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!

Down to Ely part 2

17th July 2016

Had a quick breakfast at 6, and decided to get moving as the sun was already up and getting warm.

I got the motorbike out, unfolded it, put all my kit on, set up Google Maps for cycling directions, put one side of a pair of headphones in my ear to get the audio directions, and headed off slowly. After a couple of miles, I was guided down  a byway, which started off as a farm track, but with lumps of broken concrete, became less and less road like, eventually turning into a narrow single track rut and finally a flattened bracken track. I later looked the route up and found out it was an old drove road. The little moped coped surprisingly well, but I didn't try to go above 15mph. I was captivated by the sight of fields of poppies, and a swan's nest full of cygnets that had obviously never seen a human before - they showed no sign of fear at the sight of me and my bike whatsoever. After a few more miles, the track widened out, the surface turned to gravel, and then broken tarmac, and finally I joined a small road again. A little further along I rode through a completely abandoned hamlet, complete with a church, with the whole front wall coming away from the rest of the building. Due to the drainage of the Fens, the land has dried out and the ground shrunk, resulting in a lot of building instability. Many villages and some quite large churches have been abandoned to the Fens in this way.

Back at the van, I was really hot in my biker gear, and drove back in shorts and t shirt with the window open to try and cool down a bit. Found an Aldi at Chatteris and did a shop for fresh stuff - very lucky as we had run out of tea bags. I spent a while standing in front of the open fridge section. Parked up in a quiet back road in Littleport about half a mile from the mooring. A white van is totally inconspicuous if it isn't left in one place for too long. Started the engine on the boat at 11:30, and headed off to Ely, arriving at the Town Quay at 1pm, and slotting in to one of the last spaces on the quay under the trees in the little park. 48 hour moorings here. There are good facilities for boaters provided by the EA, including rubbish disposal, water, toilet pump-out and elsan disposal.  I had a good wander round the town, as far as the cathedral and Oliver Cromwell's house. Will have a proper look later, as I am staying for a couple of days. It was very hot today - reached 28C and was still 22C at 8pm.

Gas went off today - it turned out that the full cylinder I had fitted at Ramsay was completely empty. I was surprised, as the previous owner said that a cylinder usually lasted a whole season. I swapped the regulator over to the spare cylinder, but could smell gas. Checked all the hoses and unions, but all tight. Still smelling gas. Got a cup and mixed washing up liquid 50:50 with water, and smeared it all over the hose unions - finally spotted bubbles coming through the alloy of the regulator body - it had gone porous! Have come across this before in alloy wheels and engine cylinder heads. There's another job to do tomorrow - fortunately there is a small chandlery in Ely right near the quay.