With our week on the Eco mooring drawing to a close, we decided to move on to explore the Lee and Stort Navigation. But first we had the treat of being joined by my cousin Diana and her children for the last remaining 3 miles of the Regent’s canal. First stop the water point
Then the excitment of working the locks
And the thrill of being permitted to drive the boat
And finally the reward of lunch together
Before they had to say goodbye.
It had taken us nearly 3 hours to do less than 2 miles, but it was a perfect start to the day. We glibly thought we’d moor up soon….
….but that was before we had fully comprehended the dire state of mooring on the Regent’s canal. We were crawling along past double moored boats for as far as the eye could see, past Victoria Park and onto the Hertford Union Canal. With the infamous Hertford Union Bottom lock to transit. We had been warned it was flooded….
But usually the bywash of a lock has its own dedicated offside channel not shared with the towpath.
I had no choice but to wade through this dirty canal water, not knowing what was in it, or if i would be able to empty enough water out in order to open the gate.
Miraculously, we managed to get through, sympathizing with the local’s who informed me, with resignation that “its been fixed”
At least there were still some things to smile about,
but we were now on the Lee and Stort Navigation, heading north. We ploughed on, which seems an inappropriate word for a canal but the density of duckweek and debris meant it really was hard going, the double moored boats continued but eventually, 3 hours after we had wanted to stop, we found a 60′ gap to squeeze into, baton down the hatches and fall asleep exhausted.
