Such a beautiful morning. The family are ready to set off at 9:15 am - I am surprised as they were out with their friend Gary for a pizza and beers last night. My batteries are a tad low as my engine was not run for very long last night.
I turn around at the end of the basin.
There are at least 5 boaters waiting for water at the Little Venice water-point so Pete decides we should carry on. I manage to squeeze through the boats without scrapping any paintwork. As we travel along 2 boaters decide to pull out in front of me without looking. I end up banging and scraping my paintwork on one of them before they realise that we are behind them and then they pull over. The other one in front, apologises and says they mistook the other boater's signals!!! They know that they should not have pulled out. Pete was a bit exasperated.....
I follow a working boat to Kensal Green, Sainsbury's. We stop here. Susan gets more shopping again and comes back with 6 bags full of food!!! There are available visitor moorings along this section.
Once on the move again, I notice that there is a lot of rubbish in the canal - "just like Birmingham" Pete says. Shame. I go past another Sainsbury's at Alperton where we see a boat called 'Olivia' - last seen at Waltham Abbey. The family wave hello.
Near the golf course at Horsenden Hill, Pete and I see a large black turtle with yellow lines on its body, as it sun-bathes on a log. Susan was upset to miss this as she was still unpacking all that food as well as doing the washing and cleaning.
It seems to take a long time to get to the marina despite being lock-free which is due to the sheer number of boats moored on both sides of the canal. Slow going.
Once at the marina, we get a very warm welcome. I moor alongside the Black Prince holiday boats. Susan jumps off the bow and ties me to the mooring ring. Pete ties my stern to the adjacent narrowboat. Pete and Jim (who works in the marina) help to turn me around without the use of my engine so that I can be hooked up to the electric point. Susan wishes she had her camera to hand as Pete uses the wooden pole to push me around whilst Jim holds onto my stern. I can't use my engine as too many thick (bind) weeds could get caught into my prop....... not a good idea.
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| WillowTree Marina - entrance and exit |
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| WillowTree Marina - bind weed |
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| WillowTree Marina Reception |
Total 11 Miles 0 Locks
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