21st July 2016
Up quite late around 8am and had a lazy breakfast. There was enough hot water left after washing up for 1 shower, so I put the engine on to heat up enough for another before we left. It's actually best for the helm to have the first shower, and then just let the crew members have theirs as we go along. That way you are not running the engine just to heat water, which is quite wasteful, and the batteries are usually fully charged after a couple of hours running anyway, so it's a bit of a waste of diesel, and will also bring the oil change service forward as well.
We left at 10:30 and ran upstream aiming for St Neots, encountering several of the ubiquitous Nene locks on the way. I am sure I have mentioned this earlier in the blog, but Nene and Great Ouse locks are almost all identical in layout, with a few exceptions. There is a bottom (downstream) guillotine gate which is a vertical gate, electrically operated on most of the locks from a padlocked cabinet on the lock side. The top gates are a more traditional layout, with a pair of V gates pointing upstream, with manual paddles (slackers) operated by a windlass. Apparently all the guillotine gates used to be windlass operated (phew!) but these days the few manual gates on the Nene have a wheel, which is still quite hard work. The locks are all quite wide, and would accommodate a widebeam canal boat easily enough. Some enlarge even further after the gate with a "bulge" in the middle and can take several boats at a time, especially as you get nearer to Bedford.
The whole navigation system of the two rivers was falling into quite a state of disrepair by the 1930s, and very close to being abandoned, but its potential as a transport system was seen by those in power with approaching war in mind, and a huge renovation project was undertaken, which enabled these two rivers to serve as a major goods artery along with the canal system throughout the second world war.
Half way to St Neots, we found a very quiet marina - at Buckden, and managed to empty the rather full toilet tank and find someone to unlock the pump and fill us up with Diesel. This is a very pretty stretch of the river, and I took a lot of photos. Eventually we arrived in St Neots, and moored up on the 48 hour moorings next to the Priory Centre. This is Joel and Shannon's last night on the boat, so I sent Joel off with Shannon to have a nice meal out together. Last time I did this they went to Subway, so I stuck a £20.00 note in Joel's hand and told him to take her somewhere nicer - to a pizza restaurant at least! There were a few boats on the mooring pontoon, and people around, so as there is safety in numbers I decided to lock up the boat and go back to get the van in the evening cool. It was a lovely motorbike ride along the B roads, as the sun went down behind the trees - I often find myself stopping and pulling out my compact camera for a snap or two on these journeys. The biggest problem is finding a quiet side street to park in, but I am getting better at it, often spotting a suitable location as I ride out of the town on my moped or bike, and then hopping back on it for the 3 or 4 minute ride back to the boat once I am parked.
Up quite late around 8am and had a lazy breakfast. There was enough hot water left after washing up for 1 shower, so I put the engine on to heat up enough for another before we left. It's actually best for the helm to have the first shower, and then just let the crew members have theirs as we go along. That way you are not running the engine just to heat water, which is quite wasteful, and the batteries are usually fully charged after a couple of hours running anyway, so it's a bit of a waste of diesel, and will also bring the oil change service forward as well.
We left at 10:30 and ran upstream aiming for St Neots, encountering several of the ubiquitous Nene locks on the way. I am sure I have mentioned this earlier in the blog, but Nene and Great Ouse locks are almost all identical in layout, with a few exceptions. There is a bottom (downstream) guillotine gate which is a vertical gate, electrically operated on most of the locks from a padlocked cabinet on the lock side. The top gates are a more traditional layout, with a pair of V gates pointing upstream, with manual paddles (slackers) operated by a windlass. Apparently all the guillotine gates used to be windlass operated (phew!) but these days the few manual gates on the Nene have a wheel, which is still quite hard work. The locks are all quite wide, and would accommodate a widebeam canal boat easily enough. Some enlarge even further after the gate with a "bulge" in the middle and can take several boats at a time, especially as you get nearer to Bedford.
The whole navigation system of the two rivers was falling into quite a state of disrepair by the 1930s, and very close to being abandoned, but its potential as a transport system was seen by those in power with approaching war in mind, and a huge renovation project was undertaken, which enabled these two rivers to serve as a major goods artery along with the canal system throughout the second world war.
Half way to St Neots, we found a very quiet marina - at Buckden, and managed to empty the rather full toilet tank and find someone to unlock the pump and fill us up with Diesel. This is a very pretty stretch of the river, and I took a lot of photos. Eventually we arrived in St Neots, and moored up on the 48 hour moorings next to the Priory Centre. This is Joel and Shannon's last night on the boat, so I sent Joel off with Shannon to have a nice meal out together. Last time I did this they went to Subway, so I stuck a £20.00 note in Joel's hand and told him to take her somewhere nicer - to a pizza restaurant at least! There were a few boats on the mooring pontoon, and people around, so as there is safety in numbers I decided to lock up the boat and go back to get the van in the evening cool. It was a lovely motorbike ride along the B roads, as the sun went down behind the trees - I often find myself stopping and pulling out my compact camera for a snap or two on these journeys. The biggest problem is finding a quiet side street to park in, but I am getting better at it, often spotting a suitable location as I ride out of the town on my moped or bike, and then hopping back on it for the 3 or 4 minute ride back to the boat once I am parked.
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