12th June 2012

What a great day we have had, but a little scary as the river is yet again in flood and it looks like we will be here for a few days.

Having worked for Jewson for a couple of years before retiring I was surprised to learn that it was here at Westview Marina or at least on this site at Earith, that the company first came into being. On the wharf as it was known was where Mr George Jewson and his son John founded the builder’s merchants Jewson and Sons in 1836 and one of their original buildings can still be seen in the new estate at the entrance to the marina.

Anyway after topping up the tanks we left for St Ives and steadily pushed against the flow of the river up to the lock at Brownshill Staunch. We could tell that there was quite a flow, as at 1350 rpm we were only just making headway. The banks of the river were lost in the flooded fields which lined the river, and both seemed to flow into one (a little disconcerting at times).

As we approached the lock a boater coming back down stream called to say that he was unable to get through the lock at St Ives, but as he was a high river boat we figured that we would be ok and pressed on. At the lock we waited for a plastic boat to clear before we entered the lock, with water flowing over the tops of each of the guillotine gates we realised that we would be against this flow all the way today, but hey that’s fine. On we went toward the pub the Pike and Eel, with the river overflowing the banks on both side so extra care was made to ensure we stayed in the middle of the flow, and in places where it narrowed the current increased. At these spots we had to up the revs in order to maintain headway as we almost came to a standstill (wished I had stayed on the pontoon at Earith) but we slowly pushed through to a wider section.

Reaching the quaint village of Holywell, with its thatched roved cottages we yet again hit a narrow section with a sharp left hand bend, and the current was coming at us from all sides, the only answer was to open the throttle and drive the boat though the swirls and eddies, trying to maintain the centre of the river. Sally was busy taking photographs, and I had to ask her to sit down as the boat was being buffeted around. I have to say that I was on edge and a little nervous, but Sally was just fine, I guess it’s because she has such tremendous faith in me and my abilities, which in itself is a nice feeling.

Holywell behind us it was now a simple run down to the lock at St Ives, although the flow at times gave us a lot to think about. We passed a few of the GOBA mooring sites but could not stop, as they were lost in the high water and it would not have been safe to pull over. With the lock in sight we slowly made our way up and onto the pontoon for mooring whilst the lock is prepared and after a walk up to check it out we decided to give it a go as the board read 1800mm of headroom. I approached very slowly and it soon became apparent that we would not get under it, so we backed off again to the pontoon and moored up to wait for the water to subside.

During the next hour another narrowboat arrived and with a cratch cover it made him even higher than we were, so taking advice he moored up alongside. Next came a riverboat, and we assisted them to moor up in front of us, so that now made the three of us, David and Jan on the riverboat with Richard and Margi on the narrowboat.

We all soon got chatting and eventually got out a table and chairs, with us all sat around drinking beer and having a good time. It was a night full of stories and laughter and did not end until 01.30 in the morning, and most a little worse for wear for the drink, but what a great night (yet more new friends). Now with EA locking down for 48 hours it looks like we will be having some fun while being marooned yet again on the river.

This is how it looked this morning, having to wade through the water to get to the bank, so now its time to build a bridge.