Monday 11th May 2009
Location: Paddington Basin, Grand Union Canal
Today: 10 miles, 12 locks. Total distance: 2105 miles. Total locks: 1453
The weather forecast for tomorrow was not sounding good, heavy rain and high winds so we decided to move up to Paddington basin today. Pulled the pins around 08:30 and headed up the Regents canal.
The first thing that strikes you about the Regents canal is the amount of rubbish in it. We had to move a settee at one lock in order to get the gate open.
It came as no great surprise when we lost propulsion while exiting a lock. Pulled into the side and opened up the weed hatch. It took about 15 minutes with a sharp knife to remove all of the rubbish that we had picked up on the prop, photos below.
Had a bit of an ‘incident’ at one lock this morning. We were happily emptying Old Ford Lock and chatting away – as you do, when we heard a bit of shouting from a couple of fishermen below the lock. Looked around to see Ten Bob Note in the middle of the wide pound below the lock with a fisherman desperately trying to hold on to the centre line. The force of the water emptying out of the 8 foot deep lock had caused enough force against the boat to unwind the centre line from the bollard. Anyway, we ended up with Ten Bob Note adrift in the middle of the pound and a number of onlookers enjoying the entertainment. I wasn’t the slightest bit bothered as there was nowhere for the boat to go and I knew that it would eventually touch the side somewhere. Ten minutes later, the bow touched the bank at our side and I managed to jump on and drive it into the lock – entertainment over with for the morning. Moral of the story is – tie up a bit better below locks……
Tuesday 12th
Well, the weather forecast was wrong again, now wind and no heavy rain - yet......
Happened to notice that Bill Wyman’s place (of Rolling Stones fame), Sticky Fingers down in Kensington, famous for their ribs have a Monday Madness menu with good reductions on their normal prices. Too good to resist, had a lovely meal there and enjoyed the 20% off the bill. It was my first visit to Sticky Fingers in about 6 years and the ribs are still as good as ever.
Looked into the current cheapest way of travelling around London and the best value for random travel without being limited to any length of use is the Top Up Oyster card. You can buy the cards at various places including underground stations. As an example, paying by cash, the bus fare down to Kensington would have been £2, with the Oyster card it’s £1. The Top Up version of the Oyster card never expires so any credit added can be used at any time in the future.
Current Mooring
Nice house boat
Entrance to the Hertford Union
Nice little house in Regents Park
Limehouse Basin
Regents Park
Religious Offering floating in the canal near Tower Hamlets
Lots of rubbish in the canal down near Limehouse
Came to a grinding halt due to rubbish on the prop - what a surprise!!!
Looking down the weed hatch
Rubbish off the prop
Some 'interesting' bits and pieces in the canal around here.....
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