A trip to the Isle of Man

Good news. The good old boat passed her safety test with flying colours which, while not unexpected was nevertheless welcome. After the test I made my way up river to Oundle marina to moor up for a few weeks while I get ready for the next trip. On the way up I stopped overnight at the peaceful Ferry Meadows and unwisely joined my son Steve in the 5k parkrun. Only my second and improved by time by almost 2 minutes to 40:47, slightly annoyed as I wanted to break 40. My hard work was rewarded with a splendid sunset over the lake.

After Ferry Meadows I had a gentle cruise up to Fotheringhay where I realised that the river level was around a foot below normal making mooring a bit tricky as much if the bank was too shallow to get the boat in. The trees are showing a noticeable Autumnal tint.

Once at the marina I drove back to the house to remove some furniture before the new tenant moved in and dump some stuff in the garage that I no longer need on the boat. With the house sorted I headed off for a short break to visit my brother and family on the Isle of Man. It's the first time I've visited since they moved into their new home complete with stables and several acres of land for their horses. The setting is stunning surrounded by hills in beautiful countryside a few miles from Ramsey.

I'm really enjoying chilling here, spent the afternoon wandering around the fields with several horses and a couple of young springer spaniels for company. Very relaxing company.

I've been thinking about selling my car as its just sitting in the marina gathering dust and costing money to tax and insure. By coincidence Dave is looking for another car, a deal was struck and I'm now carless. This of course leaves me in the IoM without transport. I've booked a flight to Liverpool on Monday and then train back to Peterborough ready to rejoin Mr Bunbury.

I'll continue the story when I leave the marina and head back up the river to join the Grand Union canal.

 

A change of plans

The arrival of September was heralded by a few cooler rainy days last week but it has since warmed up again and the sun is once again raising the temperature of my floating tin box. It's beginning to feel a bit cooler in the evenings as the nights draw in.

I spent last Monday waiting to go through Denver lock and popped down the "cut off channel" to Downham Market to restock the larder. The picture below, taken from the road bridge, gives an idea of just how much water is running through East Anglia to the sea - Mr Bunbury looks tiny on the pontoon. And of course this isn't the actual river but a man made channel to take the excess water.

Tuesday morning was bright and sunny as I passed through Denver sluice onto the tidal river. The tide was still rising and running quite quickly. I had the engine almost flat out to push against the incoming flow and was only making 2 mph overland although as you can see from the bow wave I was certainly pushing on through the water. The entrance to the middle levels can't be seen from this angle but is a is very narrow lock entrance on the left just beyond the second cottage. It requires a tight turn in and of course the incoming tide pushes the bow around much quicker than you would expect. Thankfully the lock keeper knows the river well and as I began my turn he waved me to carry on further. I followed his guidance and after travelling a further hundred yards I made the turn on his signal and successfully reached the lock. I estimate the boat was carried at 150 yards while turning.

After successfully negotiating the lock I enjoyed a much more sedate cruise to March where I stayed overnight. On Wednesday I made a detour along one of the middle level branches to Ramsey. The trip was quite pleasant although views were limited by the high banks which protect the surrounding lowlands from flooding. The mooring was not particularly nice and as I had neither TV or phone signal I decided to return to the main branch and continue on to Whittlesey.

 

As I approached Whittlesey just before sunset I was treated to a colourful sky. I stayed for a couple if nights before continuing through Stanground lock onto the river Nene at Peterborough on Friday.

I'm spending a few days in Peterborough and have arranged to have my 4 yearly Boat Safety Test undertaken while I'm here as the current certificate expires next month.

I had planned on spending the winter in the marina at Oundle but I'm coming to the conclusion I will get bored within a month. Instead I'll probably stop for a couple if weeks at the end of the month and then head back through Northampton onto the canals and continue cruising through the winter. Currently thinking of heading around to Oxford and, if the river is ok, a quick two day dash down the Thames to join the Kenneth and Avon at Reading.

Meanwhile I'll spend the evening reading the safety certificate regulations and give the old girl a final check over tomorrow.