Marooned again

Good morning to you all, as for the blog today it’s just an update for the last week. As you can guess we have once again been marooned but only for a week this time on the Great Ouse because of the heavy rains we have been having. The water has gone up and down some 900mm which has made it impossible to navigate through the lock here at St Ives, and of course EA locked it off for the last four days, and we await its opening for navigation.

The week has been spent with the other two boats, one a NB called Main in Fibre and is decked out all colours of wool, the other a cruiser Morning Mist. As for Sally and I we have made trips into the town for a good mooch around and a bit of shopping, also we have spent time collecting logs for the fire and cutting them up with my new chain saw. We have cleared the front locker and re arranged that and made an effort to clear the cabin roof so it’s not so much like a gypsy boat.

 The long arched bridge entering St Ives

 The chapple on the bridge over the Great Ouse

 The market square

Statute of Oliver Cromwell, as St Ives was his birthplace

On Saturday night we all went into town for a meal with our new friends, which was very nice, and although we had planned on eating Italian all we managed was Pizza due to the Italian restaurant being fully booked. We had ordered that much that we finished up with two large boxes to bring back to the boat and share out for the next day. Back at the boat they all came to ours and had a good time chatting and drinking (well they did, you know I can’t drink), all leaving at around midnight, staggering off to their own boats for a good night’s sleep.

The motley crew, Magi, Richard, David and Jan, with the back of Sally's head.

Today is Tuesday, and we have now been here for a week and eagerly await the EA guys to come back and unlock the system. As we wait today promises to be a sunny and warm day, and as for Sally and I we are all well and very happy.

Good luck with you holiday in Canada John and Jo, and the same for you Karl and Kim on your visit to the States to see Neil and Clare. As for Lady Catherine, get well soon and we look forward to seeing you on our return journey.