A Quick Jaunt to Ely

One of the pleasures of being moored at The Lazy Otter is the chance to pop up to Ely for the day.
Ely is a delightful place where you can shop (market, antiques, chandlery) or take culture (the splendid Norman Cathedral with its grand lantern tower, known as The Ship of The Fens) or simply wander around the waterfront gongoozling.
We browsed the chandlery, where we bought an updated and greatly improved version of Fenland Waterways, the Imray Guide, then up the hill to the excellent bookshop Topping & Company (9 High Street, Ely) for a couple of other useful books from a splendid stock. Do go there and encourage them in what, in these Amazon Days, feels like a dying trade.
Also we dined on fish and chips and a pint of Wherry at The Cutter. What better way to spend one of the first sunny days in months?
Though there was a sharp north west breeze the sun was warm out of the wind and any issues with fast flowing streams seem to have vanished. The Ouse around here (though not so, beyond Earith, where there is still flooding) looks to be in good shape.

 However this boat at Little Thetford EA moorings was less fortunate....
Incidentally there seems to be an improved mooring on The Old West, almost opposite the Stretham  Old Engine. We saw a wooden pathway and some electricity points newly installed (May 2012).

Trolling Banned!

Oh no, just when I had planned a bit of weekend trolling!

Noticed this on the way up The Great Ouse north of Ely. I didn't feel guilty - but then I didn't quite know what I would have been guilty of! Should I support a campaign to BRING BACK TROLLING? Am I relieved that EBSSC have protected me from Trolls? Are Trolls endangered by my cruising up and down river? I just didn't know what to think. Until I got home and Googled it. Maybe you know already ... but for those of us to whom trolling is a novelty here's the answer from wikipedia.


And if you think the answer is a let-down - just Google it again, to find the alternative meanings. Oh ... really?! And here is a very serious article about nasty trolling, from the BBC. Definitely not a joke.

And if you've time on your hands try guessing what EBSSC is. If you think it's a secondary school in Santa Cruz you've been cheating by Googling - and you're wrong anyway!

[Postscript: Trolling, defined as "online abuse" or "virtual violence" is a form of bullying that has hit the headlines in March 2012. This blog entry was written long before I became aware of this and the lighthearted tone of this blog entry reflects that. There can be no excuse for insulting and bullying people online.]

Easter up the Great Ouse

As we grow familiar with Patience and with the ways of the rivers it's easy to forget that some folks have never even been on a narrow boat (or barge or even "longboat" as so many people call it). So in a spirit of broadening the experiences of my family and friends I took Patience up the Old West to Pope's Corner with my parents - who in all their 80 plus years had never been on a narrow boat. They expressed themselves "excited".

Then on the day of the Royal Wedding I tried to avoid the sentimental outpourings by taking a trip to Ely with a friend, leaving our respective wives to gawp at the ceremonials. Tony cycled up from Cambridge, we had lunch at the Cutter at Ely (where we learned in 70 seconds of BBC News what our wives had been drip-fed all morning). Then we toured the cathedral, which had been open all day for a service to celebrate the marriage, paused by a brass band also celebrating the day, through the happy masses in the Cathedral Green and past a few moored up cruisers strung with bunting to the Lazy Otter with Tony's bike on board.
A good day out with a conspicuous failure to avoid The Wedding .... Nevertheless I wish the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (so they're now local?) every happiness.
I noted, incidentally, how much newspaper space was taken up admiring Pippa Middleton's bottom. So a good day was had by non-royalists too!

Back Down The Lark

Early mist and bright low sun at Judes Ferry started my long journey back to Patience's home moorings.

Judes Ferry facing south up the Lark

 On the right behind the orange ring is the cut between the old far mooring and near newer jetty. Doing a 3 point into the cut is easier for the boat in the picture than for Patience, which has to reverse past it in a straight line before turning sharply in.

Judes Ferry facing north back to Isleham

 The first section back down to Isleham Ferry was delightful. I saw three kingfishers flashing in front of me and two swans took off and soared overhead.

 A beautiful peaceful day and not a single boat on the Lark apart from Patience.

Back down the Great Wide Ouse and soon I was back at Ely from where it's not far back to The Lazy Otter and our home mooring.