Great Barford to Bedford (Priory Marina)

23rd July 2016

Last night was an early one, so it's hardly surprising that this morning was also an early start! I was up at 6am, and ready to get going by 8:00, however I was just about to cast off when I remembered that I had left the motorbike in the van! Fortunately I was only parked 2  minutes walk from the mooring, and by wheeling the bike down to the mooring I didn't have to start the engine and disturb the peace and quiet so early on a Saturday morning.

I was sorry to leave this lovely quiet mooring. Once under way, there were three locks to negotiate, one being the very deep Castle Mill lock. The procedure when on your own is as follows, assuming the lock is ready for you with the bottom gate already open. If not you have to get the lock ready by mooring up, emptying the lock, and then opening the bottom gate, a procedure which can delay passage by up to 10 minutes.

1) Drive into the lock, placing your helm position by a ladder. DON'T turn off the engine - you may need to jump back on and manoeuvre the boat in a hurry!

2) Get your centre rope / ropes (in my case) and put them over your shoulders, uncoiled so they can trail down in front of you and down in between your arms - you don't want to lose them, or you will lose the boat!

3) Carefully climb off the boat and onto the ladder, then ascend slowly, making sure the ropes pay out behind you and you don't trip on them or slip on the slimy rungs.

4) Once on the side of the lock, tie the boat up and close the bottom gate, then start filling the lock, constantly making sure there is plenty of slack in the ropes and the boat won't get pulled over by being tied too tight.

5) When the lock is full, open the top gates, drive out, moor on the upstream landing stage, and go back and reset the lock if nobody is coming downstream. (All Nene and Great Ouse locks are supposed to be left empty and with the guillotine gate open)

This lot can take up to half an hour per lock, which is why canal and river distance is often measured in lock - miles. (Add the number of locks to the distance travelled). The three locks negotiated, I soon arrived at Priory Marina, a very well run marina owned by the Canal and Rivers Trust (formerly British Waterways), and filled my nearly empty water tank before wandering over to the office to ask where they wanted me to put the boat. The great thing about boating today is that you can contact the marinas a couple of days ahead of arrival, having a much better idea of when you will get to your destination, and book only the days you need.

Once on the mooring, I had lunch, and then a lazy cycle ride back to Great Barford along the very beautiful "National Cycle Route 51," to collect the van. Final jobs on board included stripping the beds, packing everything up and taking it all home for washing. Goodbye, "Escape,"moped, motorbike,  see you in a week.

A day in Ely

18th July 2016

Today I allowed myself a bit of a lie in, as I wasn't moving the boat, but I had a lot of jobs to do on board before Joel and Shannon arrived on the train with Koko (our Border Terrier) at mid-day. Normally I wouldn't have the dog on board, but Leila is away with the Sacha and Ben, so if Joel wants to have a week on the boat, he has to bring the dog with.

First I went back to Littleport to get the van, deciding to cycle rather than motorbike. The folding Di-Blasi bike I bought is actually quite good, with 20" wheels and 7 gears and it rides quite well.... on the road that is. The only safe way back to the van was along the flood bank beside the river, and in places this was very overgrown and extremely hard going. The roads were 60mph, narrow and straight in the main, so cars would be very close and fly past at speed. Transport back to the van seems to be a continuous problem, I aim to try a variety of methods to see what works best, but the combination of a folding moped for longer journeys and a folding bike for shorter ones is the best so far. Arriving back in Ely, there is free parking all over the place, but cleverly designed to prevent commuters to Cambridge from leaving their cars parked all day. For example, the car park at the far end of the Quay is free except no parking at all from 8-9am, and the road leading to the car park is free except for no parking 10-11 am, so as long as you are actually there to move your car, there is no problem staying as long as you need.

Once back, I went over to the marina across from the quay. Their gas bottles were very reasonable, £22.00, so I bought one and walked it back on the bike carrier. However, their diesel was VERY expensive at £1.20 a litre, and they wanted £30.00 a night for visitor moorings. The little chandler in Ely was very good and had a few bits and pieces other than the gas regulator that I needed (don't they always?) including a folding plate drying rack. The boat is starting to feel more like a home all the time. Just like home, though, there were domestic jobs to do, and now that I had the van, I could drive up to the launderette and wash all the towels and bedding. While that lot was on, I emptied the bin, toilet tank, and did a small shop, keeping track of where Joel and Shannon had got to on the train. Went back to the launderette to dry the washing. The machines never spin fast enough, so the clothes always need a lot of drying. This just takes too long, not to mention all the 20p coins required, but it's the waiting that is really the problem.

Joel and Shannon arrived around mid-day, with a very bemused and tired Koko. It was really hot. She was totally confused about the boat, so we kept her under the trees and splashed her with water to keep her cool, while I stripped a load more excess fur off her to help her cope with the hot weather. The kids went off to have a cuddle under a tree, so I left them to it - young love! I also washed the right side of the boat, the bucket and sponge keeping me a bit cooler, and the sun having moved round so that the huge trees on the quay were able to give us some welcome shade all afternoon.

At around 1pm, Steve from Titan Boat Covers arrived to pattern the boat for a new canopy, as all the stitching is ripping out of the old original 10 year old one and it is coming to pieces. Basically he is a tailor. For boats. He had a huge roll of pattern paper, with which he made a template for a new cover. This has to be done bespoke because no boat is truly symmetrical and if you try and measure one side only, you will end up with a poor fitting lop-sided cover.

We had a lazy rest of the afternoon, wandering up to the town market square for fish and chips (only just in time - the shop shut at 7pm!) and back to the boat by 8:15 to sort out sleeping arrangements and make up the double in the front of the boat. Koko only needs showing once where her bed is, and she knows what to do. I am no different!