21st October 2015. Back to the Canal Museum.

A very wet morning. However, Robin bravely took the tiller in his Musto.

Our brave captain.

Altogether we made 7 miles with 7 locks and one tunnel (the Islington). We finally left the river Lea and headed down the Hertford Union Canal and joined the Regents canal.

The Hertford Union canal as we left it.

The rain kept the tow paths much quieter and we met few boats, very different from the way up. We did meet a work boat, a big container pushed by a tug in the old fashioned way.

 

Work boat being pushed by a tug.

Jo struggled with the locks once we were off the Lea, still spooked by her experience at Picketts lock. The new locks don't have bridges so it means a choice between her fear of heights on the lock gates and the fear of being in charge of the boat in the lock.  Robin's patience is being tested but it's not easy to regain confidence once it's lost. Hopefully time and just keeping on will help.

 

We made the Canal Museum at Battlebridge Basin by 4 o'clock. Robin and Scooby revisited the local park which is in a rough neighbourhood. They managed to avoid the Pit-bull training session and Scooby returned to curl up in his bed in front of the fire, his favourite place in the world now the fire is working!

 

Tomorrow we aim for the Willowtree Park mooring we used on the way up. Then it's just one day's boating to Harefield marina where we will leave the boat again to go home for another week of medical appointments and catching up with the kids.