It really feels like we are heading home to Berkhamsted. We keep seeing people we know! After our initial lock this morning we planned to stop for water and were slightly dismayed to find two boats at the waterpoint. However only one was filling up. The other was waiting to go down once we had brought our boat up in the lock. And it transpired they were the lovely young couple who had sorted my mobile battery charging issue. They were heading slowly back towards London having enjoyed Christmas in Cassiobury Park at Watford. The water fillup took a while – some taps seem much slower than others but there were lots of people to chat to. As we went towards Cassiobury Park we were amazed at how many people were out walking. Unsurprising really considering the restrictions but it did seem very busy. I was glad to be on the boat! However it was a bit disconcerting having such a large audience watching our every move handling the locks! Coming out of one lock we saw a long queue of people by a boat called Mollys Cafe. She was obviously doing a roaring trade. Had the queue not been so long we would have joined it. We have heard of Mollys Cafe and its an idea close to my heart, offering refreshments from the boat.
We were just about to do our final lock of the day when we saw a boat close behind us so we waited for him to share the lock. As he was happy to then do another couple of locks with us I persuaded R this was a good idea as we would have an extra pair of hands to help. So passing under the M25 we got as far as Kings Langley and moored for the night. Although I would like to travel on with him tomorrow R is not so sure because he travels at quite a lick and we might not enjoy going as fast and feeling under pressure. I expect he will be up and gone anyway far earlier than us!
NarrowboatTLC 