Grand Union Canal:Apsley

Sunny morning but the sun so low shining down the canal it was like being caught in headlights.  No forward visibility until it had moved over a bit.   Pat went ahead to set the next lock (53) and was gone rather a long time.  I noticed that the water level was falling quite dramatically to the extent that the boat was listing.  Eventually the gate opened and with difficulty I left the mooring.   It seems that a boater moored above Ravens Lock had fallen out of bed as his boat was listing so badly and found that there was almost no water in the canal.  He had come up to lock 53 to let water down.   As a result the pound below was still very low, but I thought probably enough water to be adequate.   This was a wrong assessment.   I became well and truly aground shortly after.  CRT were called but had already been notified, so nothing to do but wait.  After 1 1/2 hours and still stuck Pat, who fortunately was on the towpath, went up to the top of Gas Locks to let some water down in a controlled fashion.  This did the trick just as the CRT guys appeared. "Never seen it this low".   Not wanting to take any more water out of the pound we waited above Ravens lock for levels to rise further, which they did a bit, so after 1/2 hour we filled the lock and were joined by Nb Honeystreet.   Clearly the bottom gates leak so badly that all it would take is for one top paddle not to be completely lowered for the pound to empty overnight.  After that, slow progress with a lot of opposite direction traffic and a workboat broken free of its moorings right across the canal at Boxmoor Top Lock.  With the help of some towpath visitors and a bit of tugboat type maneuvering that was put to rights.   nb Honeystreet left us at Fisheries and we were pleased to find some mooring at Apsley.   All in all a longer day than planned.