Escaped Boats, Engines and Green Shoots

Getting the hireboats ready last March, note that Dan is wearing a t-shirt and there seems to be something called sun shining.

March 2012

Getting the hireboats ready this March.  A slight difference of about 20 degrees and a foot of snow!

March 2013

Last week one of the boats moored at the boatyard decided to slip its ropes and take itself off for a cruise down towards the lock and had to be rescued.  This proved quite difficult as there was still a considerable flow on the river and it was rather windy.  The boat was eventually pulled back to safety and a visit to the weir was averted.  On a more serious note it is important to check boat ropes, particularly during times of strong stream and fluctuating river levels.

 

 

Boat Rescue

 We are continuing to renovate our 70ft motor and unfortunately last year the freezing temperatures cracked the engine block. After much consideration, deliberation, unbolting, building of contraptions, pulling, pushing, lifting up, setting down again and general inventiveness, the Lister engine had been disturbed from its mountings, pulled apart and manhandled all the way up to the front deck with much huffing and puffing ready to be craned out and repaired.  The motor now had to be towed down to the dock at Oundle Marina ready for the engine to be taken out.  In the midst of snow, wind and freezing temperatures Bob moved the boat across the marina for us on Saturday morning.

 

Towing the motor across the Marina to the dock

 Waiting patiently at the dock side are all the boats that have been overwintering in the Marina waiting to be put back into the water ready for the boating season and Easter this week.  Admittedly it isn't really boating weather at the moment but I am confident that will change very soon.  I know the marina shop have just received their first delivery of ice cream, so we must be set for a heatwave!

 

Cruisers waiting to be craned back into the Marina

After a bit of manouevering and adjustment of the straps the engine was eventually on its way out of the boat!

 

And here it is all 3 tonnes of it suspended in mid air, merrily swinging above the marina.  This is when you hope to goodness that the straps are attached properly!

 

 

The engine safely reached the shore and has been packaged up ready for collection this week.

 

 

All that remained now was to tow the boat out of the dock and back across the marina. It was windy and very cold and after several attempts and being blown all over the marina the motor was finally towed out of the marina entrance.  Thanks to Bob & Richard for their help with this!

 

 

And finally ........

 

Just to remind you that Spring is just around the corner, I did spot a few green shoots this week. 

 

 

Spring Preparations, Snow, Stanground and a Sheep

The start of the boating season is fast approaching as we move rapidly towards Easter in a couple of weeks. At the boatyard we've been beavering away finishing jobs on the hire boats. All the soft furnishings have been washed and pressed and Mark from Nene Marine has been fitting a new rudder bearing to Sumo with his magic wand.

Making good use of a rain storm to clean the roof of the hire boats

After Spring made a cheery brief appearance it quickly disaapeared again as the Beast from the East popped back for a quick encore before hopefully retreating back to the East and remembering to stay there this time.  The temperatures dropped and the snow started again and we were transported back to December for a moment.

We took a trip out to Stanground and a bitterly cold wind was blowing straight across the Fens.  Arwen was not very impressed with this and Dad had to give up his coat before any further walking could take place!

Stanground used to be a village but is now a large suburb of Peterborough. From a boating perspective Stanground is well known for its lock which allows access from the River Nene to the Middle Level and the Nene-Ouse link.

Stanground Lock and Village

Stanground Lock is manned and you have to book passage through. The lockeeper lives alongside the lock. At Stanground, Moreton's Leam joins the King's Dyke and both rivers flow under a railway bridge, known as Black Bridge to join the River Nene. Moreton's Leam was constructed in the 14th century as an early attempt to drain the Fens. The King's Dyke is named after King Canute who allegedly caused it to be cut.

 

And Finally .......

 

Meet Ewedini one of our sheep who keeps escaping out of every field she's put in. She always remembers to pop back in with the rest of the flock in the afternoon for mealtimes and to spend the evening but likes to enjoy the day pleasing herself and trimming bits of grass she shouldn't be! 

 

An Early Spring Cruise and How Not to Turn a Boat!

After the excitement of the sun making an appearance on Saturday, we decided to take the boat for a trip out to Cotterstock and back as the winter months have been very limited with cruising opportunities this year.

The landscape was looking a little battered and sorry for itself after the winter floods and you could see the high water marks along the banks with flattenend reeds, muddy fields and lots of run-off still pouring into the river!  However, the river bank has remarkable powers of recovery and before long it will turn green and be buzzing with wildlife and water lillies again.

Out on the River

We went through Upper Barnwell Lock without incident and are pleased to report that Oundle Mill is reopening soon (Friday 29th March) following their closure in November after the winter floods affected them really badly. 

Carrying on towards Lower Barnwell Lock we passed Oundle Marina where they've got the crane ready to lift boats in for the Easter Weekend and the start of the boating season.

Entrance to Oundle Marina

We cruised on towards Ashton and even the cat decided to come out and watch the river go by for a while but then decided that sitting next to the fire was a much better option!

Boat Cat

Although Ashton Lock was open, mooring up was a bit of fun as Drake Towage still had all their equipment there. They had been busy carrying out the EA winter works programme on various locks along the river.

 

Lock Mooring at Ashton



 We continued onto Cotterstock, passing a couple of boats going in the other direction.  On reaching Cotterstock lock we thought rather than take our boat through the lock we would save time and turn above the lock - bad idea!  Our 70ft boat was about 6 inches too long and with the shoaling caused from the recent floods we became well and truly wedged right across the river.  After lots of rope pulling and pole action we were still stuck and wondering what to do next. Just then, two kind walkers came along the Nene Way and we gratefully accepted their offer of help and we managed to pull the boat free at last.  Our helpers suggested that the translation of our boat name "Hakuna Matata" should be "very long and heavy".  I do hope their arms have returned to the correct length.  There are no pictures of us stuck across the river as I was rather preooupied with a pole at the time!

 

We locked through Cotterstock, turned around below the lock and set off back. 

 

Entering Cotterstock Lock

The afternoon had started to chill off a bit as we passed back under Oundle Town Bridge and the entrance to Oundle Wharf, the home of the Nene Valley Brewery, lovely local beer and the Outdoor Centre at Trek-Kits.

 

Passing under Oundle Town Bridge

 We locked back through Ashton and here we are waiting for the lock to fill.  You didn't need to wind the paddles up very much as quite a lot of water was still coming over the lock gates.

 

Ashton Lock Chamber

And off we go, homeward bound!

 

Leaving Ashton Lock

It was lovely to be out on the river again. There are some signs of Spring if you look carefully and the river is slowly coming to life again after a long, long Winter.