Peace was shattered last night, for a good 30 minutes. Canoeists...lots of them...and apart from three adults, all the rest were kids. Did they act responsibly? Hmmm...With a constant shouting, splashing and generally trying to tip each other out of the canoes, I felt the adults had no control whatsoever. Several times FS was run into and I nearly said something but for a change, I kept my mouth shut. I was very glad when they all eventually cleared off.
It was a lazy morning with jobs to be done and another wander around the nature reserve so we got underway early afternoon. We only wanted to get as far as Denham, 5 locks and nearly 4 miles away. Seeing a lone boater in the distance at Springwell Lock we rather fancied trying to catch him up but it wasn't until the 5th and last lock of the day, Widewater lock, that we managed to share with him. But, before we did finally share that lock, I had a heart-stopping moment. We had just come out of Coopers Mill lock and negotiating a sharp left-hand bend when a narrowboat comes flying around the corner and heads straight for me. Hard reverse for him, as for me, but I'm now on collision course with a moored boat. Then Ian shouts "put the power on and tiller hard right" and for once I did as I was told. I missed that moored boat by inches and that other boat missed me by the same amount. A boat following behind saw it all and said this boat had been causing havoc since he had been on his tail. All he could see was the empty beer cans littering the roof but I never had time to notice and I certainly had no time for a photo. I must say it took a while for my heart rate to get back to normal and I dread to think what the consequences would have been if I had ploughed into that moored boat, or if the idiots in that other boat had hit me. Doesn't bear thinking about.
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| Topside, Coopers Mill Lock |
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| This dayboat is going around the same bend. He was third in line behind the idiots. The boat I nearly hit was behind the moored boat. |
Below Widewater Lock there was a long straight section with Harefield Marina to the left. We found a mooring that would do for the night and for once the tv didn't need to be retuned. The Internet isn't too clever but good enough to post this.
And seen on route.
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| Hmmm, another idiot? Didn't get even off when Ian closed the gate. |
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| This giant Monkey has been hanging on the Harefield Limeworks girder for a long long time. |
And on my walk,
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