Friday 25 December 2015

Christmas Day

Andrew was expected late morning and a few days ago had suggested that we might take the boat out on a cruise instead of looking for a traditional Christmas Day walk! As a result, Mike was up in good time to make all the usual trimmings for this evening's roast dinner.

Andrew reached the marina just after 11 and, once we had disconnected from the electricity and water connections we cast off and made our way our from the marina onto the Grand Union. A brief discussion and a check that there were no nearby closures we opted to go north - going into London might prove hard for mooring, based on what we saw in Paddington Basin a couple of days ago.


The morning has seen the forecast rain but by the time we set off it was down to a light drizzle. the temperature was also still remarkably mild.


We were surprised to see fewer winter-moored boats along the towpath just north of the marina. In past years it has been quite well packed here. Today there was plenty of room for new arrivals or over-night moorers.




We did spot a kingfisher but were too slow to catch it on camera - we did try but the light is too low level to get many pictures.


The rain became a bit heavier just after lunch but before we could see anywhere for an early stop it cleared again and we continued on. With plenty of cloud cover it was obviously going to get dark quickly tonight but we continued until just below Stockers Lock. Going further would have brought us within range of the extended permanent moorings around Batchworth and also we will now be able to pick up a paper in the morning - supermarkets only close for the one day! We did see a couple of boats on the move.

8.5 miles - 7 locks

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