News
5th July 2016 Ely to Denver Sluice
Back to the boat yesterday afternoon and dinner in Ely at The Cutter overlooking the river. This morning we set out for Denver Sluice arriving mid afternoon.
Tommorrow the tidal crossing to the Middle Levels at Salters Lode and on to March.
30th June 2016 Lazy Otter to Ely
The weather yesterday was less than ideal for boating, windy and wet, so we decided to stay put at the Lazy Otter.
This morning the weather was much improved so we made the short run from Lazy Otter to Ely to leave the boat for a few days heading home for a 65th birthday party.
St Ives to Lazy Otter 28th June 2016
A lunch time departure from The Waits mooring in St Ives after taking water, through St Ives bridge and lock then down to the tidal section at Earith which was even higher than when we came up. At Hermitage lock we joined a queue of three boats waiting for the end of the lock keepers lunchtime and then entered the lock one at a time. The headroom under the road bridge was around 1.75m and with cratch on we are about 1.85, but the slope on the road meant we could just squeeze in with about 20mm to spare above the front of the cratch. Out of Hermitage on to the Old West River and as the weather started to deteriorate we called it a day at the Lazy Otter.
On the Wednesday the weather was wet and windy with more forecast so we decided to have a further day here and do the many small jobs needed around the boat.
St Ives to Bedford and back
After leaving St Ives Thursday morning we reached Bedford Lunch time Saturday.A short stay for lunch and some water and we headed off back downstream. Now with the flow we made much better time (exceeding 5mph rather than struggling to get 4mph) and arrived back in St Ives Monday mid morning.
Exploring the River Cam, Cambridshire loads and the Great Ouse
Since my last posting we have been to Cambridge and back exploring the Wicken, Reach and Burwell Lodes in the process (a pint at the end of each lode) then returned to the Main River Great Ouse at Pope's Corner to travel along the "Old West River" to Hermitage Lock and the tidal (flooded) section to Brownshill and St Ives.
It looks like we have timed our visit perfectly, the "peak" water levels are currently passing through St Ives and Earith meaning that as long as we fit through St Ives lock (2m headroom, and we fitted) then we should fit through all the upstream bridges and locks all the way to Bedford. So as long as there is not a dramatic sustained downpour we should make Bedford and back.
