We arranged to leave with our Dutch friends, Marion & Geerhard, on Dragonfly at 9am and we left promptly leaving the Metropolitan Line behind (never a train around when you need one for a photo, they were every 5 minutes last evening!) We made our accustomed rapid progress with them through 11 locks.
We made a shopping stop at Tesco, Rickmansworth which has its own moorings, complete with Elfin Safety railings nightmare. “We have to stop our customers falling in the water, but hey a foot’s wide enough for boaters to stand on when they’re mooring up.”
At Copper Mill Lock we watched the Fire Brigade practicing rescues from the Weir, no doubt of all the canoeists fall in if that’s a slalom course, but by the time we got there they had packed up. Along the section of canal that follows we saw a selection of weird and wonderful boats ranging from common or garden houseboats to what reminded me of a floating Swiss cottage.
There were converted BW workboats one flat (I think that’s the term) literally had an old residential caravan on top of it, oh did I mention the monkey hanging from a crane at a derelict factory? There was also a kind-of marine low loader with another boat inside it and narrowboat with a Sternwheeler conversion, which seemed to have been functional as there was a chain drive to the engine bay.
We bade farewell our friends Marjon and Geerhart at Cowley Lock where we left them to carry on as they have an appointment with Brentford Lock tomorrow at 11am, we on the other hand have an appointment with Paddington Basin. Local advice suggested we carry another mile or so and we have found a pleasant mooring opposite Packet Boat Marina.