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!
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!
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 - 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.
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!
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.
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!
