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!

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!

Spring is Officialy Here and The Holiday Season Gets Underway

We had a great open day and met some lovely people, so thank you to all those who came along and took advantage of the Cadbury's Creme Egg giveaway!

The boats are ready to go and waiting for this year's first customers.  Our complimentary trays this year have got jams from The Pickled Village and free range eggs from the smallholding just up the road.  

While we were busy getting everything ready, I noticed the ducks were checking the underneath of a boat that was out being blacked nearby. They like to pick off the freshwater mussels that attach to the underside of the boats!

As well as the boats, we have also been busy getting our campsite ready, putting up the Yurt and the Camp Kitchen tent.  New for this year we have a Tipi which we will be taking delivery of in May. Most of the people that stay with us are enjoying canoeing holidays on the Nene.  You can book canoe and camp holiday packages on the River Nene from Canoe 2 and we provide the accommodation for you! You can also book our Yurt and Tipi via our website at Indigo Camping.

When all the work was finally finished on the campsite we thought we would have a go at a bit of outdoor cookery in the new fire pit area that we've built - the sausage and bean hotpot was very nice too!

Bob the Bucket and Countdown to the Start of the Season

Last week we both completed our RYA (Royal Yachting Association) training course.  Pete from Lincolnshire Boat Services popped down to Oundle Marina on a beautifully sunny Monday morning and after a cup of coffee we set off down river to practice the 'man over board procedure' or MOB as it is known.  Here we are fishing Bob the Bucket out of the water. We repeated this several times as he just couldn't seem to stay on board!  I'm glad Bob the Bucket volunteered to go in, as the water was rather chilly!

As it was such a nice day, we decided to head back upriver towards Lilford and show Pete what a lovely river the Nene is and he was very impressed!  

Although we could happily have gone cruising for the rest of the day, there was work to be done, so we set off back to base and waved goodbye to Pete, who will be back to do our First Aid refresher course later in April.

The boats are now starting to look like holiday boats again, the engines have all been serviced and put back together, the painting is nearly finished, all doors and hatches have been repainted.  The boat cleaning is also well underway with Helen making sure everything is cleaned within an inch of its life and I have been busy ironing all the curtains and covers.  Bruce has been getting artistic in the workshop and has been busy with a new design on Sumo's back doors.

Sumo has now arrived in her new position in the marina and Sammy will be joining her this coming Friday.

Nicky's chicks have started to hatch out, this little one could be laying the on board free range eggs later in the year!

Don't forget it's our Open Day this Saturday 5th April, so if you are around the area pop in and say hello and don't forget to pick up your Cadbury's Creme Egg!

Spring Updates

Finally Spring seems to have arrived after what has been a very wet winter for a lot of people.  We're busy getting ready for the start of the season on 7th April. 

Oundle Marina

It's an especially exciting year for us as this will be our first year based down the road at Oundle Marina. Preparations are getting well underway and our banner is up! 

We will be having an open day on Saturday 5th April and you are welcome to come and have a look around the boats.  Check our Facebook, Twitter and website  pages for updates. We've also added an online booking system, so you can now book via the website and we've produced an app and mobile website which contains a handy guide to the River Nene.  The app is currently available to download on Google Play and will be available for Kindle and Apple devices shortly.

Mobile Site and App

This year we will be adding a few yummy extras for our customers, including Nicky & Elaine's fresh free range eggs from the smallholding just up the road and jars of jam from the The Pickled Village, nearby in Bulwick. 

Some of Nicky & Elaine's Chickens

We are busy getting our small campsite ready as well, with a number of improvements and a Tipi being made for us for this season, to add to the Bell Tents and Yurt.  The Tipi will be available to hire as part of canoe short break packages on the River Nene with our friends up river at Canoe 2.  Updates coming soon!  Meanwhile, lambing will be getting underway in the next few weeks and some of the sheep are looking like little barrels at the moment!

We will doing our RYA training this Monday on Sumo, so if you see us going past don't forget to give us a wave! 





Scrap, Lambs and What is a Houseboat?

Scrap - where does it all come from?  Last week we decided it was time to get rid of the rather large pile of scrap that had been accumulating over the winter as part of the Spring clean.  There were at least three bikes in the pile and I hadn't ridden a single one of them! With the car weighted down with a tonne of batteries and a full trailer of scrap strapped on we set off for the local scrap yard. 

On arriving at the yard we drove down a very narrow alleyway of scrap about 20 feet tall on both sides with no way out having been hemmed in by several tipper trucks and white vans. There was a large mechanical grab moving piles of scrap around which alarmingly kept getting a bit too near the car for my liking and I was fully expecting the grab to pick the car up and move us onto the nearest pile!  After moving on and off the weighbridge several times with much arm waving going on in different directions, unhitching and rehitching the trailer and attempting to do a 50 point turn in a very narrow space and getting offered some money for the car we were sitting in - I don't know how they thought we were going to get home; the scrap and batteries were added to the pile and we left a little lighter! The price for scrap metal at the moment is very good so it was worth the wait and it just goes to show that nearly everything can be recycled and reused!

 

The last couple of weeks have been taken up with lambing and we now have twenty five Herdwick lambs out in the field.  The Herdwick sheep traditionally lives out on the Cumbrian Fells, so they are quite a way south in Northamptonshire. It's all got too much for this lamb, so it's decided to have a sleep on mum.

Sadly one of the ewes died, so her two lambs were orphaned but we do have a willing helper who likes to give them their bottle feeds.  They will hopefully go out into the field with the rest of the sheep shortly as they are getting very bouncy now and want to play!

I think we can safely say that Spring has arrived: it has warmed up, there are lambs playing in the fields and the daffodils have eventually come out after spending weeks tightly wrapped up.

We were rather puzzled this week to find the Environment Agency has reclassified our butty Naples as a 'Houseboat' for licensing purposes.  Naples is a 1929 Small Northwich butty, originally horse drawn she worked with a number of different motor boats carrying all sorts of cargoes until her retirement. Now I am sure the people at the EA have thought very hard about this but I do have a couple of questions for them about their definition of a 'Houseboat' (a licence for which, unsurprisingly, costs about 10 times more)

This is a picture of butty Naples

And this is a picture of what I generally think of as a houseboat

 

 

 

They are both unpowered craft over five metres as per a class 12 category. But are they both  'Houseboats'? Hopefully we will find out soon.  

Sammy & Sumo Finally Get Away for Easter plus a Chilly Trip on the River

Once it had stopped snowing and the 'Beast from the East' had gone into abeyance briefly, there was a quick flurry of activity to get the boats ship shape for the first hire of the season over Easter.  Painting, fixing, cleaning, hanging of curtains, checking inventories was all well underway.

Boat Preparations Well Underway

The only problem was the river was still closed to navigation due to the recent high flow.  We had everything crossed in the hope that the Environment Agency would remove the Strong Stream Advice before our boats were due to go on holiday on the Easter Monday.  Crossing everything and having a chat with the weather gods worked and on Sunday morning the Strong Stream Advice was cancelled and not a moment too soon!

 

On Monday it was all stations go and our customers arrived and loaded their belongings onto the boats. Once the handover had been completed it was time to set off down to the lock with Dan for the demonstration of how a River Nene lock works.

 

Off on Holiday

After passage through Upper Barnwell Lock, it was decided that Oundle Mill would be a nice place to stop for an evening meal and out popped the sun for the remainder of the evening.

 

Sammy & Sumo moored at Oundle Mill

As the sun was out for a couple of days we thought we would take the opportunity for a trip out and have a look at what was happening out and about on the river.  So we popped in our day boat and headed off towards Lilford.  Jack, our furry friend decided to come along for the ride as well!

 

Jack & Dan on Board

Once out on the river the wind was whipping up the water and it was decidely choppy with a wind chill of about -20 (or that 's what it felt like) and the dog looked a bit sea sick.  It was nice to be out on the river even though it was rather chilly.  Here's a short video of us bumping along on the waves.  To get the full experience, stand in a cold room with a fan on maximum! Excuse the shaky camera, it was difficult keeping upright at times!

 

 

 

We carried on up the river, past Lilford Hall, a stately home in the Jacobean style built around 1635 for the Elmes Family before passing onto the Powys Family who were granted the title of Baron (Lord) Lilford. by William Pitt the Younger.

 

Lilford Hall

The geese were very busy along the river bank, although it might be a bit cold to start sitting on a nest yet! This Canada Goose didn't mind having its photo taken, although the Greylag Geese in the background were more reserved.  You can see the Church at Pilton up on the hill overlooking the river.

 

We passed under the bridge towards Lilford Lock and decided it was time to turn around and head back as Dan's hand was frozen to the tiller by now.

 

Pilton Bridge with Lilford Lock in the Background


Despite the cold there are definitely signs of Spring appearing along the river bank, the green shoots of the reeds are starting to reappear and I spotted some pussy willows whilst investigating a tree.

 

Pussy Willows

 And finally .......

 

One of the local swans who likes to knock on the boat hatch for a bit of breakfast, dinner and tea.  Mind your fingers!