There's a nip in the air tonight near Cogenhoe

Rushden and Diamonds (Irthlingborough Lock) to Earls Barton (White Mills Lock), River Nene, 9.5 miles 8 locks

We had a great night last night with Chas, Ann, Mo and Vanessa.. three ‘blogging boats’ all together.. No Problem, Moore2Life and Balmaha.  Mo and Vanessa left fairly sharpish this morning heading for Cogenhoe, and after Ann and I had taken the dogs for a walk, we also pulled the pins on the Rushden and Diamonds Football Club moorings. 

It’s quite handy here, the services are contained in one of their buildings, so we have rubbish, water, loo tip-out disposal and a pump-out for boats that have holding tanks for their loos, and even that was working today, and so it should, these facilities were a joint venture between the football club and the Environment Agency and cost a whacking £120,000!!

Locks come thick and fast now as we move upstream towards Northampton, but the river is very attractive as it winds round keeping us on our toes getting No Problem around the tight bends.  We stopped at Wellingborough for water, it was too busy at the Rushden and Diamonds moorings to get water this morning, and while Vic filled our tank, I popped over to the handy Tesco for some fresh vegetables. 

It started to rain when I got back, but we set off with the canopy up, it sure is working well… I have the front screen folded back over the canopy so there is no screen showing at all.. I can’t see a bloomin thing with that down in the rain, I could do with windscreen wipers!!

It wasn’t long till we passed Donnington on the right bank, we stopped here on the way down the Nene.  There is a lovely nature reserve here, Summerhays Nature Reserve, but today we passed under the little footbridge…

… and onward.  Such is the beauty of the Northampton countryside, but horrors upon horrors around one corner we were faced with this monstrosity.. 3 absolutely huge buildings more like distribution centre size… tons bigger than out of town supermarkets I am sure.. and on the side was a big banner saying “ TO LET – Investing in Northamptonshire”..

I really don’t know how they get away with this.. it is not near any main roads or towns, just stuck right in the middle of the countryside.. *sigh*

We stopped this evening just upstream of White Mills Lock, there are some nice grassy moorings here and it is reasonably quiet, but it was just gone 5pm when we arrived and the local quarry was quiet.. see what happens tomorrow, if it is noisy we could always move down to Cogenhoe..

We had some tremendous thunderstorms this evening, and torrential rain.. Vic is keen to move off the Nene now just in case it floods… for sure I see what he means, there was a lot of rain in a very short space of time this evening, it remains to be seen tomorrow if it has affected the river levels further upstream. 

We lit the fire an hour or so ago, it suddenly went quite chilly… still, I like the fire lit, and now it is lovely and cosy here..

Not many days left on the Nene.. onward to Rushden and Diamonds

Thrapston to Irthlingborough, River Nene, 9 miles 5 locks

We seemed to breeze up river today, then engine was sounding sweet after our head gasket was replaced, much better.  A remote part of the river this is, where the river bends and twists round the contours of the land..

We pulled the pins this morning after having a day off yesterday.. I had just nipped into Thrapston this morning to get some milk and to pick up some different food for Lucy to try, she is not eating enough really at the moment.. she is a lazy eater, always has been since a puppy.. hopefully what I bought her will encourage her to eat.. I gave her some when I got back and she ate it straight away, so maybe, just maybe…

So it was goodbye to the Nene (Neen) and hello to the Nene (Nene).  Here at Thrapston bridge the name of the river is pronounced differently..

Sharing the locks with NB Moore2Life makes locking easy, but there was a bit of a wind today, and that can cause trouble on this river, so we had to be very careful when coming out of the locks that we didn’t get blown towards the weirs.. here Moore2Life about to join me in one of the locks…

We have been told that the river is to shut shortly, I hope that is a figure of speech, as this is a navigable waterway.. “Lots of maintenance to do on all the locks” they say.. well to be honest, a lot is going to have to be updated by the Environment Agency for the hoards of boats that will be travelling along the river next year on the way to the IWA Festival at St Ives on the River Gt Ouse… as it is at the moment boats over 63 feet cannot get through Salters Lock at the Gt Ouse end of the Middle Levels.. facilities are diabolical along this river too…

Here work progressing upstream,  with new booms that are being fitted across all of the weirs.. It remains to be seen just how much work will be put into improving this river during the winter months.

In the distance is the Rushden and Diamonds Football stadium, and also in the distance on the visitor moorings is NB Balmaha.. we have caught up again with Mo and Vanessa… Party time!!  

Time to relax at Thrapston..

Moored Thrapston, River Nene

A very lazy morning this morning before going into the town to pick up mail from the Post Office and milk and fresh veg from the co-op supermarket at the top of town, oh and some fresh eggs from the butchers too..

Having sorted the mail, I met up with Ann and we walked over to Titchmarsh Nature Reserve, about half a mile downstream from where we had moored. We passed a bird hide and did a bit of ‘twitching’ spotting all manner of birds on the lake, some of which I knew and some I didn’t.. very pleasant.

I popped into the vets this afternoon just to get Lucy checked out progress wise.. she is still on three legs, the trouble is there is no muscle at all for that hind leg to be able to be walked on.. a catch 22 situation “Build the muscle and she should walk on it” said the vet, well that’s OK, but I need her to walk on it to build the muscle!! .  She is doing OK though, it is all going to take time..  (New readers of the blog, Lucy had an accident in May which has damaged her hip).

So all in all a quiet, relaxing day today.. on the move again tomorrow I think..

On the move while the weather delights us on the Nene

Ashton Lock to Thrapston, River Nene, 9 miles 5 locks

I was really annoyed at March on the Middle Levels.  It was last Friday night, and I had said on the blog that evening…

It’s noisy here in March this evening..no room on the visitor moorings by the bridge so have had to travel a little further under the bridge to moor by the pub.. lots of youngsters, why do they have to do everything so loudly!!.. Still it is Friday night and they are having fun!  Wish they would turn the volume down a bit though!

Well they didn’t, shouting and swearing, rolling wastebins up and down the path till gone 2.30am in the morning.  We felt quite venerable moored opposite the services in March, the path runs high above the narrowboats, easy target for chucking stuff down on.. never again will we moor in March..

Saturday then saw us go over to the otherside to use the services before setting off for the other half of the trip across the Middle Levels.. I phoned ahead to Standground Lock to say we would be there in the afternoon .. “You should have given us 24 hrs notice”.. darn it I thought “Oh dear, won’t anyone be there then?”  I thought asking that sort of question might be difficult for someone to say they would be out.. “Yes someone will be here but you need to give 24 hours notice”.. I quickly thought about what to say.. be direct Sue, I thought.. “Ah good well we will be there about 4pm then, see you then..sorry got to fly, byeeeee”.. teehee!

The day was fine on Saturday, and I took the opportunity to do a bit of baking while Vic took the tiller and tried hard not to dose off.. I had put all the ingredients into the breadmaker for the fruitcake… yes you can actually bake cakes in breadmakers , when I realised that I had run out of dried fruit!!.. a quick call on the walkie talkie to Annie on NB Moore2Life ahead of us and ……. the cake was baked!

Well this is the way we ‘pop next door’ to borrow stuff!  All on the move!

Soon over the Meridian line, through Ashline Lock, round the very tight bend at Whittlesey and so to the sight of Standground Lock..

The lockeeper was just fine, I think he remembers No Problem.. well the first time I ever came through this lock I dropped him a fiver as it was the anniversary of when the old boy had been a lock keeper at this particular lock, all of 40 years ago.. so a fiver it was then, and a fiver each time since.. so he was a happy chappy to lock us through asking if we would return next year, I assured him we would…

Ferry Meadows was our destination, so we powered on through Peterborough arriving at Ferry Meadows just as two boats were leaving, so a space each for Moore2Life and No Problem.

Mark and Lorain, their new boat Lorimar will be completed in May, joined us in the evening, along with Ann and Chas, party time!!.. Great night too! 

No pins to pull on Sunday, just a push back from the pontoon moorings on the huge lake just off the river, here a pic as we leave the lake to exit under the bridge in the distance to join the Nene again..

Smashing this place is.. before we left I took Lucy for a walk right the way round it.. and that took about 45 minutes, that’s how big it is.. anyway on the move again on Sunday heading for one of my favourite moorings on the Nene.. Elton..

Once again we had lovely weather, and now I will chuck a few pics on this blog for you all, here Yarwell Lock…

There is the most unwelcoming sign of all time on the River Nene “Passing Boats, this is private property.. No water, no rubbish, no toilets” Charming I am sure! 

I really enjoyed Sunday, but then again I simply love this river, it has a charm all of it’s own, it has a lovely unhurried attitude all of it’s own as it flows past us in the opposite direction.. a quick pit stop at Fotheringhay for water just the other side of the arched bridge..

Then onward to Elton. From the lock we looked across at the bank on the far side upstream and there was NB Balmaha.. I felt another party coming on!!…

Phew, I wondered if my kidneys were going to take all this partying stuff.. a great night again.. and Mark and Lorain popped by earlier in the evening with a present for Vic of 7 new mugs.. reason why is because the previous evening Vic had complained that our mugs are getting a bit tatty. Mark and Lorain are selling their house to buy Lorimar, and are looking for good homes for the contents!.. 7 mugs just in case Vic broke one!!

Nearly caught you all up with news ..

Quickie with the rest then, yesterday we ‘pinged’ up the Nene to Ashton Lock and the delightful moorings just above for the evening, and guess what.. party time!!  Balmaha also stopping for the evening!

Phew, no ill effects from ‘party time’ this morning! And after a quick visit into Oundle to get some bread, and some wine to replace all that had been consumed over the last few days, we were off again to Thrapston while the blue skies prevailed.. Five locks to do, but hey, really there is not much to do at all .. look at the water pouring over the top gates.. no need to open the paddles at these locks!..

Water crashing over the top of the gates.. didn’t need to get No Problems bows too close to that!..  So a big long blog for you all this evening.. but we have travelled quite some way to arrive  here at Thrapston, there has been a lot to tell.. If the weather is good, we will be on the move again tomorrow..

Back on the Nene... Whooooosh!

Weekend and Today March to Oundle, Middle Levels and River Nene, 37 miles 12 locks

WOW!

Now that is zooming for us, we don’t normally travel at the weekends, but No Problem sure was flying along the waterways this weekend.  In between cruising it has been party time!.. and tonight also party time as we catch up with Mo and Vanessa, NB Balmaha.. will blog later.. need sleep now

Middle Levels are dank today.. March is noisy though..

Denver to March, River Gt Ouse and Middle Levels, 13.5 miles 3 locks

And I didn’t get it right again this year!!  Why or why did I turn late for the second year running into Salters Lode Lock??  No harm done though and just a bump on the front end on the bank, not enough to shift anything in the boat.. even Vic’s beer cans were left standing in the cupboard!

Well that is it, for sure I must go back again next year to get it right on the third time of asking!!

So we pulled the pins early on this dank day and said goodbye to Denver and the River Great Ouse for this year..

Once through Salters Lode Lock it was full speed ahead and onward to March.. it was really raining by late morning, and we were glad of our pram canopy on the back of No Problem.. worth it’s weight in gold that is, I’ll tell you.. If you are reading this Tim (Staffordshire Canopies) I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful job you have done on that canopy, and the job it has done for us over the last year.. not only does it shelter us from rain like today, but from wind, bitter cold, and boiling hot sun, when we covered it in a huge white sheet.. corrrrrrrr that was some weather this year.. but today rain…

Here we are on the way through Nordelph I think, well either that village or the next one at Outwell.. we did have to whip the canopy down about five times through those villages and the other village in the series, Upwell.. those bridges are extremely low.. chimney had to come off too!!  Oh, and here is ‘Wendie’s photo’.. this is the forth time I have photographed this one for you Wends!…

I always phone her to let her have a sniff of the wonderful fish and chips .. she loved this chip shop when we used to visit the area.. Mill Lodge was a place that she used to jump her ponies at as a youngster… but that is quite a few years ago now.. in fact the place has now been built on.. modern housing.  Thinking about that today as I passed, I remember being there the night of the great hurricane sleeping in a horsebox!! Scarey stuff!!.. Now that has given the game away on how long ago that was!!

It’s noisy here in March this evening..no room on the visitor moorings by the bridge so have had to travel a little further under the bridge to moor by the pub.. lots of youngsters, why do they have to do everything so loudly!!.. Still it is Friday night and they are having fun!  Wish they would turn the volume down a bit though!

This little fella half posed for me today just outside Upwell..

Engine is behaving itself..   Should be a better day tomorrow said the weatherman.. Peterborough here we come!

Denver.. and things are cool!!!

Ely to Denver (Hooray!!), River Gt Ouse, 17 miles 0 locks

Blimey, all those miles and no overheating at all!  Thank goodness for that.. sorted!

The 17 miles took just 3 and half hours, that is errrrrr… well calculator says 4.85 miles an hour, not bad going.. or is it?  Quite a bit of this river has a speed limit on it … hope we didn’t get caught here….

But look at that pic, an absolutely gorgeous day for this important trip.. a proving ground for us, and we both had our fingers crossed for most of the day.  Didn’t go mad, but gave No Problem a good steady test today, no stopping and for the first time for quite a while no overheating.

So this morning we pulled the pins on Ely.. I really did get to like it a lot, so many visitors to No Problem too which I really enjoyed, and so many comments today on my blogs, which of course I will reply to later.. and also emails of good wishes arriving in my email box today, again will reply to you all in time..

Passed NB Poppy at the Brandon Creek turn off, and the skipper shouted over his best wishes to us now we are on the move.. It sure is amazing all the people who read this blog.. I started it off a couple of years ago just for the family so they would save in phone calls because I would write something each day that they could see!

‘Tis a bit boring from Ely to Denver, we learned that last year.  I would rather do it in one hit.. today Vic took the tiller for a lot of the way while I squared over No Problem, did a ton of washing and put away battery chargers, leads, tools etc etc that have been our lifeline for the last couple of weeks or so.. checked over and watched the electrical system making sure that was operating OK.

Denver is an odd place, this taken very late this evening, note NP over the far side of the river on the left..

Remote, very remote really, but not so remote that I can’t get the 3g network on orange and a faster connection speed, but it is a place I like to wander round.. a huge complex of sluices and locks.  A relief channel takes water to Kings Lynn adds to the amount of water channels around here. 

Not only that but also a straight ‘drain’, a very wide drain that takes the tidal water from the Gt Ouse in a dead straight line to Earith a long way upstream from Denver.  It is a shortcut from here to the upper reaches of the Gt Ouse..

The tide was out at Denver late this evening, and this is were we will exit from the lock at 8.30ish in the morning…

We will go straight on along that channel tomorrow.. not like last year when it was dreadfully silted up, and we had to take a different route.. do have a look at this blog post I did.. you can see the difference this year to last.. LINK

So hopefully we will be in March tomorrow evening.. just got to make sure I remember in the morning to wedge in the vases of flowers and take off the ornaments on the shelf just in case I get it wrong turning into Salters Lode and the Middle Levels.. no doubt you will all wish me luck!!

Yeah! On the Move again, wind in our hair at Ely!

Moored Ely, River Gt Ouse

I was sitting here this morning answering one of the many comments left over the last couple of days when the sweet sound of No Problem’s engine fired up again.. Hoooray!!

Oh joy, such joy.. I quickly switched on the inverter and promptly charged up the mobile phones, walkie talkies, computer and battery pack.  Put on the heater/boiler to get some hot water.. didn’t want to wait for the engine to heat up the water.. I had a ton of washing to do!

We were instructed to take a cruise for a couple of hours before the final ‘bedding in’ ‘tightening up’ and oil change, to complete the repair of the engine, so after gleefully pulling the pins we cautiously steered No Problem along the River Ouse through Ely to the water point and filled up there first with a tankfull of water.. phew well needed that was too!

It sure was windy outside of Ely, but we cruised downstream for a while both smiling at each other.. Vic kept lifting the boards just to make sure there was no overheating going on underneath our feet.  He was given a laser heat sensor that he kept pointing at the engine, and it showed the temperature at the thermostat.. yp it was behaving itself!

Back to the yard and everything was completed by this evening, so tomorrow we are off!!

There have been a lot of visitors popping in since we have been stuck here.. at the weekend Gail and her dad came along, it was nice to meet them both after being in touch through comments over the last few months.. Gail has her narrowboat moored at the quiet marina at Popes Corner about 3 miles from Ely having bought it at Newbury and making the trip from there to Popes Corner in just 2 weeks!

Steve, another of my blog readers, has been popping in a lot during his lunch break and Mark (Lorimar) popped by today to see how we were getting on.  It’s always nice to welcome visitors.  A last minute shop tonight at Tesco over the road for fresh fruit and veg before we pull the pins in the morning and finally leave Ely for this year.. Thanks Ely, you have been a great place to stay during this week!

Ely entertains us while we wait...

Moored Ely, River Gt Ouse

New batteries have now been delivered to the boat, so we now have seven brand spanking new batteries.. but alas we have no engine to charge them up with yet! Hopefully tomorrow everything will be put back together and No Problem fired up again.. I just can’t wait!  My washing is piling up, and we haven’t watched tele for a week.. not that I am that bothered, I watch very little tele, but Vic does like to have it on for a couple of hours in the evening.

I have been busy walking and trying to get Lucy back to walking on 4 legs after her operation in St Neots last month.. the vets did say it might take a couple of months to get her to walk on it, I am being a tad impatient I think, but she has learned a new game here in Ely, “Fetch the golf ball”!!

Walking across the golf course here, she has learned to rummage through the undergrowth and find golf balls, three times we have been across there this week and we have a grand total of 34 golf balls, although one she found today I am sure had only just been hit by someone.. I looked back and a chap was searching the undergrowth just where Lucy had found a ball!!.. Ooops!!

These two ducks have given us great entertainment on the opposite bank during our stay.  There must be some very tasty weeds in that area, and we have this synchronized swimming display a couple of times a day… their legs are splashing and splashing in the water as they try to get further to the bottom of the river.. they are so funny, making us laugh everytime we see them!..

I spoke to the council by email this week, telling them that I had batteries to dispose of, but no car to take them to the local household tip a couple of miles away.. “Can you help me out please, or shall I just leave the batteries in Ely for you to pick up?” I suggested a couple of place I could leave them.. a very nice chap wrote back…

Sue,

 

We do not offer a service for picking up car batteries at all!. As you are stuck I will arrange for a street sweeper unit to pick them up as a one off only, please give me your address as just putting them in the places you mentioned is classed as dumping so I will pick them up direct from you.

I have written back with ‘an address’, well our mooring here, and suggested that the street sweeper unit give me a ring and I will deliver them to the nearest point he can get to.. I hope it is a big street sweeper, there are a lot of batteries.. Let’s just hope it isn’t a poor chap pushing one of those bin thingies with brushes sticking out of the top!!

*Yawn* *yawn* It's all stop at Ely

Moored Ely, River Gt Ouse

There is not much to write about at the moment, we are biding our time here on the riverside at Ely while we wait for our cylinder block to be returned from those testing it for flaws.  At the same time, we have discovered that some of our batteries in our domestic bank are extremely dead.. With 7 batteries in the bank and running low on ‘juice’ with no engine and battery management system to keep them topped up, it became apparent yesterday that something was dreadfully wrong..

Chas from NB Moore2Life has been working hard with Vic to check it all out and it looks like there are definitely 4 ‘dead’ batteries.  We have replaced 2 today, and will replace others next week.  The fridge defrosted overnight the other night while we were sleeping and all the food in the freezer compartment has had to be quickly cooked off. 

I hate being in this sort of state, it’s not nice at all.  The last two nights we have just had the one light on, and thats it.. no tele no radio.. my computer running on internal batteries which are charged up during the day on Moore2Life.

I have been cheering myself with regular visits to Ely.. The pic below taken of the cathedral from the lovely parklands in the area.

I am pleased we are in Ely, I think it would have been dreadfully difficult if we had been more remote.. Everything is trying our patience at the moment, yesterday the generator refused to start.. we need that you see to run the small battery charger needed to charge the battery bank!.. Thankfully that is behaving itself now and it started this morning with no problems!

The Post Office here have not been at all helpful.  I had some mail sent from home by Special Delivery, but they refused to keep it for me, deciding to send it back to the local sorting office “We don’t have to take in Special Delivery Mail for collection, anyway the sorting office is on the way back to your boat”.. See they knew I would come in!!.. they knew I was expecting it.. meanies… Ah jobsworth I suppose..

In between time, Lucy is still improving.. there are plenty of places to walk for her and to have a swim.  There is a lovely golf course here in Ely, and a waymarked walk all the way round it.. very handy too as there are some huge blackberries to pick on one part, and lots of fallen apples at another part.. we have been enjoying blackberry and apple crumbles and pies since we have been here!

So you see, tis not ALL doom and gloom!

Stranded at Ely for a while

Moored Ely, River Gt Ouse

The head has come off the engine and has gone for testing, but a good look at it and it had a couple of.. “small dimples” the engineer said.  We won’t get it back for a couple of days, and I have asked for a written report.  The engine from Calcutt Boats is under 2 years old.. but remains to be seen what the report says.

Newly met friends Mark and Lorraine who we met a couple of times over the last few weeks are having a new narrowboat, and have started a blog.  The narrowboat will be named Lorimar, great use of their first names too! Lots of thoughts and ideas at the moment and lists of what they would like.

“Now the hard job of deciding which of the many builders we have visited can do what we want !”

Looking forward I am to reading this one, Mark was telling me that he hopes to take delivery of Lorimar in May 2007.. Good luck you two!

Lucy has been doing a lot of swimming to strengthen that leg, and I popped over to the vets here in Ely just to have her checked over. It’s just about two weeks since the op, and I have run out of antibiotics.  All seems well, the initial swellings have gone down now and I took the stitches out a couple of days ago, the long cut the vet had to make to remove part of the hip has healed really quickly.

Apart from that a lazy sort of day really..

A Trip down memory lane to Newmarket..

Weekend – Moored Ely, River Gt Ouse

Beautiful weekend it was.. sunny blue skies everyday and very warm with it..

Steve, one of my blog readers popped by on Friday and brought some lovely cakes for us which we had with tea.. thanks Steve it was great to see you.  Then on Saturday Kevin and Deborah came by with their two huge dogs.. Kevin actually sold me a phone that had an orange everyday50 tariff on it.  This was before we had bought No Problem, and it was only by chance that Kevin found out that the blog he was reading could actually be the person he sold the phone to.. a quick email to find out and sure enough it was!!

So smashing to see visitors this weekend.. however we are still here and not on our way to Denver yet.. we think we might have a cylinder head gasket gone.. .  We have been having a few off and on problems with the water boiling over… not all the time, just sometimes.  Vic was sure there was air getting into the system, he would bleed it each day.. and we had yet another engineer take a look at it on Saturday, and he thinks that is what it is… It will be checked out tomorrow..

We went through Ely Riverside to the far end of the waterfront yesterday to get some water and do the loo cassettes just in case the engineer wanted to start his investigations today..

There sure were a lot of people around enjoying the sunshine.  The big dutch barge on the left with the huge sail mast is now for sale.  It was here last year, and it was being renovated by volunteers.  If it is moved after being sold it will be missed by many.  Lucy is improving all the time, and I took out her stitches yesterday, and I am exercising her as much as possible, walking in the morning and in the evening.  I caught the glorious sunset across the meadow towards Ely Cathedral last night too…

So today the engineer decided not to start today on trying to find a solution to our overheating, so Vic and I jumped on the bus to Newmarket to revisit some of our haunts of some 40 and 50 years ago! .  We didn’t know each other then of course, but Vic was here when he was only a young lad, he worked for Noel Murless, and the trainer that I worked for was Capt Boyd-Rochford.. the father of the top trainer Henry Cecil.  We wandered around Newmarket remembering this and remembering that.. then went to have a look at the stables that we spent our young days at.. Well Vic didn’t, but I did… Noel Murless had his yard at the top of Warren Hill, right at the top of this gallop that we both used to ride the racehorses up…

Ah we had a great day out today.. had lunch at the pub both of us used to frequent all those years ago.. went here, went there… lovely.

OK, off out now.. Going to ‘The Cutter’ to meet Mo and Vanessa on NB Balmaha.. they are leaving tomorrow.. so a couple of pints shared before they are off..

Remote and more remote as we cruise to Ely..

Aldreth to Ely, Old West River and River Gt Ouse, 11.5 miles 0 locks

A very quiet trip today in the most glorious weather.  This part of the river is really very different, the flood plains come down to the river’s edge while the flood bank is someway back.  The river weaves round the contours of the land.  Not that there is much high and low, this is fenland again, a lot is below sea level too..

There is always a lot of wildfowl in this area, I didn’t see any oyster catchers nor little egrets on this return trip like I did going in the opposite direction a couple of months ago, but firstly on the left bank this young cormorant basking in the sunshine, then on the right bank on the next corner a heron..

I am sorry to be leaving this part of the river.. but then I was last year too.  It really is very beautiful, so different from the canal system of waterways.  The water is crystal clear, it’s like looking into an aquarium watching the fish.. still never mind, next year I expect we will venture over to this part for some of the summer at least!

There were no locks today, so it was just a matter of pointing No Problem north, listing to some music on my mp3 and watching the countryside drift by..

At Popes Corner I was really hoping to see Gail who had travelled from Pewsey to here in just two weeks early in the spring, but although we drifted by quiet slowly looking and looking, Gail, you were not to be seen!… We will have that cuppa next year Gail!

Not long after Popes Corner, where the River Cam goes off to Cambridge, Ely Cathedral comes into view, and soon NBs No Problem and Moore2Life breeze under the main road bridge and into Ely itself..

Met up again with Mo and Vanessa on NB Balmaha, and eventually showed Mo the pics of RAF Wyton before taking Lucy for a walk along the river this evening.. We have lit the fire tonight, but now that I am back from my walk, I am far too hot!!.. Nothing else for it but for Vic to take me out for a pint to cool off me thinks… “Errrrrrrrrrrr Vic darling……..” 

Balmaha disappears on me as we leave St Ives heading for Ely

St Ives to Aldreth, Rivers Gt Ouse and Old West, 11 miles 3 locks

I had some bits and bobs to do this morning on the computer.. then found some photos of what was RAF Wyton that I had taken last year.  My father was stationed there, and chatting last night with Mo from NB Balmaha he was saying that his parents were also stationed there.. yes another night of chat and fine wine in the company of Mo and Vanessa on NB Balmaha.  Joined also with Chas and Ann on NB Moore2Life who we had caught up on yesterday..

Anyway, this morning after I got finished with what I was doing on the computer, I picked up the pics for Mo and ambled outside with them, walking in the direction of their narrowboat… well it WAS there earlier when I took Lucy for a walk.. now there was nothing.. No Mo or Vanessa and no Balmaha!

Nobody had told ME that they were leaving!!.. seems everyone else waved them off with the promise to catch up with one another again in Ely!  “Where they gone?” I demanded.. soooo sorry you two, I didn’t know you were leaving.. so I will say now on my blog, Byeeeeeeeee!!

St Ives is a lovely town.. full of alleys and narrow streets..

And a good array of shops too including a butchers and bakers where I stocked up the freezer and got some nice rolls for lunch as well as a couple of loaves.. bacon rolls it was then as we moved off and away from St Ives.. here is the huge field that the IWA 2007 festival will be held..

along that bank on the left they will be putting in pilings and pontoons for all the visitors. they have already started…

Then under the bridge and away…

Lots of pics taken today just to test out my new camera.. I like it, it seems to be working well, thank goodness something I have bought actually works.  I sent the other camera back, it was useless, however I have not got my refund yet… No doubt more hassle to come..

Arrived at Aldreth in time this evening to take Lucy for a good walk.. its cooler for sure today, but the bbq was lit and we enjoyed a steak meal.  We have moored just downstream of the GOBA moorings at Aldreth on the other side of the river because there were young cattle grazing the moorings, and everytime Lucy got off the boat they started charging at her… she could hold her own, there is no doubt about that, but I didn’t want to take any chances on her getting hurt after her op last Thursday..  Here is our mooring this evening..

It’s cold enough this evening for a fire.. brrrrrrr but we don’t have one lit.. Time enough me thinks to lay the fire in the afternoons now.. Ely tomorrow then.. but I wonder if Gail will be at Popes corner on her narrowboat, I sure hope so.. she reminded me in a comment earlier that she took under two weeks to get from the Kennet and Avon Canal to Popes Corner.  I remember because she asked me if it was possible before she left .. I doubted it!.. But she did it!!

Beautiful day for our cruise to St Ives..

Gt Paxton to St Ives, River Gt Ouse, 18 miles 5 locks

Enjoyed today a lot, the weather was really lovely and the river quiet.  We shared a couple of locks with a cruiser, and at Offord Lock I had to take care as I was at the back of the lock again.. last time I went downstream in this lock I got myself caught on the cill!.. For sure the white line showing the extent of the cill is not in the right place!

No trouble this time though, and Vic took No Problem through Godmanchester lock single handed while I nipped across the park and visited the Post Office.  We seemed to fly down the river today, maybe it was me, I sure was enjoying getting going again.  We now have our thoughts on getting south for the winter months.. we have no lock stoppages in our way to the Kennet and Avon Canal, but Benham Lock just west of Newbury will be closed the first weekend in November, and we need to be through that, so I make that errrrrrr… 203 miles and 143 or so locks!  That should work out at 9.6 lock miles a day to do, not counting weekends!.. Count the locks and miles together and divide by 3.. that’s how it is worked out. 

Put in the winter pansies yesterday, hopefully they will grow a bit.. I took this pic with my new camera which I picked up at the Post Office today.. hooray it works!!

So this evening we are moored on Hemmingford Meadow, the venue of the IWA Festival next year.. Here is where you will moor if you are going there..

I’ll take some more pictures tomorrow of the meadow too.  OK, so I am off to take Lucy for a walk this evening, I am hoping she will be in good form again tonight..  

St Neots for the last time...

Today – St Neots to Nr Little Paxton/Gt Paxton, River Gt Ouse. 3 miles 1 lock
Weekend – Moored St Neots

A quiet weekend for us, letting Lucy recover from her op.. Here she is resting aboard No Problem..

Having said quiet..yesterday I had quite a hectic day, and once again my patience was pushed to the bitter end.  I had to go to Godmanchester in the morning to pick up a rechargeable battery pack.. I bought one from Maplin, and they wouldn’t send it by Royal Mail.. it went by courier.  I did phone the Post Office there to ask them if they would keep it for me as a favour.. I called up the tracking on it, and sure enough it was there.  I didn’t want to leave it any longer than necessary before picking it up just in case they sent it back!!

I unpacked it when I got back to St Neots, and it wouldn’t work!! .  I think I needed the floods of tears that quickly followed! .. I have been anxious about Lucy and perhaps this was a release of tension that was needed..

I had just about calmed down when a narrowboat came slowly passed us to tie up on the pontoon in the town centre, it was Mo and Vanessa on NB Balmaha.. “I am not the happiest person today” says I.. but Mo’s happy-go-lucky attitude soon got me out of the doldrums, and it wasn’t long before he brought in some testing gear to see why it wouldn’t work.

I changed Lucy’s appointment till a bit later in the evening and jumped on a bus to Cambridge to visit the Maplin shop to get a replacement.. after a walk of three miles in all in Cambridge, I was back on the bus just in time for the vet..

“She is fine” said the vet “She isn’t going to be even looking at putting that leg to the ground for at least a couple of weeks if not longer” Well he made me feel much happier about her condition, he reassured me, and said that he expected Lucy to be running around as if nothing had happened within 6 months.. now that did hearten me.

I seem to have been extremely busy this summer, doing this and that, going here and there.. but look, how sad is this then?  Here I am one afternoon sometime over the last few days, I can’t remember which one, sitting with my little spare camera trying to get synchronized swimming cygnets!

Three out of five was the best I could do while their mum watched on!!

On Saturday morning I had a lay-in, I wished I hadn’t because a visitor knocked the boat about 9am.. yes I was still in bed!… Vic said it was somebody that I had bought a 3g phone from.. well I didn’t buy a 3g phone from anyone.. I did buy an everday50 phone from someone though.. I am wondering now who it was.. I do hope you are reading this blog, my mystery visitor, and leave a comment!

Last night we were invited aboard Balmaha.. I am still recovering!!.. A brilliant night out in the company of Mo and Vanessa, although I hoped Vanessa wasn’t getting too bored as Mo and I were quite happily chatting away about computers!… Really enjoyed, thanks very much you two..

Away this morning then, and we said goodbye, for the last time, to St Neots.  We traveled downstream with Balmaha through the huge St Neots Lock to the woodland mooring where we stayed for most of last week.. We will meet up with Mo and Vanessa again maybe tomorrow at St Ives, where we will also be catching up with our summer travelling companions Chas and Ann of NB Moore2Life.. Party time then!!

I would very much like to thank everyone for their comments and emails wishing Lucy well.. It has been amazing how many messages of good wishes there have been, and I really have appreciated them all.. thankyou.

A quicky from St Neots

Moored St Neots, River Gt Ouse

Lucy is home, she is feeling very sorry for herself though…

Still it is better she is here than at the vet’s for the weekend and I have been told to just let her ‘potter about’ for now.  On Monday she has to go back to see her vet.  After that they say she needs as much exercise as possible.. but she is only on three legs at the moment. 

I do hope she is feeling more like herself tomorrow, I feel awful at having put her through so much.  You know, I thought she might take a long time to get over this.. well poor lass has had six anesthetics this year and two major ops on her hip in the last three months..

We are moored on the riverside here at St Neots, by the park, and the nightclub is in full swing across the river.. the music coming across the Gt Ouse is fantastic, I have the front cratch cover open and the doors.. be up dancing in a minute I will!!

Upstream to St Neots again..

Brampton Mill to St Neots, River Gt Ouse, 8 miles 3 locks

The vet is keeping Lucy until Saturday at least, so we have decided to go back to St Neots to be near to hand.  We left early this morning just after the rain stopped and were lucky with the first two locks, both being in our favour, but arrived at St Neots Lock just as the guillotine had been dropped and the top paddles opened.. it takes ages to ‘do St Neots’, in fact from the time we arrived on the lock mooring to the time we left the lock heading upstream it was 55 minutes.. but there was no rush..

Lucy’s op seems to have been successful, well that’s what the vet said, and Vic and I went to visit her this evening.. she was pleased to see us, but not so pleased that we didn’t take her home.  I reassured her that another night would be good for her.. she was on a drip, but already moving the hip.. although not really wanting to put any weight on it.

If all is well this evening we have been told we can pick her up in the morning and bring her home..