Day Thirty - Hunton Bridge to Uxbridge

We had a big day setting out at eight thirty and finishing at five o’clock. We did seventeen locks. Needless to say we are feeling a bit weary at the end of the day. We are pleased we made the effort as it puts us in a good position to get onto the Thames on Tuesday. We are yet to get a licence for the Thames section and we will organise that tomorrow. We aren’t sure of the cost either.
The closer we get to the Thames River the more boats we pass which are permanently moored alongside the canal. We are also seeing more houseboats. It is obvious that many people live on their boats. Many boats are weary looking with the need of maintenance. We passed very few travelling boats on the section today.
When we set out the Scottish men were still having breakfast. We soon found other boats to share the locks. One was an artist and his partner who are about to repaint their six year old boat and rename it from “Zig Zag‘ to “Trotsky“. Henk asked did he consider it bad luck to which he replied, “F…. that!” So they are obviously not superstitious.
Later in the morning we caught up to a guy motoring alone and trying to do the locks. He was a friendly guy and we did quite a number of locks with him. He appreciated the help and gave Henk a bottle of red wine for me. After today I did partake in a glass!
We stopped for lunch at Rickmansworth for three quarters of an hour. It was a good break and we finished the remainder of the very naughty cold pork pies.
The weather is getting cooler and my resolve not to wear my one and only fleece went by the way today as it was too chilly to be standing at the locks waiting for the water to fill and empty. I’ll just have to be careful not to get grease on it.
Photos: An unusual houseboat; A quirky sign on the back of a boat; A lovely back garden we motored past;