Stuck tight

Monday the 9^th July and it’s time to leave the Priory marina and head back up to Great Barford to get into position for a Move to St Neots to meet up with Sally’s brother Peter and family.

On the marina the water was still as we pulled away, and with the marina bridge in front we headed out onto the river. There was a marked difference here with the river flowing quite fast, and even on tick over we were moving along at a pace and we figured that our journey today would not take too long. There were three locks and the bridge at Great Barford to negotiate on the way to our stopover. We passed the Bedford Boat club where had been on Saturday evening and on to Cardington lock, and it was here at the lock that we got into a spot of bother.

With the river running fast and the lock being nearly at 90 degrees to the river on the left, I made my turn early to allow for the drag from the flow. However, not early enough, for as the bow went between the gates the stern was dragged toward the weir only 50 meters away. No matter how much power I put on the back dragged round which jammed us in the lock entrance and we were stuck as we could not go forward even on full power, leaving us at the mercy of the river.

No matter what we did we were stuck, I had ropes and me pulling like mad, but no go. Then as a walker passed he was conscripted to help, still no movement and by now my mouth was as dry as old boots. Then Sally called over to another two guys who were close by and they came to our assistance, but even with four guys on the rope attached to the stern and Sally with the full power on it still would not budge. (Nearly time to call EA to close the weir gates). Then as a last ditched attempt I tied a lorry driver’s hitch knot into the rope, and pulling on that the boat moved round and a little forward. With the boat still jammed I shortened the rope and with yet another hitch the boat moved again, and with one more attempt, Sally got the boat into the lock. Big thankyou’s to the guys as we were now safe in the lock and away from the flow, disaster averted, Sally made us a cup of tea while we got our nerves back in order. (Well done Sally, and sorry I got us into the mess). I have to say all the tight bum experiences that we have had on the tidal rivers do not come close to this one, at one point I thought we could lose the boat.

The offending Lock

A quick call to Andy at EA, and he assured us that the rest of the river was fine and that it was ok for us to continue our journey, however we decided that we would not attempt Great Barford bridge but would stop on the island about a quarter of a mile before. Tea finished and a short rest we continued toward Castle Mill lock which we knew was a straight approach, no problems and we negotiated it with ease. After this came the section with the wooden cottages I told you about on our way up, but this time we got some photos for you to see, an idea that Sally and I have considered.

 The river here is quite narrow and the water speeded up, and with all the twists and turns I was continually opening and closing the throttle to maintain a good helm. Or last locks of the day was Willington lock, and as with the one before it was a straight approach and the gates were set for us so it was straight in, also there were a few lads at the lock and they assisted us by opening the gates. Only a short run now to the Old Lock Island were we planned to stop over and Sally went forward to spot the entrance. Under the footbridge and Sally called out the entrance on our right and as the flow was still strong we passed it, turned and ran back up against the flow and made our turn, mooring up on a grassy bank, with a great sigh of relief.

The next day Tuesday we did a spot of fishing and had a country walk into Great Barford for bread at the local store, also to check out the flow under the arches on the bridge. When we got there we spotted Sentosa 11 and Van Diemen who had held up because of the strong flow and had a catch up with them before a steady walk back to the boat. A note to say; that Gypsy loves the seclusion of the island and is out and about exploring from about 2 in the afternoon till well after dark, but no mice thank goodness. Also Tony these next two photos are for you hahahaha.

Peter this is how to grow Onions

Jeff off Van Deimen

Just for you Tony