Grand Union Canal, Denham to Brentford
So, we began our trip on saturday the 12th. The boat should have been ready to go, but the engine start battery was flat. It took the boatyard a couple of hours to sort that out, so we didn't get away until 1230-ish. While we were waiting Mat fixed a couple of minor things, and I started dismantling the stuff underneath the front deck, half of which consisted of a drawer unit made of chipboard.....

The trip was fairly uneventful, apart from trying to remember how to steer a boat and operate locks. There are an awful lot of boats lining the canal, some in much better condition than others. We also got re-aquainted with the concept of boat speed. It became clear that we weren't going to make our slot to get out onto the Thames that night, and actually arrived at Brentford at about 6:30pm after racing down the Hanwell flight.

All the official visitors moorings seemed to have been taken up, but we found what seemed to be a disused U-Boat pen.

Given that the rain had been falling off and on all day, this seemed as good a place as any to stop for the night. If anyone is looking for a good time out in London, Brentford is not the place to go. Everywhere we went seemed half full at best and there didn't seem to be a lot going on.