Planning for my Ouse Cruise

With Christmas Day almost finished and absolutely nothing on the tv, I thought I would mention my visit to the boat yesterday.

I was partly interested to make sure everything was still OK following the high winds on Monday and I found everything as it should be. The remaining barge pole was still on the roof, wedged under the handgrip, alongside the gang-plank.

Everything inside was fine too so I started the engine and gave it a couple of hours running to boost the batteries. While I did this I checked the exterior and found the bow fender was resting on the jetty. I hadn't noticed this before. Looking at the watermark on the jetty, I could see the river had been about 6" higher than usual which, with a bit of slack on the mooring ropes (and no spring), Skylark had risen up to rest her nose on the jetty.

I carefully put her into reverse and she slid off the woodwork and came to rest where she should be. I then adjusted the ropes again and tied a spring back to a mooring post on the pontoon. This should stop it happening again. It reminded me of last winter when I found Skylark's nose right up on the bank.

At the Little Ouse Moorings, I was told the opposite; when there is a high flow, EA open the main Denver Sluice to drain the system, and it first takes water out of the tributaries nearest to the sluice. The problem may, therefore, be a sharp lowering of the water level without any warning. I'm told some boats upstream of the main  fuel jetty can be beached as a result. Where I'm going, further down the moorings, this should not be too much of a problem but I will need to be aware of it.

I'm now making initial steps to plan my cruise; getting my documentation together, registering with the EA for their Strong Stream Advice, checking my insurance is still valid, noting essential telephone numbers, thinking through my cold-weather packing list and so on.

I have a general plan to travel up the Great Ouse to Bedford first, weather and lock maintenance works permitting, and take in the three Cambridge Lodes again, before heading north to take in the rivers Lark, Little Ouse and Wissey, and the main Relief Channel that passes Downham Market and heads towards Kings Lynn. I may even have a go at the tidal section of the Ouse to Kings Lynn and test out the recently refurbished jetty - the reports are all good. This will need a bit more detailed planning and call to the KL Harbour Master.

I left Skylark at about 2.00pm, having carried out all my usual 'light-touch' winterising. I popped into the Malting's Antique Centre on the way home but nothing tempted me to part with any cash.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I wish all my family and friends

a very happy Christmas

and hope 2014 will prove to be a

good year for everyone.

Panto - DONE

Finishing a Panto always brings mixed feelings. Part of you is sad that it's all come to an end after weeks of rehearsal, rubbing shoulders with lots of like-minded people and performing on stage to full houses but part of you is glad it's all over because of the increasing challenge of learning lines, dances and songs, and of course the natural tensions on and off stage.

Overall, it's a great thing to be involved in and its even better when you get the very positive reaction from the audience. The last night (Sunday) was great and I could hear the screams of children including two of my grandchildren (and many grown-ups) as we searched for the ghost that was, of course, behind us!

Now, I've packed away all the gaudy the costumes, left the highly coloured makeup in its box and dumped my well-worn tights and fully padded bra in the wash bin (until next time?!?).

As a final reminder of what I've been doing....

Now, I can get Christmas out of the way and then it's back to the boat for my 3 month Ouse Cruise.

Too much on my plate?

I don't know if it's anything to do with being retired or my capacity for doing things is just less now I'm a bit older but I remember, not so long ago, I could have dozens of things on the go at the same time and seemed capable of doing them all reasonably well and within a decent timescale.

Now, my time is filled with rehearsing the Christmas Panto, practicing guitar and ukulele, having the Land Rover repaired and serviced, running our Christmas Street Fayre 'pop-up shop', arranging new moorings for Skylark, fixing a leaking roof, collecting Rosie from Lincoln, and planning and preparing for my three month 'cruise'. This should all be a doddle really but it all requires a reasonable amount of thought and discipline to get through it. I've even had to resurrect a prioritised 'things to do' list; something I thought I would not need since retiring.

I occasionally have to remind myself, it's much better than working for a living.

Putting this in context, I'm reading a book at the moment detailing the leadership style and qualities of Ernest Shackleton, as he and his crew planned their pioneering crossing of the Antarctic continent and the period after they found themselves trapped in the Antarctic sea. After their ship sank and with no hope of rescue, their escape through 800 miles of ice and sea took them 2 years and challenged them beyond anything we are likely to encounter. It was a truly inspirational journey, the success of which was largely down to Shackleton's remarkable leadership style.

I had already become aware of this when reading about Scott's last journey. It is without doubt their styles of leadership had to be inspirational to get men to put their lives at risk but their approaches were quite different. Scott drew on his Naval experience of rigorous planning, detailed preparations, achieving order, instilling discipline and creating clear demarcations of roles between the Officers, the scientists and the crew. His diary speaks of great hardships and courage but once his target had been snatched away from him, there is a great sense of disappointment (understandably) but also a sense of being overcome by the enormity of the challenge that lay ahead for them.

Shackleton, on the other hand, had spent time in the Merchant Marine and, while planning and preparation were still vital elements, he had developed an instinctive understanding of recruiting and managing men to best effect and leading them, side by side, through life-threatening challenges. He maintained a clear vision of his target, was able to change tactics as the need arose and instilled confidence in his men that he could achieve success.

As much as I admire Scott and what he achieved, I know which team I would have preferred to be in and I know which man I take most inspiration from.

Their achievements put our  comfortable lives into perspective!

Anyway, I must sort out my Ugly Sister dresses now, ready for tonight's Technical rehearsal.

Christmas Street Fayre

What a fantastic day! The High Street was buzzing.

We converted our front room into a 'pop-up' shop and during the day we welcomed a few hundred people into our home.

Mick and Gena, our boat builders, joined us with some of their brass and copper kettles and we completed the day feeling tired but very happy with the result. It was good to see Roy Hudd, the actor and comedian, who lives nearby. He even bought one of my books. I wish I'd asked him if he wanted my autograph. After all, it's not every day you get the chance to meet an Ugly Sister in civvies.

By the end of the day we had sold loads more bits and pieces to help fund the 'Float my Boat' campaign.

Now all we have to do is put everything away and return our home to normal - but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

After the storm

I knew I shouldn't have left anything on the roof. When I arrived on Friday, my gang-plank was teetering on the edge of my pontoon with one end in the water, the other end hanging on a neighbours mooring rope and one of my barge poles was missing altogether. I had not expected any significant problems because, when I left the boat last week, the weatherbods were predicting a cold snap and a bit of wind. As it turned out, it was the other way round with the worst storm surge for 60 years. Anyway, it could have been worse I suppose.

I went down to Ely, keeping my eyes peeled for a recently wood-stained 3m bargepole but there was no sign of it. Never mind. I still have one and who needs two barge poles anyway?

Ely was even quieter than usual. On days like that, I wonder if I've missed an important Civil Emergency message on BBC Radio Suffolk and everyone has been evacuated to a nuclear bomb shelter in the deepest fens. Anyway, on Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of my bunk and wandered up to the market to find there were still some people about. Phew!

With the real possibility of freezing weather in the coming weeks and months, I thought I should top up my coolant with antifreeze. To be honest, whenever I've topped it up during the year, I've used just plain water, so I thought it might be a bit weak so bought a 5 litre bottle from the local agri-depot and gave it a boost. I also checked the engine oil, which was fine and gave the engine a thorough checking over and clean up. I'll service it fully in the spring after my cruise.

After an hour so of reading my script for the panto (yes, I have read it!), I left at mid day and headed home. There were no other boats on the river so I had the river to myself. I guess the recent weather may have put many people off but it was pretty good from where I was standing.

When I left Skylark, I chatted to another boater at Lazy Otter and told him I would be leaving at the end of December, partly because of the hike in charges. He told me he was leaving too. I suppose this is a fairly natural process with some people shuffling from marina to marina to find the best deal at the time. Of course, the cost is not the only factor but it is one of the main ones, for me anyway.

Tomorrow, we are taking part in the twice yearly Street Fayre, hoping to convert some of our interesting clutter into hard cash. It should help to keep us afloat for another few months.

Little Ouse Moorings

I was sorry to receive notification that the mooring fees at Lazy Otter are increasing. Not unusual I suppose in this period of economic growth (to you and me I think that just means everything is getting more expensive!). However, a 20% increase is a tad over the top in my opinion. The owners put it down to a number of things - inflation, further capital investment for plumbing in an electric supply and, on top of that, they now have to charge VAT as well. I can accept the inflationary figure but, as I don't need an electric supply and don't want to pay VAT unless I can help it, I decided to look for somewhere else to moor - reluctantly, I should say, as I have been very happy with Lazy Otter. It's location is good, the facilities are adequate and the site is nicely secure. I don't want anything else really.

Anyway, I trawled the internet and thought about marinas I have come across and did some phoning around for prices. As cost is a pretty fundamental factor along with good vehicular and pedestrian access, security and pleasant surroundings, I plumped for the Little Ouse Mooring on Brandon Creek (AKA the Little Ouse). It's a little further from Ely (2.5 hrs) but opens up the northern Ouse for me to explore in more detail.

I have been there a few times to fill up with diesel so had a good idea what was on offer but I went to meet Natalie on Friday. All was as I hoped and expected so I signed up there and then. A deposit was paid and I take up my bank-side mooring In April. I'll report more once I've tied up in April.

In the meantime, I have a slight gap in mooring facilities, having to leave Lazy Otter at the end of December. So, my plan is to cruise for the 3 months between December and April with occasional trips home to 'touch base' as the Americans would say. This means I will be able to explore the northern fens and maybe head over to Northampton if all the locks are open. I was told the other day that Stanground Lock in Peterborough may be closed for maintenance until March so my plans will have to take this into account. Kay may also join me at times when her work and the weather allows.

So that's the overall plan. It may change on a day to day basis but I would prefer to be moving about rather than hitching up to EA or GOBA moorings for longer than the requisite 48 hours. I know some people do that, but it's not my way.

Now, what else did I do during my trip last weekend. I pottered up to the EA mooring opposite the River Lark junction - I think it's called the 'Diamond 48'. Very peaceful!

There was no other boat to be seen on the water. I had lunch, washed the boat and cleaned the floor, and generally tidied up.

During the evening, I went to the Maltings and watched the new film called 'Captain Phillips' with Tom Hanks playing a container ship captain. His boat is hijacked by a band of Somali pirates and we see how he and his crew deal with it, with the help of the US Navy. I have to say, it was gripping stuff and Mr Hanks did a great job playing out this real life story. It was quite moving at the end. I would recommend it highly.

When I got back to Skylark, my throat felt as dry as one of those desert sand lizards that stand on three legs at a time so I had to go into the Cutter to down pint of Doom Bar real ale and very nice it was too.

So that was it really. Another nice weekend away, doing boaty things on the river. This will be a busy week with rehearsals continuing, and preparations for the Christmas Street Fair.  

Lastly, Rosie, I thought you might like to see another narrowboat with your name emblazoned on it. Or is this the same one you saw in Lincoln's Brayford Pool?