Apsley to Boxmoor (Hemel Hempstead)

Monday 28th August (Bank holiday)

Unbelievably it was a bank holiday without rain! In fact the sun was shining! 😎

Our first task of the day was to get pumped out at Apsley Marina. In order to get access to the marina I had to use our British waterways key to lift the swing bridge.

John had the tricky job of maneuvering the boat through the narrow entrance and into the berth beside the pumpout machine.

He did a great job and we were soon able to leave the marina. I liked lifting the bridge and making everyone wait - ooh the power rush! 😊

Soon after we were going through Apsley locks. 

I noticed that where we were moored under the trees the hatch window and solar panel had got covered in bird poo - that was going to take some scrubbing off later!!

We carried on through the outskirts of Hemel Hempstead. 

 I loved this name!

At the next lock a man was having a picnic sat on the lock gate. We have found that locks seem to be a magnet for picnicers and although I can see that the gates make ideal seats it's a bit annoying sometimes when you get glared at for making them move so you can use the lock! This man however was very polite. 

 We were being followed by 2 boats travelling together and they had to wait for us to go through the lock before they could use it.

They had quite a lot of crew so they helped us with the gates and paddles to try and speed up the process. We were glad of the help.

Onward through more residential areas

Past a gathering of Canadian Geese

Today's heron! 

We were soon approaching the Fishery Inn at Boxmoor.

 Under the bridge to Fishery Lock

 More picnicers! They weren't in our way though so no problem.

 Locks always attract crowds on sunny days

 We could see everyone enjoying the sunshine. It was so hot we decided that we'd had enough and we looked for somewhere to moor up.

We found a spot but it took John ages to bang the mooring pins in. The ground was rock solid. Unfortunately he had a nasty fall into some nettles as he stumbled getting off the bow. Ouch!

Whilst I was holding the centre rope to keep the boat steady whilst John secured it, I got chatting to a couple called Joan and Jeff who had taken an interest in the boat and asked all about boating and our life on Prairie. They were so nice I decided to show them the inside of the boat and then afterwards we all went to the Fishery Inn and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the garden. We were so pleased to have met them.

In the evening we took Dex for a walk on Roughdown common which was right by the canal.