There it was gone!

Saturday 16^th September 2017

Kings Langley to The Three Horseshoes, Winkwell

4 miles, 9 locks

A dry and cloudy morning, but no rain which is always a bonus, however, I did have to add a third layer for the first time this morning, so it is definitely getting chillier.  We set off before 09:00 hoping to be moored up in time for lunch at a fairly reasonable time, however ...... read on...

This stretch of the canal is just one lock after the other.  They are, for the most part, not close enough to be a flight, but not far enough apart to have time to make a cuppa and drink it - the lock operative has to take a carry out!

The first two locks were in our favour, but with both bottom gates wide open, but I guess I did not have to empty them, so that was a bonus. It just means an unnecessary trip round the lock to close the offside gate.  Mind we know who is was (not that that helps as they were long gone!) - a large blue ex oil rig life boat.  It is so tall the helmsman has to stand on a large box to see where he is going whilst his passenger peers round the other side as a look out.  They travel fast and sound their horn when approaching a bend - it is wise to get out of the way! Moving on we came to Apsley Marina. It is a perfect mooring if you own one of the apartments.  At the far end there is a very useful small store that has most of the basics.

A paper was purchased and on we went to the first of the three Apsley locks and what a challenge they proved to be on so many fronts!  What is it with this canal that no one seems to shut lock gates when they leave.

 There are some quite decent moorings to be found between the bottom and middle lock

So to lock two and not only were both gates open, but both paddles had been left up!  

To add to the confusion there was a swan on the towpath with another and three cygnets in the water below the lock.

My first priority was to get Monty on a lead.  I shut the towpath side gate and paddle, tied Monty to the lock gate at the top of the lock and made my way across to shut the other gate and paddle.  By this time the other swan and the cygnets had joined Chris in the lock!  He was chucking swan food (proper stuff, not bread!) to try to get them out.  He threw the pack to me so I could lure them out, which I did.

Just the other side of that lock is a service area.  We knew we would be a while as the solids container from the composting loo needed to be emptied as well as emptying the wee pot, filling the water tank and getting rid of the rubbish.  The last job was to empty the ash can, sadly the ash was warmer than Chris had expected and it went straight through the black bag and all over the bow deck.  The matting was lifted and rinsed under the tap.  A broom, dustpan and brush were deployed to get the worst off the deck and then the hose was extracted and re-deployed to wash the bow deck down - not a job on the 'to do' list for today! By the time it was all done we were both soaked - me up to my knees and it had taken over an hour.  Whilst we were busy a boat ahead winded and went up the last lock of this flight of three!  Mind you we were finished just in time to move off as a widebeam entered the lock behind us.

Thankfully it was a leaky lock that you have to leave a paddle up ensuring the lock is always empty.  This time, however,  we were not successful in getting this swan with one cygnet out of the lock, so they travelled up with us.

We had another four locks to do today and we were lucky enough to catch up with a single hander for the last two.  He had done all the hard work as when he arrived at the lock both top gates had been left open.  He  had also had to spend an hour cutting a duvet off his prop, so his day was definitely worse than ours. Safely through the last two locks of the day (it is so much easier with two boats in the lock) and we just had the Winkwell swing bridge to pass through.  I was able to work that for both boats. The burning question then was 'would there be a mooring after the bridge and before the next lock?'

Yes there was with plenty of room for another boat if need be.

And finally - a photo for George and Jamie - I was a little slow with the camera, but I am sure you can see who is on the top of this boat?

And our lunch?  Well it was a little late at after 2pm before we sat down to eat it, but we have eaten later than that before.  We also, once again, beat the rain!

And finally - what 'was gone'? When we set off this morning one of these pots contained mint - a low hanging very leafy willow tree swept it away as we entered a lock and were unable to avoid its reach. Thankfully it was towards the end of its life and we are unlikely to get much Pimms weather before we reach home, so no great loss.

Mind you worse still - Chris has just been to lay the matting back in the bow now it is dry, only to find we are one piece missing, presumably languishing at the Apsley services!!