New Year, New Livery

Throughout January and February we are mostly painting boats. Sammy and Sumo are getting a nice new livery for this year and some out of water maintenance.  On a very rainy day at the beginning of January both boats were craned out of the water at Oundle Marina and popped into the shed for some TLC after a busy year going up and down the river.

Here is Sumo on her way into the shed.  This is the last time you'll see her in this colour - when she comes back out of the shed she will look like a completely different boat and be green and red to match Sammy!

Meanwhile Arwen and Spencer Bear have been busy helping to take out curtain hooks so the curtains can be laundered. Spencer Bear looks fascinated by the whole experience!

The first job was to power wash off both boats and remove a few freshwater mussels and weed, let them dry and then sand off the hulls and cabin. Any rust spots were then treated and Sumo had an ultrasound scan to check the thickness of the steel which she passed with flying colours!

Sammy is first in the queue for painting and  here she is after several applications of undercoat - a nice shade of battleship grey!

A quick look underneath the back end of Sumo now she has been cleaned off

We're now at the stage where Sammy has gone green again and is just in the process of having her red back panel painted on.  Then it be will time for the coach lines to be reapplied and her name to be added. It would be good if it warmed up just a little bit as trying to apply paint in sub zero temperatures is no fun as it doesn't spread very well!

Sammy's got some new magnesium anodes fitted on the front and back of the hull

We're certainly getting through a few tins of Toplac and Pre-Kote and there is still another boat to go! 

In the meantime, I leave you with a sign that Spring is just around the corner and it won't be long before we're back on the water - see you soon!

Fotheringhay and Back

Over the holidays we took our boat off down river for a few days.  We very rarely get to go out boating ourselves as we're usually really busy during the main boating season so it was a bit of a treat to get out on the river.  On the afternoon of the Winter Solstice we set off on our trip.  After the first lock we made a quick stop at Oundle Cruising Club for a drink (well it would have been rude not to!) and then carried on to Lower Barnwell Lock.

We headed on towards Ashton through the rather stormy looking Northamptonshire landscape - the river takes on a very different personality in the winter becoming very changeable in its moods.

By the time we had reached Ashton it was starting to drop dark on the shortest day of the year so we decided to moor up by the town bridge at Oundle for the night and we were treated to a beautiful sunset across the town.  You can see the spire of St Peter's Church in the background.

The following morning we had an interesting start. It had got rather windy overnight and as we set off from the mooring we were blown across the other side of the river. An entertaining time ensued lining up a 70ft boat to go under the arched bridge at Oundle!

A couple more hours cruising saw us arrive at Fotheringhay and as the wind was getting progressively windier, it was nice to tie up for the day below the church.

We left the boat at Fotheringhay and Garry from Oundle Carriage Company promptly collected us so that we could go and retrieve our car. We journeyed up to Wansford where we were booked on to the Nene Valley Railway Santa Express which the kids all thoroughly enjoyed.  It's well worth a visit at any time of year, just check the timetables for trips into Peterborough.

On the way back we popped into the Montagu Arms in Barnwell to see everyone and Dylan the cat was busy on till duty!

The Church of St Mary & All Saints looked lovely all lit up on Christmas Eve and I enjoyed the view while eating a large number of mince pies and enjoying a glass of sherry or two!

We had a quick cruise up to Warmington, got stuck on a sand bank while turning the boat in very windy wind and then back to the Castle Mound on Christmas Day

On a chilly Boxing Day morning, we set off back home - the wind had dropped, the river was still and calm and the trip back was chilly but very pleasant.

There wasn't a soul about anywhere - we had the river to ourselves

We eventually arrived back at our moorings at Barnwell just before the weather turned again after an enjoyable winter cruise.

Back to work now with lots to do. The hire boats are due to come out of the water for a repaint ready for the start of the boating season in April.  We're looking forward to the arrival of Spring and I'm already out checking for signs of the first snowdrop!

And So This is Christmas

As we approach the shortest day and the promise of longer days to come, we look to Christmas and the end of the old year. Oundle is looking very bright with some additional lights for this year.  We went along to the Christmas light switch on and the town was bustling with people at the Christmas Market.  Father Christmas also paid a visit - we are pleased to report that all the lights came on at the same time this year!  There was a beautiful full moon to light up the sky too.

We then popped across the road into Smiths at No 4 for a glass of festive fizz (or Ribena if you're five) and to enjoy the live music that was on offer.

The River Nene Fuel Boat has got into the Christmas spirit, decorated with tinsel when out and about on its winter deliveries.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone whatever you might be doing and remember the days start to get longer from next week - Merry Christmas from the riverbank and see you all next year!

Bonfires and RYA Training

November started off with lots of fireworks and bonfires.  The bonfire at Barnwell this year recreated the Great Fire of London in 1666.  London Town had been built out of pallets and the detail was superb.  There was even a Pudding Lane - fantastic work guys!  This was all followed by the traditional jacket potato and a pint at the Montagu Arms

We were busy in November getting ready for our inspection to become a Royal Yachting Association Training Centre (RYA).  This involved lots of bits of paper, risk assessments and designing a training course. When we had finished writing the course it was time to test it out and we were lucky to have two willing volunteers, Paul and Rab from Oundle Marina.  They were absolute stars in helping out with our run through, particularly as the weather was absolutely awful and they got thoroughly wet after spending all day on the back of a boat!

Paul rescuing 'Bob the Bucket' in the Man Overboard Procedure.  He's looking very pleased with himself!

On the way back we passed Fuel Boat Bletchley coming under Oundle Town Bridge.  Alan was enjoying a cup of tea at the helm.

By the time we arrived back at Oundle Marina the clouds had cleared and we had all dried out!

We are pleased to say that we did pass our inspection later in the month and we are now an RYA Training Centre.  We offer Inland Waterways Helmsman, and Crew Courses, River Nene Experience Days and Training Holidays.  You can find out more at Nene Valley Boat Training.

It's the time of year to start filling the bird feeders up again and while I was supposed to be doing paperwork, I was being entertained by numerous little birds enjoying a feast!

And just to finish up another lovely winter sunset across the river - we do get treated to some fantastic skies in the Nene Valley.

Autumn Approaches and Introducing Friends of the River Nene

As the wheel of the year turns and we move into Autumn, we're still enjoying some glorious early September weather which our hire boaters are out and about enjoying. It still looks like summer outside Oundle Cruising Club with boats moored up enjoying the hospitality!  Sammy is waiting patiently in the sunshine at Lower Barnwell Lock off on a trip downriver.

Meanwhile there are exciting things a foot on the river! A new association, Friends of the River Nene (FoTRN) has recently set up and is busy finding and setting up new overnight moorings for boaters and visitors to our lovely river, something which has been in short supply for quite some time now!  I shall be adding the new moorings into our holiday routes for next year. They have currently secured moorings at Ditchford, Islip and Woodford with more in the pipeline. We look forward to trying them out for ourselves soon. You can find out more about them, get involved with their work and join here.  There is also a Helpdesk number 07779 819271. 

One of FoTRN first moorings at Ditchford, with the first visitor trying it out!  You can see the now defunct railway bridge across the river in the background, part of  the the old Peterborough to Northampton line.

Helping to clear the mooring at Ditchford below - anyone can get involved no matter how small!

Meanwhile, we are now coming to the end of our main hiring season and our last customers of the  year set off at half term and what a lovely day for it.  It was so sunny the sunglasses even came out!

And it is officially one of the warmest Halloween's on record, trick or treating in a t-shirt!  Happy Halloween everyone and enjoy yourself whatever you may be up to - watch out for the ghosts and ghoulies!

Lazy Days of Summer

As we head into Summer we've had some beautiful days in the Nene Valley and the cooling breeze coming off the river has been very welcome at times!  The cat has decided it's far too hot for anything except chilling out on the chair.  I wish I could join him but there is plenty of work to do first!

People have been taking advantage of the long summer days and have been enjoying drinks by the river at Oundle Mill

The end of July is traditionally when the Thurning Feast is held in a small village near Oundle. Also known as the St Stephen's Day Feast it is a fun evening out with live bands, local food and drink stalls, a big wheel and there was even a brass band this year.  

The weather was fantastic and I particularly enjoyed the Country Wine and Cider Bar!

We found the time to pop up to Peterborough in August and after a trip to the Bronze Age site at Flag Fen, we enjoyed a lovely lunch (with a glass of wine of course!) at Cafe Clarkes at The Key Theatre next to the River.  Very nice it was too!

A view of the Embankment at Peterborough from Cafe Clarkes. The Town Bridge is downstream in the distance. You will always see plenty of swans and geese along here! The way into the Middle Level is just a little further upstream or you can carry on a bit further to the Dog-in-a-Doublet.

We have been treated to some beautiful sunsets throughout the Nene Valley this summer including this very evocative scene across Fotheringhay Bridge (thanks to Richard Ganderton for the pic).  You can just imagine yourself there, moored next to the site of the Castle!

Whistle Stop Trip from Wansford to Oundle

We had an impromptu trip back from Wansford on Sammy earlier in the month which was nice as we don't get to go out boating very much during the season.  We passed by the caravan site at Yarwell Mill

and nine little ducks sitting in a row

Dan thought he would take the opportunity to clean the roof of the boat while we were waiting at Elton Lock

We passed by some sheep busily grazing around the Castle Mound at Fotheringhay who weren't particularly interested in us!

Then under the arched bridge at  Fotheringhay  ......

Time for a quick rest at Ashton Lock!

This swan was very interested in something in the weir stream!

And finally Sammy was spotted out and about later in the month coming under the old Railway Viaduct at Thrapston

And that's it for now - see you all soon!