Friday 8th July 2022

Leaving Colebrook Row in Islington at midday on Wednesday, I couldn’t resist returning to the Amazon Fresh store first thing, to pick up some delicious looking pastries as R’s cousin and his toddler were visiting us mid morning. I managed to find some colouring pens and paper to keep De occupied whilst we compared the pros and cons of living on a canal boat compared to a motorhome. Pe, who has three children, bought his parents campervan  when they upgraded to a newer model. He has spent many years holidaying in a mobile home so understands water issues and toilets!  As there was a water tap around the corner we moved the boat to top up the tank. It amazes me how long it takes considering we had only had a couple of showers and a few bowls of washing up water since the previous fill up.  The first lock of the day was immediately ahead so we did that with Pe and De and then our son in law’s mother arrived to travel with us towards Hackney Wick. After bidding farewell to our morning guests,  it was then fun spending time with Ja. We really appreciated the extra help with half a dozen locks, that were not the easiest to work.  Fortifying her with an alfresco lunch, seated on our stern, Ja then took the train back into town. We had entered the Hertford canal at an inauspicious left turn which, if not concentrating, would have been easy to miss and it was noticeably shallower with lots of weeds.  A further left turn and we were on the River Lea and continued on to Hackney Marsh where we moored for the night. We decided to check the weed hatch, my least favourite job, but I was grateful that we did because there was a lot of weeds, including plastic bags, attached to the propellor. It required quite a bit of effort to remove the debris and I was grateful for R’s longer arms and tenacity! Replacing the hatch cover is always a little nerve wracking as no one wants the boat to flood but I  think I am getting the hang of it and increasing in confidence.

We were surprised that our canal planner suggested it would only take a couple of hours to travel on to Ponders End lock because it took us considerably more time. Perhaps not helped by the confusion of approaching unexpected dual locks, one being electric and one manual. I am not sure how single handed boaters are supposed to manage the locks. There are limited bollards on the approaching towpath, often with boats moored extremely close to the lock entrance. Getting back on the boat after exiting the lock is no easy feat and perhaps explains why we found many lock gates left open. That increases the time it takes to work the lock because before you can begin to empty or fill it you need to walk around the lock perimeter closing gates. The locks took a long time to fill, partly because we had to let the water in slowly to prevent the boat bashing the sides of the chamber with the force of the water. In addition, the number of moored boats along the towpath slowed our speed considerably as you are meant to pass them on tickover. We did find an excellent cafe at Stonebridge lock, close to Tottenham Hale, where we enjoyed the best sandwiches I have eaten for a long time!

I was also intrigued to pass the boat ‘Genesis’ which is a floating church and has a roof that raises up. Sadly it was in the collapsed position but it was still interesting to see.

I was also amused to see a boat called ‘Mrs Drummond’ as that’s my brother’s name, a trifle unusual!

Travelling today was equally slow with  the lock at Rammey Marsh incredibly hard to work. We rewarded ourselves with a shared plate of smashed avocado and two fried eggs on toast, at the waterside cafe near to the lock, so even though the canal is not the easiest to travel along, nor the prettiest, the cafes alongside are worth the trouble! We have moored at Waltham Abbey, on the Essex, Hertfordshire border, a small town boasting alot of history. The Abbey itself closed at 4pm and is apparently well worth a visit, but we will have to save that treat for our return as it was past 4 when we walked into town. The heat was intense, one of the few occasions this year when I have felt just too hot to want to do anything or go anywhere. However T K Maxx happened to be the nearest shop to where we are moored so I didn’t miss an opportunity to see what they had on offer and the air conditioning cooled us down considerably! A useful pair of leather open toed sandals means I no longer have to wear socks and trainers, a blessing in this heat!

Our friends who traveled with us on Monday took some great pictures, which I have uploaded to Instagram and Facebook – I thought they were a step too far for me to manage but I have decided it is the easiest way of showing our journey in picture form, without overloading the blog. If you want a more picture driven account of our travels just browse through the Instagram, found either on MaryH or narrowboattlc.