pound without having to close the gates.
The Moorhen being pulled in reverse, with Zephre behind
Exchanging locks at
Nash Mills
Sharing with Zephre
In the third lock, there were another two boats waiting to
come in so again we had less to do. There were a lot of wide beam boats moored
here, and one was travelling ahead of us. By the time we reached our
destination, Kings Langley, yet another wide beam was in front of that one. We
were pleased we were stopping, as wide boats take longer to go through locks
and travel more slowly. We felt sorry for our friends on Zephre who wanted to
go a long way today.
There was an ideal mooring for us, not far from the
footbridge that we will use to get to church tomorrow. There were also no
overhanging trees to put shade on the washing that we put out to dry.
Moored at Kings Langley
3 locks, 2 miles. Dep 1125 arr 1230
Sun 7th April
Christ Church
Baptist, Kings Langley
Before the service
Octopus
Kings Langley Lock
Scaffolding on the
M25 bridge
Moored by The Grove
Bridge
We had a short walk over the footbridge and up a slight hill
to get to Christ Church Baptist Church for the 1030 service. There were about
70 people of all ages, which is always a good sign. The worship was led by a lady on keyboard, a
guy with a guitar and two lady singers.
The songs were up to date, but several were pitched quite high. The talk was about Jesus earning his crown,
with a parallel to the parable of the ten minas, and Herod.
We had some good chats over coffee afterwards, and were
pleased to meet Jackie Tuffs, a Waterways Chaplain.
We tried for Sunday lunch at the Saracens Head, but they
weren’t serving food – their new menu (and, we guessed, their new chef) starts
tomorrow. Instead we went to the Rose and Crown, where we had a very tasty
meal. The forecast was for rain, so we hastily returned down the hill to the
boat, where we put up the hood. On the way
we saw a boat with a knitted octopus on the bows!
The rain didn’t come until 4.30pm, and then it was only a
quick but heavy shower.
One more night here before moving on.
No boating today.
Mon 8th April
Today was forecast showery in a line across the country
including where we are. Further north or further south they were having a sunny
day. We decided to set off early as the rain was light and may get heavier
later.
The first lock was in our favour, but all the rest were empty,
and we had to fill them. We saw no other boats moving all day. It would have been good to share the locks
with another boat. When we are on our own going down, Hazel steers the boat
into the lock using one gate, and the other gate almost always swings open, so
we have to go around to close it.
We crossed under the M25 where the bridge over the canal was
covered in scaffolding, but there was no work going on that we could see.
Just before our last lock of the day, Lady Capel’s Lock, our
bow thruster ceased to work. We noticed several other things not working such
as the fuel gauge, and the lights on the instrument panel.
We stopped at the Grove, and attempted to moor up just
before the bridge, but it was too shallow. We moved through the bridge and were
able to get close in to the side.
We shed our wet clothes, and hung them up to dry, although
we had to re-light the fire as it had gone out. We had a look at the electric
fault and took out the relevant fuse. It looked OK so we put it back in, and
everything worked!
In the late afternoon, having seen no boats moving, three
boats arrived and moored up. One or two
others went past.
When it was dark, we noticed that the ornate Grove Bridge
was illuminated.
Grove Bridge
Tomorrow also looks rainy, but we could do with reaching
Rickmansworth.
6 locks, 3 miles. Dep 0845 arr 1110
Tue 9th April
We woke early, and the forecast showed showers to start with
and rain later. As it wasn’t actually raining, we decided to set off straight
away without even pausing for breakfast.
Cassiobury Park Lock
75
We had a fairly straight forward journey, the only incident
being a boat across the canal, with the bow line loose, and the stern still tied.
We gently nudged it back to the bank, but because everything was damp, and
there was nowhere for us to tie up, we didn’t attempt to re-moor it.
Boat across the canal
We saw no other boats moving. Most of the locks were against
us, with bottom gates open.
Lot Mead Lock 80
We moored up in Rickmansworth, just above the lock, and went
into the town. We found a café serving breakfast and we thought we deserved it
after such an early start. On the way back to the boat we had a look around the
church which was very warm and welcoming. We have met the lady vicar previously
at a canalside carol service.
We thought we would visit Tesco. Stupidly we went to the
wrong building, because it had a clock tower on the top. We had a walk round to
the real Tesco, which is much easier to visit by boat as it has its own
moorings. Back on Gabriel, it started to rain, and we caught up with some sleep!
Moored at Rickmansworth
The view from our boat: Batchworth Lock, and the non-Tesco in the background
6 locks, 4 miles. Dep 0640 arr 0925.
Next few days: continuing south through Uxbridge to
Brentford, where we join the Thames.
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