Patience Aweigh

Day 1: Oundle to Irthlingborough
Oundle has been a good place and we recommend it - and The Ship Inn nearby - to anyone seeking refuge on The Nene, though the Nene itself does come with the disadvantages of strong stream advice after heavy rain in the midlands, so boating is sometimes restricted.

So we bade farewell to Oundle Marina, our home for the last two years, with thanks to Mark and Jacqui, and headed on to the great canal network in our long journey west which started at The Lazy Otter at Stretham on the Ouse five years ago. It's a little later in the morning than we would have liked and there's a long day ahead but it's a lovely day and the sun shines on us as we pootle along visited by red kites and blue dragonflies.

The mid stretch of this trip is a bit short on waterway pubs, - with the exception of the Kings Head at Wadenhoe, normally packed by moored boaters yet today totally empty - so we've aimed to be self-sufficient in food just in case. Menus are covered in a previous blog.
Between us we have knees and an ankle that need nurturing so we must beware risky acrobatics (as if ...)
We pass Thrapston Bridge moorings where we have stayed previously, but there's no time to spare and few mooring options so the next stop is Irthlingborough - not our favourite town, but at 7.30 and after 8 hours of continuous cruising it's the perfect spot and as soon as John has checked the engine room I heat up the spaghetti bolognaise cooked the night before and we settle for the night.

Some long term financial arguments over the football stadium or at least who is responsible for the moorings here have resulted in some of the moorings being closed, but there's enough room for us and a couple of others.
At the end of the day we should be on track for reaching our destination of Welford by Saturday evening, though this depends on reaching some of the staircase locks in time. And we're not used to locks. How shall we cope?
Today: 16.5 miles, 10 locks, 8 hours

Back in the water

Patience finally went back in the water on 17th December, a delightful still and sunny morning, as the first photo illustrates. She was carefully craned back in by the marina staff (photo 2) and then motored back to her mooring,where she can be seen in photos 3 and 4. Her water system was then drained down to protect it against winter frosts.

And finally Oundle

With weather still overcast - though the prospect of jam tomorrow - or the next day - we head for Oundle, not even stopping at Ashton, though we were tempted (see previous post).

At Oundle John is again in his element. While I would ignore a fault for as long as possible then get a man to replace it, John works very differently. The gas fridge is old and has for some time been erratic starting. Now it has entirely failed,. I suggest a new electric one; he opts to take it out and examine it with a view to fixing it. I think of fridges as cupboards to keep things cool; for John this is a technical problem that can be solved with his skills, persistence and a great curiosity to find out why the thing has stopped doing its job.
To cut a two hour adventure short I can summarise by saying that the dust and soot and dead insects that accumulate around the back of a 20 year old fridge had blocked the burner, and with all that cleaned up, gas pipe, electric cable, vent and holding screws back in place our good old fridge is now working again. A triumph of John's persistence and skill. Oh, and I did the hoovering round the back so it wouldn't happen again for another 20 years. But I'm modest about my critical role ....

What next? Possibly a gas bubble tester on the gas bottle, a replacement TV now the infuriating digi-box has stretched our patience. And looking at future plans such as a suitable marina on the Grand Union. Anyone know of a good marina near Milton Keynes?

The spring pump out

Spring has arrived at last. So on the first really warm day for ages, and being the first of May, what better than to get aboard Patience and take her out for a brisk pump out.
Last season, best forgotten for the weather, left us without time for pumping out as part of our routine winterising - so today we arranged for one by the nice chap at Nene Valley Boats. I think actually he was a bit disappointed that we couldn't produce more - but with last year's holidays cut short and a general tendency by us to use local pubs' loos whenever we are customers, I suppose we just couldn't fill the tank.
So here we are, just one lock and a quarter hour from our mooring at Oundle marina, (where they are planning to have pump out facilities as part of their development) and we are using Nene Valley Boats' portable pumpout, towed by a fine red landrover.

 

and finally, for those who are curious engineers, here's the very pump itself.

Later, inspired perhaps by the nice man at Nene Valley Boats, John spent some time reassembling our toilet pump. As it once cracked in a deep frozen winter we now drain it thoroughly, but this time it took a little while to get the gasket in place to ensure effective pumping. Nevertheless, job done and a full complement of fresh water on board we are now ready to go places.
There may be time for some painting up, but the river awaits ....

Nene Floods 4

According to the Environment Agency monitoring station at Lilford (just upstream from Oundle Marina), the river reached its highest point on the evening of Sunday 25th November. These photos were taken on the morning of 26th November and show the water covering the mooring pontoons, the bank and the car park at the marina. Mark, the Marina Manager, and his colleagues had been working hard overnight to check that all the boats were safe and slackening mooring lines, where necessary, under very difficult conditions.  When I called in again on the afternoon of Friday 30th November, the water had receded to almost normal and again the marina people had been checking that boats weren't hung up on pontoons, etc as the level went down.  Their hard work is really appreciated.  Many thanks!

The Oundle Mill Restaurant at Upper Barnwell lock wasn't so fortunate. It was completely flooded out and we feel really sorry for the owners, who had recently put so much time and money into restoring it. This photo (also taken on the 26th) shows the mill isolated in the middle of the river, which can also be seen cascading over the lock gates.  The relief channel, which bypasses the Upper and Lower Barnwell locks, just couldn't take all the flow and had burst its banks where it flows under the old stone bridge on the road into town, as can be seen in the last photo.

Back Down The Nene

With the weather forecast to be a splendid sunny day today and foul rain tomorrow we aim to race home to Oundle in one go, as fast as poor Patience can travel (about 4 mph top speed before she overheats).

Dawn, autumn equinox, Irthlingborough

As predicted, after a bright and cold starry night the morning of the autumn equinox dawns clear at 7am with a touch of ground frost.

Early morning, autumn equinox, Irthlingborough

We leave early to make the most of the day. We turn in the river (only just - wouldn't want to be longer than 50 ft) and off downstream through the dappled shade and open fields on either side of the Nene. After some overcast conditions in the previous days the sun brings out the finest qualities of the river and we warm to it.

Willy Watt Lock

There are three or four boats on the river today, including one hire boat from Willy Watt marina which has some inexperienced crew. We help them out a bit before pushing ahead, through Titchmarsh Lock and, perhaps, the fleet of the Northamptonshire Royal Navy, ...

Naval vessel at Titchmarsh

... to arrive at Wadenhoe at 1pm to find the mooring at the King's Head full (not surprisingly on this fine day) so with our own sandwiches and a beer hastily made up in the galley we crack on, to arrive at Oundle by 3 pm - a really good pace, with Canal Planner estimating the 16 miles and 10 locks at 8 hours 15 minutes which we managed in 7 hours flat.

Patience at Upper Barnwell Lock

One reason for our speed, of course, is that there are so few moorings where you can pause and pop into a pub. A Great Shame!
On arrival at Oundle Marina we chat to new neighbours and learn that the marina has now been bought by new owners. The folks running the shop are delighted at the purchase and believe there will be a period of much needed investment. Sounds good to me - I hope the enthusiasm is catching.