Monday 21st May 2012

Today was the day that we planned to leave Peterborough and the river Nene behind and travel the Fens on the middle level on our way to the Great Ouse.
With the lock at Stanground booked for 10.30 we left our mooring at 09.45 and headed for the water point to top up the tank and dispose of our bagged rubbish, this done we turned and made for the lock.

We made our turn passing under the rail bridge, leaving the Nene behind us and travelling through Stanground and it riverside houses. One of these houses had been decked out, I guess based on the film "Pirates of the Caribbean" and was very entertaining to look at.

We made our way slowly and arrived on the mooring just before the lock at 10.20, and reported in to the lady lock keeper. We had to wait as there was another narrowboat in the lock coming off the middle level and onto the Nene, and once they were out we entered the lock, after first ordering our key to the services and a new windlass for the two locks ahead of us. 10.30 and we were on our way intending to stop over at Floods Ferry for the night. Pretty soon we had Whittlesey ahead of us and the Sharp bend that we had to negotiate, which was on my mind, as the last time we did it we hit the wall. This was our first narrowboat holiday in August 2008 and our first taste of boating as a couple.

Success, we managed the bend with no scratches or bumps, (what a relief) and made our way to the first of the locks just outside the town. Mooring up just before Ashline lock I prepared it for Sally to drive the boat in, the sluice gates took some winding up and down with over 50 turns for each sluice.
This done we headed for the wide open spaces of the fens with very little to see as the banks are so high and some of the sections are very straight seemingly taking ages from bend to bend. At Floods Ferry we passed the marker for Greenwich time line marker.

The weather forecast was for warmer temperatures, but alas no, we had a strong and cold wind which made the journey rather unpleasant for us both. At around 13.30 I planned to pull over and moor up, but finding one which was safe for Sally to get off the boat was difficult and after several attempts I decided to press on for March. At around 15.30 we reached the town outskirts and would you believe it the sun came out and the temperature started to rise, as did our mood. Passing under the road bridge we came into habitation with some nice private moorings along the narrowing river. I called to a guy on his boat to enquire about moorings and he pointed us in the right direction and we were soon tied up right next to the park with plenty of space for Socks and Gypsy to have a good run around.

Not long after we had moored up, both Sally and I were having a siesta when the phone went. It was Anne, the couple we had met while marooned in Ashton and travelled with as far as Fotheringhay, and we arranged for them to come down at eight for a cup of tea and a chat, which they did, we had tea but no biscuits (for you P**s takers). We had a good hour of catching up and talking about places on the Ouse for fuel and food etc, its good to have friends.