Saturday, 7 January 2017

Finally..........

.....a long cruising day.

Thursday my delivery of coal, gas and diesel arrived via the fuel boat Hyperion, it was very frosty and quite treacherous for them walking about on their boats but they are used to it.
Phil and his lady arriving after using a brief stop at Tesco
I always try to use these boats as they offer a good service in all weathers some of them even do delivery's by van if the canal is frozen in. There is often a bonus in the price as well, Harefield Marina where I topped up with 4 bags of Excel smokeless was £12.50 a bag, Phil was £10.75, quite a difference on this occasion. I took 7 bags of Excel, a bottle of gas and topped up the diesel tank with just 20 ltrs.

Friday I intended to move until I looked out of the window, the canal was iced over, not thick but enough to make the decision to stay easy.

This morning was warmer, I was ready to set off at 8:30 with the first stop being Batchworth services to fill with water and empty rubbish and cassette.
On the service point, lock 81 Batchworth ahead, the left hand lock is only
used to gain access to some residential moorings and is locked up.

'Pride of Batchworth' trip boat
After doing the necessary and moving through the lock you have about a mile of permit holder moorings to pass, tickover gets a thumbs up from most, whilst if you went faster a glare or possibly a few words, I get the thumbs up from those at their windows or on deck, no need to rush.
Smoke adding to the mist.
Some nice ones to warrant a picture
I've passed this boat a few times and may have posted a picture before but I think he's had some work done, it's quite neatly welded now to look more like and integral part of the boat.
Unusual and begs the question why? must make getting on and off difficult.
At Common Moor lock (79) there was a boat moored on the landing, just room beyond him but it makes it a tad more difficult and I don't see the need to do it,



Locks came and went and I managed to get a picture of 'The Grove' the 18th century mansion on the hillside between lock 75 and 74, I missed it on the way down, it is not easy to photograph because of the trees but this is it.


This name made me smile.
 

It was very quiet, I had only passed one wide beam all morning.
This cottage was i think at Lady Capel's Lock (74)

Having not seen many boats on the move I was surprised at the second of the two Hunton Bridge locks when a brested pair appeared followed closely by two singles, just like red buses.

I carried on at a steady pace and arrived at Kings Langley around 3:30pm and moored up for a couple of days. There is a launderette here and a motor spares where I can hopefully get my oil Monday, it was a good long day, tiring but very enjoyable.

Current mooring:



Totals today: 7.5 miles : 13 locks




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