Grand Union Canal:Bridge 146

The family (with the exception of Kai) arrived about 10:00 with loads of luggage in small bags together with food, mostly of the child kind, it appeared.   There was no rush to get under way, first homes needed to be found for much of it.  Eventually we got moving passing the breasted up fuel boats in the short pound by ‘The Rising Sun’.   We are passing a lot of “leave empty after use with a bottom paddle up” kind of locks which means having to fill them first.  Lock 56 bottom gate towpath side wouldn’t open fully, so the other gate needed opening to get out. One or two opposite direction boats appeared.  It’s leading up to the holiday weekend.  Then we had a telephone call to say that Kai had forgotten his house keys and was locked out at home.  No sensible alternative (a key with a neighbour would have been useful) was other than Chloe walking back to Berkhamsted and driving home with a key.  So we are moored up just before canal bridge 146 in a good spot for the rest of the day.   Tomorrow we are aiming to pick Kai up at Kings Langley so this will be another short day, then the day after a mammoth 9 hours to Cowley, with with a full crew.