Homing Spiders!

I've had another couple of days away. I was aiming to go to St Ives but after I picked up some Diesel and sorted things out it was 6.00pm and the sun was quite low in the sky. This would have meant at least 2 hours cruising directly into the sun which is not good so I pointed myself to the east and headed for Ely.

I found a spot near the Maltings and busied myself on board including cleaning, polishing and painting - in between eating, drinking and chilling out. 

The sun was still shining and at one point, during a bike ride into town, the weather conditions forced me to take shelter in the shade of the cathedral. I then did a good impression of an old bloke snoring on the grass. I won't go into any more detail - you'll have to use your imagination.

Now, back to the spiders. As I said in my last post, it's important to keep on top of the spider situation unless you want to live in somewhere that could double as a Hammer House of Horror. Anyway, something I should have mentioned - if you catch a spider and send it over-board, you must watch where it goes, because, in my experience, they immediately start heading back to the boat. Of course, if there is a current or wind he may be forced elsewhere but if neither of these take him away, it's quite likely that the spider will return. So, be warned, your Spiderman may be a homing spider!

I went back to Lazy Otter yesterday morning, packed up and left. Lady Saga was working until 3.00pm and as I didn't want to get home to an empty house, I went down to Milton and cycled into Cambridge.

Cycling in Cambridge for the first time is interesting. For a city geared up to cycling, you would expect your trip to be easy but you have to be very aware of your surroundings - where you are, where you're going and the various priorities and dangers on the road. Most routes across parks or along the river are shared with pedestrians, which is not a problem provided everyone shows some consideration. Other routes are shared with cars, lorries, busses and motorbikes and you have to abide by the usual rules of the road. Some road signs and white line markings can be confusing with cycle ways appearing and then disappearing without warning. On some routes in the city itself, bikes are even prohibited and elsewhere you are forever having to negotiate with pedestrians wandering about in the road so you need your wits about you. One of the saving graces is that pedestrians and drivers do expect to see bikes everywhere so they are always looking out for you. Because of this, I would say cycling is a fairly safe activity and I would recommend it but would suggest, like everywhere, you never let your guard down.

Spiders

I sometimes wonder if, after 18months of boating, I'm beginning to get a bit paranoid about spiders. You see, in the past, I was never too bothered by them. They often turned up in the house, and still do, presumably preferring the comfort and warmth of indoors to the cold and wet of the garden and, as far as I'm concerned, provided they don't cause a problem, I tend to let them get on with their quiet lives. Of course, if they drape their webs over windows or doors, or start to make their presence more visible, I will take a bit of action to evict them but, on the whole, we co-exist fairly well. 

On the boat it is different. When I turn up after a few days away, I will find webs strung out from the mooring ropes, across the doors and hatches, hanging in the sunshine from the tiller and fenders, all of them advertising their catches of insects, blossom and seeds. Inside, I find them under the gunwales, inside the cupboards, around the ceiling, hanging in the engine room, and even across the tv, (presumably to get a good view). Particularly annoying are the long invisible strands of web that hang from one side of the boat to the other that catch you unawares. Now, I'm not saying it's like the opening scenes of an Indiana Jones film but it can get a bit much.

So, I spend some time ridding myself of them.

I know there are lots of things on the market to deter or kill spiders and some people even try natural remedies like conkers but I have not gone down those routes (yet). I prefer a more 'hands on' low input approach involving mainly a broom, a hand brush and an odd bucket of water.

Given that most spiders use trees, bushes and other over-hanging vegetation to make the journey from terra firma to nb Skylark, I try to moor away from these things - not always possible or desirable so compromise is often needed.

Also, as prevention is better than cure, I always close all the portholes when I leave the boat for any length of time. Ventilation has to be maintained so more compromise may be called for.

I also try to keep the amount of clutter down to a minimum, both inside and out, as this gives spiders too many places to hide.

My initial searches for spiders usually start around the mooring ropes and fenders. Spiders loves these as places to curl up and hide during the day so I give them a good sweep and an occasional dousing with river water. This also keeps them looking clean and tidy. Portholes, and other external openings come next. Spiders find them good places to catch insects so I give them a brush and a wash. Door hinges, latches, under roof over-hangs, etc all get a brush and occasional wash.

Inside, my regular sweeping of the floor includes looking for spiders. I sweep the edges, wooden walls, under the gunwales, along the ceiling edges, around any boxes, under chairs, etc, etc. This is not much more than I would do just to keep the boat clean so it's not a big job.

When I come across a spider I am not keen on killing it but prefer to take the humane option of evicting it either back to dry land if that option is available or it may be given a quick swimming lesson. Occasionally, they may get sucked up the hoover dustbuster or get squashed under a shoe but this is rare. Well, I do have a heart!

So, with a little thought I can keep the problem down to a manageable level and it really only involves a little extra work above and beyond normal cleaning routines. 'Little and often' seems to be the answer.

To end on another positive note, someone told me recently, if you have spiders on a boat, you have a dry, warm boat - that's why they like it. Now I'm not sure if I should be evicting them or not.

Ahhhhh! Tell me I'm not getting paranoid!

Cinderella

Great News luvvie! I have scooped the role of one of the two Ugly Sisters so if you happen to see me on the river or on a mooring apparently speaking to myself, I am learning my lines. This, in itself, is a rare occurrence because I don't usually bother to learn any lines, just hope that I've grasped the general drift of the story and 'wing it' on the night. After all, that's what Panto is all about, isn't it?

Now, what sort of Ugly will I be? A Les Dawson, a Lily Savage, a Camilla, a Fergie, a Hinge or Bracket? I wonder!

Update on giffgaff

It's been a week since I signed up to giffgaff and there are no problems to report.

The phone and text still work well (which are all I need) though the O2 service is a little temperamental indoors.

The over-riding plus is the cost. It's unbelievably cheap, cheap, cheap!

Without wanting to sound like a chicken, I can only suggest you visit their website and see for yourself.

Edit: I see '3' is advertising a very cheap PAYG deal but you must have a 3G phone (which I don't). Again, might be worth looking at.

Ely Museum etc

I reached Ely by mid morning on Monday and found a snug spot next to the Maltings though I think I may have disturbed a lady in her cruiser as I gracefully slid into the tight spot. She didn't seem inclined to smile much as I waved to her and mouthed a friendly 'hello'. Oh well, perhaps she got out of the wrong side of her bunk.

Anyway, not to be brought down by Mrs Grumpy, I pitched up and got the kettle on. The Great Ouse and Ely waterfront were looking their best in the bright sunshine.

 

I spent some time pottering about on Skylark, getting her looking her best and sorting out the catches for the relocated corridor door. I also did some more painting - touching up the edges.

 

After lunch on Tuesday I headed into town (sorry, city), and visited the little Ely Museum located at the top of one of the main shopping streets. The building has been used for many things including the local gaol. Having a healthy interest in prisons and the treatment of offenders, I couldn't resist spending some time in the gaol exhibition. Apparently this young chap was being restrained by his legs and has a spiked neck brace on to stop him escaping apparently. It looked to me like someone in the magistrate's office had a sadistic tendency!

 

 

If this wasn't bad enough, the next day he was taken off to have his neck stretched. Usually, the rope would be too short to break the convicted criminal's neck; he or she would just be pushed off a cart or ladder and left to choke to death. Family and friends would often rush up to pull on the person's legs to speed up the process and shorten his or her suffering. They could even pay people to this, hence the term, 'hangers on'.

 

Execution days were well advertised in the local press and often hundreds and even thousands of people turned out to watch and join in with the 'carnival' atmosphere. This type of rowdy behaviour was particularly prevalent in London and started to become frowned upon by polite society. The popular writings of people like Charles Dickens and Thackeray went a long way to get things changed once they had been to see a hanging for themselves.

 

In the Museum, there was also a section on the Ely and Littleport Riots in the 18th century. A large group of workers went into Ely to protest about low wages and this turned into a drunken riot outside and then inside the local magistrate's house. When he called the militia from Bury St Edmunds, the rioters withdrew to Littleport where they were arrested following further fighting. Various penalties were metered out including gaol, transportation and execution. This is what the rioters looked like apparently...

 

The Museum is a quaint little place, steeped in its own history and presenting a clear picture of the history of the city and its surroundings. It was only £3.50 to visit so really good value for money.

Back to the boat to practice some serious chilling out.

I left today and headed home. The Ouse was still looking fantastic.

giffgaff mobile phone service

I have just transferred my PAYG mobile provider from Vodafone to giffgaff. I was getting pretty annoyed at Vodafone's 25p per full or part of a minute call charges. My routine calls home were becoming expensive especially if I ran over a full minute.

So, I have gone to giffgaff, a community-run service based on the back of O2. PAYG calls are only 10p (minimum) and each second over that is charged per second. Texts are only 6p. giffgaff to giffgaff calls are free. Various options are available (goody-bags) for people wanting more calls, texts and internet services. These involve monthly charges from £10 to £25.

I have transferred my old number and wait to see if the service lives up to all the positive feedback left by its members. Remember, this is a community-run organisation not a commercial organisation. It's run by ordinary people for its members, it's simple, inexpensive, they use terms I can understand and it is a refreshing change from the commercial sector.

I suggest you look at their website.

I will report back on progress!

More odd jobs

A couple of nights in Ely. It was very busy when I arrived on Friday with only one spot available under the big willow near the Maltings. This is not good place to be overnight as roosting pigeons leave quite a mess on the roof each morning. So, as another space became available, I moved. The view from my front door, just before the sun went down...

Not wanting to over-stretch myself, I decided to paint my fairly new door lock. Being a bright shiny lock, I thought it might say to any would-be-burglar, 'There must be something expensive in there!' but, of course, there isn't. So, I painted the backplate the same dark green as the door. This has helped to tone it down a bit and may deter anyone from even trying to force it open.

I also moved the internal door from back end of the bathroom corridor to the front end. Lady Saga had put in this request to help provide her with a little more 'modesty' when she enters and leaves the bathroom in a state of undress. Believe me, this was a morning well spent.

 

Now considering further excursions before the summer ends.

Bedford

Leaving Lazy Otter by the middle of the morning, we aimed to be at St Ives in 6 hours passing Hermitage Lock half way. We had a short wait at Hermitage while the Lock Keeper finished his lunch and then carried on to Brownshill Staunch.

This stretch of the Great Ouse is very attractive. Once you get through the rather tight and weedy corridor of the Old West River, the Ouse widens out at Earith covering the short length of tidal waters. The seals are still wallowing about with their young which makes this an interesting section.

From Brownshill, the river becomes much more varied with traditional water meadows and hedges becoming the norm. Interestingly, EA have started to reintroduce Eels to the part of the river. Over the years their numbers have reduced by up to 90% because their movement upstream to spawn has been blocked by the lock structures. I saw quite a few of the young eels (the elvers) in the Brownshill Lock gates. These 3" tiddlers were already 3 years old and would grow over the years to 12" or more. We even saw a young seal eating one of the adults on our return trip. He was having quite a job keeping the eel in his mouth while he chewed chunks out of it.

St Ives was attractive as always and not too busy. Following a quite night on the town moorings, we headed for Huntingdon, stopping off at Hemmingford Grey just to have a look at all the posh places in the village. There's not much else to do in HG. Even the lone pub was closed.

Huntingdon waterfront was full so we went on. We stopped at St Neots to find we had stumbled on the annual rowing regatta.

We stayed overnight, spending a very nice evening with a couple of friends in a local Greek restaurant. The next morning the regatta people started to arrive on the opposite side of the river and it was quite interesting to watch this but, as the competitions started, it became obvious that the event was really only of interest to rowers and their supporters as there was no real 'public' stuff going on. Once we had seen a dozen crews going down the river and returning out of breath, we thought we'd seen enough so we unhitched ourselves from the Priory moorings and continued our journey up the river.

We hoped to over-night at the very attractive Great Barford moorings but all the places were taken. The EA moorings next to the Anchor we taken by 5 narrowboats and the GOBA moorings on the opposite side were taken by about 20 cruisers attending a GOBA event. So we went on and decided to visit on the way back.

In contrast, Bedford was quiet and we appeared to be the only visitors. We went through Bedford Lock involving a sharp right-hand bend followed by a sharp left-hander.

We moored at the 48 hour Sovereign moorings just past the County Court.

If you're interested in fairly recent English history, this is where James Hanratty was convicted of the A6 murders in 1962 and was later hanged at Bedford Jail. He was the last man to be hanged in England ending thousands of years of capital punishment.

While the moorings were quite near the city centre, we were not disturbed at any time. However, if we moor here in future we will probably find a more secluded spot on the Victorian 'island' near the lock chamber. This photo shows where I waited for Lady Saga to prepare the lock. It gives a good impression of the attractiveness of this whole area...

There's nothing much else to say about Bedford from my point of view though I guess the local Tourist Board could think of something positive to say about it. By the way, the Imray Guide says public navigation is possible right up to Kempston Mill. As I was not sure about this, we took a walk along the river to see for ourselves. Apparently the Mill was burnt down about 20 years ago and the area is now built up with trendy houses. The river is narrow and shallow, and I could not see anywhere to turn a boat longer than about 20 feet. I was glad I had not tried to get there in Skylark - it would have been a stressful operation reversing a 60 foot boat back down the river for almost 2 miles!

Our return journey to Lazy Otter gave us the opportunity to stop at Great Barford (below), St Neots, Huntingdon and St Ives.

At St Neots we saw the best sunset of the trip and, yes, I had to photograph it above one of my newly polished mushroom vents!

Not wanting to return home too soon, we went down to Ely for a couple of days. Being a fairly vibrant 'arty' sort of place, the local folk had organised a couple of bands on the Jubilee Gardens on the Saturday and then another couple on the Sunday. It gives the place a real sense of community activity.

Incidentally I read in the GOBA magazine that East Cams District Council is waiting for some Government chappie to sign a document handing over the ownership of the remaining bits of waterfront to them. It may take him more than 48 hours to sign it but once this is done, they will enforce the 48 hour mooring conditions much more vigorously. This will probably upset some of the 'over-stayers' who have set up home there.

When we left on Sunday afternoon, we passed the Fish and Duck Marina and had a brief opportunity to speak to a resident there about the crane that had fallen into the water. He said the jetty had collapsed under the weight of the crane - a nasty surprise for the driver! He fortunately survived the accident.

So, that's it. A very pleasant 10 days cruising in a very tranquil and attractive part of the country.

I would recommend it but, shhhh, don't tell everyone!