Another River

1 Lock and 11 miles. Now moored at Waterbeach, River Cam

After an enjoyable 48 hours in Ely it was time to make tracks towards Cambridge. The weather was still fine but quite a few degree's cooler making it much more pleasurable cruising. Once past Pope's corner this was going to be new territory for us as that was as far as we got when we hired the Fox boat.

The scenery has changed in that we are seeing more cattle and less crops on the farms and there are more tree's along the banks, sounds silly but that's the way it is. At Bottisham lock the girls had a bit of trouble understanding the operating instructions as this lock is electrically and hydraulically operated. Well after some time they eventually sorted it and just as we were about to exit the lock 2 narrowboats arrived from the opposite direction so we were able to toddle off and leave them to sort the lock out as I think we were supposed to leave the lock the way we found it.

The public moorings at Waterbeach are good with a decent quay and mooring bollards. There is also a very good walk/cycle way leading to the railway station and the village which is only a 15 minute walk.

We went for our daily exercise up into the village and found this house with it's old advertising signs attached, the owner seems to be a collector of this sort of thing.

The other novelty was the old village water pump takingpride of place on the village green but no longer operational.

Not sure what this butterfly is, perhaps somebody could enlighten us?

1132 locks, 1525 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Another kiwi on the cut.

Still moored at Jubilee Gardens Ely, River Great Ouse

After some lengthy discussions over plans for the forthcoming week, both crews agreed that it would be nice to stay an extra day in Ely as it appears that boating visitor's to Cambridge may not be made as welcome due to lack of visitor moorings and they don't allow boats to breast up. If that turns out to be correct we will moor at Waterbeach and Cambridge will miss out on some tourist spending.

So the girl's went off into town for some retail therapy and us fella's stayed aboard doing some indoor maintenance. There is a big sign on the quay stating that repairs or maintenance are not to be carried out on boats while moored here so we had to be discreet about it.

Today's weather has been a bit cooler than the last few days with a cool breeze blowing but it's still plenty of blue sky and sunshine, which is bringing more boats out of the marina opposite for day trips here and there.

We were just about to sit down for a bite to eat when there came a knock on the boat. Upon investigation we found John and Natalie from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand who it turns out are waiting for their boat to be finished. It was supposed to be ready on the 12th but will not now be ready until the 26th, now where have we heard that before. Their boat will be named Nikau and will be launched on the Lancaster canal. Unfortunately they will only be able to use it for 6 months each year as they are on NZ passports which restricts their stay in the UK. Nice to meet more Kiwi's on the cut, have fun guy's until we meet again.

1131 locks, 1514 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Ancient Ely

0 locks, 8½ miles, Now moored at Ely waterfront, River Great Ouse

Ain't life grand, sleeping ducklings in Ely

As the river was nice and wide where we were moored (Mile End road) we opted to wind there instead of travelling the full length of the river. It was dead easy really, just let the bow rope off and push the bow out into the gentle flow of the river which took the boat round nicely. Once the bow was far enough round I just untied the stern and walked it back a few yards until the bow was pointing in the right direction and we were away. We only went less than half a mile to the Prickwillow moorings which are on the opposite bank to where we had been moored, but this mooring has a water point which we both needed.

Leaving the River Lark and turning out onto the Great Ouse is like leaving port and hitting the open sea, plenty of water and not another boat in sight. As it is a dead straight run to Ely we made good time and upon arrival soon found the facilities block before finding our moorings for the night at the end of Jubilee park.

We made a quick trip into town for some provisions and had lunch at the Cathedral while we were there. With this warmer weather we are going to have to cut back on storing fresh vegetables and buy them little and often now as we have had to throw away half a bag of carrots and a broccoli which went off in the heat.

Getting back to the subject of the cathedral It was interesting to note that the Cathedral was started about 1081 and took decades to complete. A big sign at the door has a friendly welcome but lets you know that it costs £3000 per day to run and maintain the building. To do this they charge up to £6 entry fee unless you only go into the coffee lounge for a snack or the souvenir shop where they can extract a few quid from you. Of course all the people staffing the establishment are volunteers trying to help keep the cathedral viable.

Oliver Cromwell's house in Ely

1131 locks, 1514 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Incognito No more

Still moored at Prickwillow, River Lark

Today was going to be a lay over day, not that my name sake or I got much of a rest as I stripped down the port side gunnels back to bare metal to get rid of some rust, and primed it in red oxide and one coat of undercoat. The other Derek pulled out his weed hatch for re-painting. I ran my grinder over the worst of the rust and he finished it off and then applied several coats of paint.

Time for a break

This afternoon has been very hot again so its been a case of finding or making some shade to keep cool. Now many of our followers have been asking about who our travelling companions are. Well last evening they finally got around to applying their self adhesive boat name so with much pomp and ceremony we got a photo of them both alongside their handy work, Ta-Da, drum roll please maestro!

1131 locks, 1505½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

A Bit of a Lark

0 locks, 11½ miles, Now moored at Prickwillow, River Lark

The weather girl forecast today as being the hottest day so far this year and even at the early time of 8am we knew she was going to be right. Before setting off we topped up the water tanks because we are led to believe that water points are scarce around these parts although we have found 2 uncharted water points so far since leaving Denver.

The fine weather soon had more boaters,mainly GRP cruisers and the like on the move and 1 character in particular who obviously had an aversion to narrowboats because he came roaring up behind us and overtook both of us well in excess of the legal speed limit and then promptly slowed down once he was well clear of us. We gave the crew a wave as they roared past only to be snubbed by the turning of their heads away from us, BLOODY SNOBS.

As the day wore on the heat was getting a bit unbearable so Dot got out the umbrella and used it as a sunshade. It certainly helped. The first tributary that we passed was the Little Ouse or Brandon Creek which we have chosen to forego at present as we are unsure of what is down the river worth looking at and what, if any, is the maximum winding holes available, there is also Brandon lock which is only 15m or 48ft so we cannot use it.

We have now turned into the River Lark where we initially stopped at Tom's Hole Farm moorings for a cool drink and a bite to eat. After lunch we carried on for a further mile to the Prickwillow 48hr moorings but these were full with big GRP cruisers so we carried on for another 300 yards to the Mile End road moorings where we found enough room for us and the other Derek breasted up against us until there was enough room for him to moor properly.

In the centre of this tiny village is part of the old steam pump house which is now the Drainage Museum which was on my must visit list. Over the centuries water has been pumped around the Fens by wind power, steam, diesel and now electricity. The founders of the museum have sourced many machines and artifacts and memorabilia concerning the Fens over the centuries and put it into a lovely setting with a video display, school interactive audio visual display and a coffee lounge. The 5 diesel engines on display, one of which has a 6 ton flywheel, have all been loving restored to working condition and 1 of them is probably the only working example in existence. After my visit I think I have convinced the rest of the team to pay a visit tomorrow.

Interesting way to mow the bank, fishing spots maybe?

1131 locks, 1505½ miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Deep Wide Water

2 locks, 9 miles, Now moored at 10 Mile bank, River Great Ouse

We made another early start today firstly to be at Salters Lode lock by 11.30 and secondly to travel before it got too hot as it was obviously going to be another scorcher of a day. It was all very pleasant cruising down to Salters Lode with another swan family of 7 cygnets being spotted along the way.

We had about an hour and a half to wait before things started to happen at the lock. We were 2nd and 3rd in the queue to gain passage through to the Denver sluice with 2 boats coming back the other way.

As we exited the lock and applied the power to turn into the out going tidal flow a loud alarm went off and I thought that I may have over revved the engine but even when I reduced the revs it didn't stop. It turned out that on increasing power some exhaust fumes blew back into the boat and set off the smoke alarm in the bedroom. Dot pushed the reset button and the alarm shut off , it gave me a hell of a fright but I couldn't stop in the middle of the river, I just had to keep going.

Once through Denver sluice we moored up and waited for Derek and Christina on Kalimera to catch up with us. After some light refreshments we set off to find an overnight mooring. We were aware of some at Brandon creek but we found some new EA 48hr moorings prior to the river Wissey which were not shown on any map. As we had only just set off we thought it was too soon to stop and that they were too close to Denver. As we passed under the new road bridge at 10 Mile bank (Hilgay) we spotted some more moorings on our left which we decided to check out and it turned out to be a wise decision because the moorings are not only 48hr but there is a water point as well. (Windmill Moorings) Once settled for the night and having a wander around we found that there are more moorings on the opposite bank about 500 yards further up river. Neither of these moorings are shown on our map so it looks as if our concerns about a shortage of moorings may be ill founded, here's hoping.

As I sit writing this blog I notice that our weather station is showing 27.2 degs outside and 28.4 inside the boat so I think I will get a cold tinny out of the fridge and go and find a sheltered spot outside.

1131 locks, 1494 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Is this Summer?

1 lock, 7½ miles, Now moored at Outwell Boat Basin on the Middle Level Navigations

Lovely tree lined cruising at March.

Another fabulous day was in the offing as we organised an early start. First job was to reverse back to the facilities centre on the other side of the bridge, just a couple of hundred yards to fill the water tanks. As we were in no hurry we just meandered along enjoying the scenery which mainly consisted of wind turbines.

At one point we were directly underneath one of the silent giants and couldn't get over the way that they seem to mesmerise you as they slowly turn in the breeze. We did spot a swan's nest with a solitary egg in it and then about half a mile away we found a pair of swans with 5 cygnets so we guessed the sole egg was infertile.

We arrived at Marmont Priory lock early but the lady lock keeper was only too happy to let us through. Once we reached Upwell we moored on the visitor moorings for lunch and discussed our plan for the rest of the day and tomorrow. A decision was made to carry on to Outwell and check out the moorings there.

St Peters church in Upwell overlooking the navigation

There is just enough room for 2 narrowboats of our size in what they call the Basin at Outwell which is nothing more than a large winding hole with a landing deck and mooring bollards. The only advantage over the Upwell moorings is that it is further away from the road but no quieter. Hopefully these trucks (lorries) will finish work shortly which will quieten things down.

1129 locks, 1485 miles, 41 Tunnels, 41 swing bridges and 19 lift bridges since Nov 2006