Christmas Trip Day 4

My eldest son Steve joined me for a few pre-Christmas beers last night.  Very pleasant evening but a bit of a shock when he came to leave around midnight to find the river had risen about a foot and covered the pathway. Deploying the gangplank got him safely onto dry land.  The water must have dropped overnight as I awoke at 5:30 to find my bed trying to tip me out. As I got my bearings I realised the boat was listing around 10 degrees to starboard.  The river level had dropped back to normal levels but the boat had got caught up on the bank. Ten minutes with the barge pole and alternate ahead and astern engine rocked the boat off and safely back into the river.  

After a couple more hours in my now level bed I set off around 9:00 to fill up the water tank before passing through Stanground Lock onto the Middle Levels navigation which connects the rivers Nene and Gt Ouse. The sunrise brightened the Peterborough morning.

Stanground lock has a ridiculously low foot bridge across which is why I filled the water tank. I need the extra ballast to get the cratch under the bridge.  Managed with about 2 inches to spare.

 It was another beautiful day although quite cold and getting colder as the breeze stiffened through the day.  The fens are very open with few trees to block the wind but of course this leaves the view open.

Spotted this Kestrel hovering over a nearby field - hope Mr Mouse keeps his head down. 

And along the way I crossed the Grenwich Meridian,which the local Round Table have kindly marked.

I'm now safely moored up in March waiting to see what weather the morrow brings, the forecast is for more strong wind and rain so I may stay put for the day. Sainsburys is only a 5 minute walk so I may get the Christmas dinner ingredients sorted while I'm here.