Back to the Cam

Given the confusion over dates for access by narrow boats to the Backs of the Cam I contacted the River Manager, who kindly replied to say:

  "Somehow, over time, the dates for permitting navigation along the 'middle river' or College Backs have become muddled. The Conservators have never formally defined a policy by committee decision insofar as I have been able to find out by reading through the Minutes. I believe that the policy to control traffic along these reaches is delegated to the 'Control Officer' in accordance with byelaw 3 (n.b. the River Manager holds the combined posts of statutory Control Officer/Engineer and Clerk).
  The present working arrangement is to permit motorised craft access above Jesus Lock between 1st October and 31st March each year. We worked closely with Camboaters on the useful guidance document for navigating the Backs. As we drafted the document, I decided to stick with 1st October. It would be unfair to restrict motorised craft for more than 6 months. This at least achieves a balance between powered and unpowered river craft users."

All of this is extremely reasonable and even flexible. A narrow boat is a real danger amongst a flotilla of inexperienced tourist punters and caution is needed even when the flotilla has reduced to a huddle of frozen Japanese students at Christmas - but at least going in the off season reduces the risk.

I think the best action for anyone contemplating motoring the backs is to use those dates as a wise guideline then contact the Cam Conservators directly - which was always the case anyway. And do view the new booklet, which is informative and well produced, as well as our own blog entries for useful detail and planning.

Not entirely incidentally, since our own trip, licensing arrangements have changed and boaters should be aware that there is now a charge, separate from the Environment Agency license, to boat on the Cam. See http://www.camconservators.co.uk/registration.html for details. That would be £121 (if purchased in advance) for 45 ft Patience simply to visit the stretch of water from Baits Bite Lock onwards for a few days as a visitor. An additional expense to think about before leaving EA territory ....

Dreadnought

On Wednesday last a piece in The Times showed a pleasant photo of a narrow boat on the Cam at The Backs claiming that travel by narrow boats on this stretch of river was only possible on New Year’s Day.
Having made the journey ourselves in 2011 I responded and my letter - together with David’s classic shot of Clare and Kings - featured in The Times of 4th January 2014. I suppose “Dreadnought” refers to the alarming size of Patience compared to puny punts.
Fame for Patience!

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.

Hull Repaint

As it has been nearly four years since Patience last had her hull painted, we decided to have her taken out of the water to repaint everything up to the level of the gunwales. She was lifted out on 11th November, cleaned down and put under cover by the very capable crew at Oundle Marina.  After a thorough cleaning, the hull was found to be generally in very good order, but they wire brushed, treated and primed some areas of rust adjacent to the rubbing strakes.  They then repainted her hull sides with two coats of bitumen, with an extra one for good measure immediately above and below the waterline.  We then tackled the red and white bands around the stern, the red tiller, the inside of the weed hatch and the dark green sides of the hull immediately above the bitumen. Four new sacrificial anodes were attached, two at the bow and two at the stern. The old ones that still had some life left in them were left in position.

The quality of all the work done by the marina staff was excellent and they were very helpful in giving us access to her to do our own painting.  After five weeks on dry land, she is due to be craned back into the water on 16th December and we hope that, after such a thorough job, her hull will be good for at least another four years.

Stern before work started

After cleaning and rust treatment

Ready to go back in the water

Autumn in Welford

A bright autumnal day, and though the mellow fruitfulness may have gone the leaves are still on the trees and filtering the sun in golden shafts. A good day for boating, except that Patience is currently having her bottom blacked in Oundle.
So, reluctant to miss the a boat-flavoured visit, I headed further west along the A14 to spy out some other marinas. Despite some confusion in my mind between Walton, Whilton, Welton and Welford I ended up in the latter and found it a very attractive spot.

Welford is mid-way along the route of the Leicester to Northampton turnpike, at a point where there was a ford on the river Avon. There is a neat, if packed, wharf, a  marina a few hundred yards further up, and boats moored along the canal between the two. The pub, The Wharf, was packed with locals and walkers (its website briefly describes local walks too) and it all had a busy and sociable feel to it.

A detailed set of information boards suggest walking routes and gives local history, and evidently it is popular with walkers.
I took the simplest route from the wharf, around the marina, past the lock and along the tow path to the junction with the Leicester Line of the Grand Union, returning the same way, a distance of 4 miles or so.

I couldn't find any contact details for the marina while I was there. They seem not to have a website, but I found one phone number: 01858 575995 which might be a contact for Les, the man in charge.
Welford: A bit off the beaten track, and all the better for it!

Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka ...

Just back from hot and humid Sri Lanka - and still shivering with the temperature change - I thought I'd give a mention of a canal in that far off Island.
The Hamilton Road Canal at Negombo, now only a few miles from the international airport, was started by the King of Kotte to transport local produce from the interior to the coast. It was later developed by The Dutch and later again by the local British agent Garvin Hamilton.
We didn't have time for boating ourselves but would recommend it if you're staying more than a day or two at Negombo. Apart from anything else it's cooler afloat!
I won't go on at length but leave you with a photo from the Visit Sri Lanka website and a few links for further reading.

The Hamilton Canal: A Past and Future Waterway 
and Explore Sri Lanka

An enchanting waterway
Trip Advisor

Environment Agency at Work

Taking advantage of a brief window of good weather, we took Patience to The King's Head at Wadenhoe, a two hour trip each way, giving Patience a useful stretch and ourselves a beer and a fine lunch.
On the way up the weather was splendid, bright with whispy clouds. It started to rain at Wadenhoe in the afternoon and stayed wet or damp all the way back.
But what it was good to see was the efforts of Environment Agency men busily keeping things up to scratch.
Here we encountered three men in a boat, at Barnwell Top Lock, painting the yellow "cill" signs inside the lock.

And here we found more men, one in a Landrover and another in a giant weed-gathering machine (most impressive) which is bigger by far than the weedy little boats we passed last year on the Middle Levels.

Thank you, EA men - and keep up the good work!