End of summer?

The last three days on Skylark felt a little odd. I know it's early October but the weather was more like summer with temperatures in the low 20's and clear blue skies above. There were still lots of birds around, even quite young ones, and the grasses and trees still had a bright green colour to them. However, the weather forecast for the end of the week is a sharp decrease in the temperatures and strong northerly winds. So perhaps the summer has ended and we have to brace ourselves for autumn and winter. It could be a nasty shock!

For now though, the river is looking good. For one thing, I don't think there has been the same amount of waterweed in the river as last year. The upper reaches of the Old West River was a bit tangled at times but then we have to accept that there has been little flow and this stretch is quite narrow. The rest of the section north and south of Ely has been quite free flowing and now there is little sign of the encroaching weeds. The quality of the water also looks fine with clear sight of the bottom in many places and many small and large fishes to be seen (and last week quite a few crayfish too).

I took the short hop up to Prickwillow to see the annual ploughing competition. I remember last year we all had to wear wellies as it was so wet underfoot. This year the ground was so dry and hard the heavy horses couldn't be used; they tried but couldn't turn the soil to any degree.

I met up with Mick and Gina with their latest narrowboat, Slow and Easy. It's for sale if you're interested and based on the same 60' hull used for Skylark. Mick has also adopted the same interior design of tongue and groove panelling. I like the paint job they have created and may introduce some of the finer details on Skylark when I get around to tackling the exterior next year.

 



Now, to much more interesting things - spiders! Having been away from Skylark for a couple of weeks, a number of quite large spiders had taken up residence on the outside of Skylark. They were tucked up in all sorts of nooks and crannies like under the roof overhangs, inside the fenders, in the cracks around the hatches and portholes, and so on. As they popped their heads out to see why their new home was moving down the river, I either sent them packing onto dry land or gave them a quick swimming lesson. Inside, there were fewer of them as I had closed all the portholes for the duration.

While in Ely, I gathered a few handfuls of Horse Chestnuts to place around the boat. I know this technique has not been scientifically proved effective but there are many people who swear by it. So, anyway, I thought I would give it a try. First of all, I sliced each one open (in true Blue Peter fashion - making sure I didn't lose any of my fingertips in the process). This lets out whatever smell the spiders dislike.

Then I placed them strategically around the boat where spiders tend to gather, in the portholes, around the doors, in the corners of the engine room, etc. I was careful not to over-do it because I didn't want Skylark to look like something out of 'Winnie the Pooh goes for a Tramp in the Woods'. But, in small numbers, I thought they looked OK...

Now, I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't see any of the little blighters jumping overboard in response to my onslaught but then I don't suppose I would, would I? In reality, I suppose this is just another technique in my arsenal of WMDs against spiders. As I saId before, I'm not getting paranoid...am I?

On Tuesday I left Ely to bask in the last few rays of sunshine before the winter chill descends. It was nice to have the waterfront almost to myself for a few days.

I will probably be out again next weekend to experience the odd pleasure of freezing my chestnuts off in a northerly gale followed by a hot meal and a pint of Abbot in the Cutter. Bon Voyage!