Hunsdon Mill to the Crown at Broxbourne (in the pouring rain)

Wednesday 9th August.

We knew the weather forecast had predicted rain all day but we wanted to move further on down towards London as needed to be there by the weekend to meet up with family and friends.
For once typically the weather forecast was spot on, it was tipping it down and bouncing off the river.

So we had to prepare ourselves for travelling in really hard rain. Luckily we have wet weather gear and so we both got togged up. Very fetching!!

We had to store the cushions below deck and we put black bin liners over the seats to stop the rain going into the storage compartments. John put some corks in the holes to stop the rain getting in.
I put dog towels on the floor and sofa to try and keep the mud and mess to a minimum.

I expect you are wondering how Dex copes in the rain? This is his usual position!!

We had to put the map book in a plastic food bag to keep it dry. 

 Kim and Marc gave us these fab personalised mugs with lids which were great to use in the rain!

So we set off, John steering and I was setting the locks. I haven't any photos of the journey which took 6 hours and it didn't stop raining for more than 10 minutes the whole journey. Just couldn't get the camera out as it would have got soaked! But we managed ok and we started to see the funny side after a while. We even managed a singing in the rain routine at one lock, me swinging my lock key and dancing around and John singing on the back of the boat. No one around to see the crazy people!!
Soon I was wet through, my so called waterproofs were not really that waterproof, not for any prolonged time. So I had to change into my second set! John was ok, he has a long wax coat and that kept him lovely and dry all day. I think I need to invest in one of those!

We met some day trippers who had booked their hire boats in advance so couldn't back out. They also had leaking waterproofs on. We had a laugh about it, let's face it we do love a good moan about the weather! One family were on a small hire boat which came in the lock with us. A nine year old boy was steering the boat, it was his birthday treat! He was doing very well.

We couldn't decide whether to carry on to Waltham Abbey or stop at Broxbourne. Our minds were made up when we spotted a mooring right outside the Crown pub in Broxbourne, clearly a sign!
We changed into some warm dry clothes and went to the pub for the rest of the afternoon. They had a lovely roaring fire which was really welcome - well it is August!! We had a nice meal in there and they are dog friendly so we could take Dex with us. We met up with another couple of boaters (Nigel and Ben) who had the same idea as us and enjoyed a lot of friendly banter with them. Cheers all!