What no brakes!!!!

Up early with a days cruising ahead, but first things first. Late last night Tom had passed us on the coal boat and we said we would see him this morning for a few bags of coal. After loading them on the roof we had a boat come past us and it was a chance to share the lock with them and make light work of the locks ahead. After some surprisingly lovely scenery the engine came to a halt in the middle of the canal. The engine just stopped dead. It had never done that before and we were still moving forward with no brakes. After managing to get the engine started we were just able to stop Derwent6. We then poled over into shallow water and waved on the other boat which was waiting in the lock for us. We lifted the weed hatch and found a load of sticky rubber weather seal wrapped around the shaft. Luckily it cut OK with scissors and we manged to cut ourselves free after about 20 minutes. After getting going again we knew we were getting close to London, when a Underground train, going over ground, went over our heads. Also you notice all the different types of house boats on the water, it was great having a good nose in as we crept by. This time we managed to pass a Tesco's on the water without having to stop. It started to drizzle and we lit the fire going along. We passed Ernie on n.b Ten Bob Note, but no one was at home. Al met up with some other friends though. We were aiming to get to The Coy Carp pub and filled with water before mooring up to try their Sunday lunch. It turned out to be a good move, the food was fab. We then got back to Derwent6 for coffee, and a sing song and it wasn't long before we all crashed out on the sofa. We did manage to watch a DVD before bed.