Firstly, some public notices.
Happy Birthday to Jessica; and Happy Birthday to Colin of NB ‘Molly’.
The birds were still coughing as we moved off this morning at 7.20am, Myra walked on (shades of Barbara Woodhouse?) to set the first lock of the day at Winkwell.
Down the next one, then the electrically operated swing bridge. Another single hander was operating the bridge and waved me through, we went forward to set the lock at Middlesex and Herts Boatyard and wait for his boat.
Passing through Hemel Hempstead, the Kodak Tower (remember those 35mm slide films, prepaid, sent to Kodak, PO Box 22, Hemel Hempstead?) was in process of some large scale refurbishment.
No youngsters were playing cricket on the well tended ground next to Boxmoor lock, probably owing to the fact that today was Saturday and in the school holidays.
We shared the locks until the second one at Apsley; Myra was heading to Sainsburys whilst I replenished the water tank and then took Martlet down the lock to wait for her and the food supplies.
We tied up outside the BW owned Apsley Marina,to enable Myra to go to the laundrette. We had just moored, when Martlet was hit by a passing boat. Myra went up on the rear deck, the steerer just looked at her and said nothing. She formed the opinion that he was 'tired and emotional'; he eventually managed to reverse the boat into the marina whilst the lady from his boat worked the lift bridge.
I used my stage whisper to her, in the hearing of a few other people; telling her that when her boat hit ours, fortunately nothing was broken inside, so would she kindly inform the steerer, to put his mind at rest.
We moved through Bridge 154 and tied up a few hundred yards south.
2009 Totals – Locks 69; Miles 73.5; Bus pass uses 2.
