Moving on up

We're still making our stately (i.e. slow) progress up the Grand Union. Today, we woke to beautiful weather and the promise of a good days cruising - which it was aside from a delay of an hour and a half at Winkwell where the swing bridge was not operating properly and a BW engineer came to let us and others through.

With that delay, we managed to get to Berkhamsted by about 3.30, when light was starting to fade - and decided to call it a day.

We've been pretty good in terms of discipline- rising at 7, cruising by 8 - but we are making slow progress and we work out how to get through locks and try to be polite by going slowly past moored boats...

That said, I've learned every day seems to have a ration of about 4 or 5 lovely encounters with other boaters or people on the towpath, and one very rude person. On 1 January, our "rude person" was someone in a wooden boat who, when I had stopped to wait for the lock, started shouting at me for "tearing past him" and said if he had to talk to me again about it he would knock me about. Despite the fact that my "tearing past him" was at a speed that the swans beside the boat were keeping up - well - anyhow...! Today's unhappy encounter was with a man whose boat I nudged. He was pretty annoyed - and to be fair, it was entirely my fault. I tried to apologise, was met with expletives - hey ho!

BUT we did meet a lovely family who helped us open the locks in Berkhamsted, and also got some great advice from a retired couple about how to improve our lock technique!

So, moored in Berkhamsted today - picked up some nice wine - Red for Andrew, White for me- and will try to get warm before the big freeze apparently comes. Worst winter in 10 years according to the Met Office apparently. Hoorah!

Will also try to get some pictures up here soon.