Back aboard and moving out again.

It was a lovely Christmas break, visiting family and having visits from family, I stayed at my sisters for the week and was well looked after as usual, thanks Carol and Peter.

On Chrismas Eve I taught my little granddaughter Hazel how to take pictures with the camera, this is one Hazel's mum took as I was explaining the finer points.

And this is the picture Hazel took of her mum and dad, not bad eh! shame about the phone but it was an action shot :-)

Carol and Peter drove me back to the boat yesterday, the boat was a tad cold (freezing!) but my concerns about the batteries were not needed as the monitor showed a 97% charge thanks to the solar panel, the freezer box had defrosted however, due to the ambient temperature on the boat being blooming freezing, but no harm done. First job central heating on, 2nd job tea, 3rd job light stove, it was soon warm again.

I woke this morning to find there had been a very heavy frost overnight.

I left the marina this morning at about 11 after settling my bill and buying some more smokeless fuel.
I had intended to turn right and head back up the Grand Union canal but an internet search revealed a Wickes store in Uxbridge had stock of the flooring I wanted for the shower room so I turned left instead and headed further towards London.

It was a lovely day but chilly and a very bright sun and some signs of the canal icing but nothing too much.

 The First lock was Denham Deep Lock and as the name suggests it's deep, 11' 1"

Looking back at the gates and cill

I continued on through the bright sunlight with brave fishermen the only sign of life, reaching and passing through Uxbridge lock I started to look for a mooring, there was a 24 hour one just after the lock but I hoped I could find better further along (it was overlooked by high flats), but after travelling about a quarter of a mile I realised it was futile, the moorings were full, the next turning point (winding hole) was some way ahead past another lock, and as it was quiet I decided to reverse back, these beasts do not like to obey you when reversing so it took about 20 minutes to get back to the mooring which luckily was opposite Denham Marina so I was able to wind (turn) in their entrance before mooring up, now facing the way I came for a move tomorrow.

Curretn mooring:

Still bright sun !

Uxbridge lock just ahead through bridge.

Totals Today: 3 miles : 2 locks

I walked to Wickes about 10 minutes away and purchased the flooring, underlay and threshold strips, with each pack ( 3 required ) weighing 15kg I had to make four trips, I was glad the shower room is small!

I will move back to somewhere around Rickmansworth tomorrow as I need provisions.

You have reached your destination.

The whole purpose of this cruise back down the Grand Union Canal was to get myself to a more convenient place to leave the boat for a week and visit my family over Christmas, so today I set off on the final leg of the trip in foggy conditions again.

Rickmansworth shrouded in fog at 9:30

It was a short distance to Stockers lock (82) the first of the day, and once again luck was with me as the top gates were wide open beckoning me in.

Not long after setting off the sun began to make an appearance, low and bright making visibility even worse, I was just rounding a bend squinting ahead when a wide beam loomed into view, but it was ok, we both saw each other in plenty of time.

by the time I had reached the next lock Springwell (83) it was quite bright and pleasent cruising.

My departure was overseen by a feathered visitor, he didn't take much interest but stayed put as I closed the bottom gate alongside him, I expect it was a favourite resting place and he is probably bored with narrow boats and their crew.

At Black Jack's lock (85), I love that name, I had a family of German gongoozlers, I was careful not to let them distract me while answering their questions, They assumed I was popping into London for Christmas shopping :-)

Just one more lock and I arrived at my destination, Harefield Marina, so I pulled in and stopped to fill with diesel before moving on to my berth for the next 7 nights. They were the only place I could find with a spare visitor mooring over Christmas, the mooring has no electricity so I am hoping my batteries will be ok to run just the fridge for the week while I am away, calculations say they will but calculations and batteries don't always agree! time will tell.

Current mooring:

Totals Today: 4.5 miles : 5 locks

There will be no posts now until 29th December at least as I will be eating and drinking too much and hopefully not worrying about Quinquireme.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone :-)

A warning to all boaters

I have just been catching up on a few blogs I read and by a strange coincidence after writing in my post earlier today about the dangers of 'cilling' your boat I was shocked to read this account from the experienced and respected boater 'Maffi' N.b. Milly M.
I have followed his blog for ages, in fact when I found it,7 or 8 years ago, I went back through it and read it from the begining, if this can happen to him it can happen to anyone.

Read it HERE

It shows no matter how experienced you are or how many times you have repeated the same operation safely, you should never assume it will all go according to plan.

Take care with whatever you do.

Rickeeey.......

....for viewers of East Enders.

Yesterday I moved down to Rickmansworth, fondly known in the boating community as 'Ricky'.

It was dry when I cast off and passing Jack's boat I spotted him in the woods attemping to cut through a quite large fallen tree with an axe, it looked like hard work to me, he saw me and waved cheerio.

The first lock was Cassio Bridge lock (78) 9'0" deep this one, here it is looking back at the gates and cill.

The cill is what causes a number of sinkings each year, boats positioned too far back get stuck on this as the water level drops and the bow goes beneath the water rapidly filling the boat and in effect sinking it, they end up perched at an angle, it happens quite quickly, all locks have warning signs and a white painted line marked 'Cill' either side of the lock to alert you, but accidents still happen quite frequently.

The bridge the other side of the lock carries the underground trains to and from nearby Watford, possibly what the lock is named after, I'm not sure about the dates and cannot be bothered to 'Google' it.

It was a very slow cruise, so many moored boats I seemed to be on tickover most of the time.

But the odd one to make you look a bit more closely.

 That's what you call an umbrella.

Not sure if I want a fender like this but it's different.

It was a damp day with the odd light shower so not many pictures.

I was soon into Rickmansworth stopping briefly on the water point for another quick top up, and then moving over to the visitor moorings, Tesco is just ahead, they do have customer moorings and I had intended to use those but they were full, so I will stay here for now.

Current mooring:

That's Tesco on the left

I had to walk to it the road way, back over that bridge.

 Totals this post: 3 miles : 4 locks

And moving on again.......

......in front of a wide beam.

As you may have surmised from my previous post I wasn’t too impressed with my mooring choice, but it did for the night and the TV signal was more than good enough to watch Strictly for the last time, the TV will be almost redundant for a while now, Formula one has finished along with Strictly so it’ll be the news and the odd drama or film, anyway I set off this morning in search of better, actually I knew where I was heading, Cassiobury Park, I liked it there when I stopped previously.

So off I went around 10:15 passing beneath the now visible huge M25 Bridge.

The first lock of the day was not too far ahead North Grove lock 6’11” (71) and I was pleased again to find both top gates open so I could slide straight in.

The old lock keepers cottage looks quite cute, I’d love to see it from the other side but the owner probably wouldn’t like me wandering across the lawn to take a snap.

1881 this lock was built, I only know that because a lot of locks have the markings to tell you!

Here’s one of me leaving as well, you can tell I wasn’t rushing today J

I could not believe what happened next, I was just cruising around a slow bend in the canal and as I approached some moored boats I noticed a wide beam preparing to move off, they saw me approaching so held off moving and as I passed by it was the same couple I had sneaked in front of at Apsley, oh dear sorry, follow me again J

I did chat briefly to the lady at the next lock and she was very nice about it, I asked her if I had stolen her lock before and she said no, it had been left open all night by another boat.

The two Hunton Bridge locks (72/3) were next and I was now just trying to keep ahead of them so no pictures.

Under another ugly great beast of a bridge carrying the M25 again.

Ah but this one is much nicer, bridge 163 is a good example of a turnover bridge, this allowed the horse towing the boat to carry on without needing to be untied when the towpath changed sides, but it is on a sharp bend so you do need to look ahead across the field as you approach but this time of year you can see clearly.

And this one is equally pleasant, providing access to The Grove an 18^th century mansion on the hillside adjacent, sorry no picture of that I missed it.

Then as the canal bends sharply from side to side there are some nice houses and flats, lovely living here I would imagine.

As I entered the first of the two Cassiobury locks I could see a boat ahead going my way at the second lock, it was Jack again my locking mate and he waited at the lock for me to catch up and share. We only did that lock (76) and the next lock Iron Bridge Lock (77) together as we moored up shortly after but he had to moor a few hundred yards ahead as it was shallow in front of me,so maybe we will share some more locks tomorrow or Tuesday.

Totals today: 4miles : 7 locks

Tonight’s mooring:

Sweet and Sour chicken tonight, must remember to put the pineapple chunks in, I forgot last time and wondered why it didn’t taste as good as usual, it’s me age dearie.

Foggy, low pound and stray boats.....

.....all adds to the interest.

Yesterday I had a conversation with EE about upgrading my phone, it went well but not well enough, the deal I was offered online was the same allowances I have currently at the same monthly payment and a new Samsung Galaxy A3.... up front cost£139.....mmmm.....NO, first part of phone call reduced the upfront cost but not enough, move on to another department, reduce upfront cost again but decrease  allowances, move on again to disconnections department, now it's no upfront cost, same allowances but a small increase in monthly payments, is that ok? No, cancel please.

I walked into Hemel Hempstead to the Three shop, same phone, £3.99 less monthly payment, more data, 2gig instead of 1gig, and 3 months (4,5+6) free, saving £54.... now you are talking my language, sign here.

On to Millets and buy new boots, the old ones Peter Storm have lasted just 2 winters, not sure if that's good or bad, didn't seem good to me, anyway £116 lighter in the wallet my reasons for stopping at Hemel were met.

This morning was foggy again when I set off around 9am.

The bridge ahead when I moored

And this morning, I had to zoom a bit to spot the bridge

So it was chilly, damp and quiet and not much to see to begin with, the first lock of the day was Boxmoor lock, not that I could see it until I was quite close.

The lock is just past those two boats somewhere ;-)

As I approached Apsley a lady walking her dog called me to say the pound (water between two locks) between the first two locks was very low, so when I got there I had a look and it was down about 30cm, with moored boats listing, so I opened all the paddles and ran water down from above for 15 minutes or so to raise the level. Then I was able to proceed to the service point where I did the usual fill and empty, the next lock (66) was no problem and as I approached lock 67 I was pleased to see it was in my favour and the gates were open.

Having gone in and began emptying the lock a lady appeared with a windlass and said they were just setting off in their widebeam so she would close the gates as I left, it wasn't until later I wondered if she had set the lock and opened the gates then walked back to her moored boat?... oops, could have been, not that I could have known, sorry if that was the case!

On through Apsley

Apsley Marina

Then keeping ahead of the widebeam I carried on through the Nash Mills locks and King's Langley lock intending to moor just after the lock, when I tried to get to the side it was hopeless, the bottom is too near the top, gravel and silt, I remembered now (from my journey up last year) that this next section is pretty shallow along the bank for quite a long spell, so I continued on through Home Park Mill Lock (70) where I found a trip boat of sorts waiting to come up, they never offered any assistance until I was leaving the lock when one man appeared to open the other gate so they could enter, they were wide beam....ho hum!

A little further along I spotted some boats moored and gave it a try, I am in, slightly listing but it'll do for tonight and the Strictly final!!

Totals Today: 4 miles : 8 locks

Tonights mooring:

Ugly great bridge ahead carrying the M25, shrouded in fog.

I was sitting have a tea when I heard a boat revving quite hard, looking out the window it was Jack, my locking mate from the other day, reversing, I wondered what he was doing so walked along to look through the front doors, the brested pair ahead of me had come adrift and were blocking the canal, so I went and helped him move them and re-pin them, it's soft ground and they are on single pins and will probably come loose again, double pins would help.

Hemel Hempstead

I left Berkhamsted this morning around 9am, misty and damp in the air but not cold and considering the time of year a bit of a bonus time.

First stop was Berkhamsted lock (53) 5’ 10” deep and well behaved, leaving the lock you pass beneath a prettily painted iron bridge, things like this are why I like the area, no graffiti that I could see.

Approaching Berkhamstead lock

And looking back at it

Then the pleasant cruise past the totem pole and the pubs of which there are many and three along this section of canal, two more locks in this stretch, Ravens lock and Rising Sun lock, here’s a few picture of the scene.

After leaving Berkhamstread behind it’s fairly dull open country, quite a number of locks and after another couple I suddenly remembered I intended to put a washload on while cruising, so at the next lock I nipped below and set the machine running.

Again the locks came and went, this boat took my fancy.

I was just emerging from lock 60 when a boater walked up and told me he was waiting at the swing bridge ahead, if he opened it I could go through and he would follow while I closed it, so that was good, he’d obviously been waiting for a boat to appear to save work and share the locks ahead.

Looking back at Winkwell swing bridge

We soon got into a little routine, his name was Jack but his boat didn’t have a name displayed, He went ahead and opened up, and I closed up afterwards, we just used the one gate on leaving the lock, which works well.

Jack setting the lock

Look at this little cutie, I wasn’t sure if it is meant to sit that low in the water or if it needed pumping out J

I wanted to stop somewhere around Hemel Hempstead and so when I spotted a free space just after lock 64 I said goodbye to Jack and moored up.

Totals today: 5 miles : 12 locks : 1 movable bridge (electrically operated).

Current mooring:

View across to Hemel, the reason I prefer rural moorings!!