The East Anglian Rivers trip (nearly)

This was to be a long trip, along the Nene to the Middle Levels, where we would meet our friend Linda and join an IWA cruise, then on to the Ouse. Things didn't quite go to plan.

Thursday 2nd April 2009

Recharge the batteries

A long drive out, because we went via Fox's marina in March to drop off a car. The idea of the two-car trick is that we then move the boat to Fox's and pick up the car we left there. Lengthy queues running into Guyhirn made this a tedious exercise.

Arrived at the boat, reconnected the water (drained down for the winter) and refilled the tank. This is a long process as the tank is huge. Moved the boat round the corner and moored up just before six on a beautiful evening. Ric spent part of the evening knotting a prototype grab-handle for the front of the boat.

Engine on for 2h05, half a mile, no locks.

Friday 3rd April 2009

To Gayton junction

Very cold start to the day, so we ran the central heating for a bit. Set out at about 09:30, straight down to Norton junction where we found a queue of boats at the top of the Buckby flight. However, they were waiting for the water point, not the locks. There was a woman washing her boat at the top of the flight so the first lock was full of foam. We helped a single-hander up the first lock before locking down by ourselves, then caught up with another boat at the second lock and went down together.

Stopped at the chandlery at the bottom of the flight, then on to moor for lunch just before bridge 21 (Brockhall bridge). On again an hour later and moored for the night just before bridge 45, well away from the railway.

Ric carried on with grab-handles, and washed the outside of the boat. He'd tied a length of parcel cord to the mop so he wouldn't lose it, but the cord snapped so the mop had a bit of a swim anyway.

An excellent first day's cruise in fine weather, despite the cold start and a cold finish that saw the central heating on again.

Engine on for 6h10, twelve and a half miles, seven locks.

Saturday 4th April 2009

To Northampton

Another cold start, so we were running the heating again. Under way at nine, then a straightforward run to Gayton junction. The Alvechurch marina there has been extended since our first trip. We decided not to stop as it's a changeover day and there is nothing we really need from the chandlery after stopping at Whilton yesterday.

On to new water. Locked down the Rothersthorpe flight. At first Jane was the shore party and Ric helmed, swapping about six locks in. The lock landings here leave a lot to be desired so we were "hanging" in lock exits and under the very smart lift bridges that are a feature of the flight. A gusty wind helped keep things interesting.

The flight is also enlivened by some sculptures half way down, and by the M1 bridge, a concrete hole with a lock in the middle. We met a young family of gongoozlers near the sculptures. They followed our progress for a couple of locks before continuing with their walk.

We stopped for lunch on a good edge for piling pins just a little way beyond the M1 bridge, just above the last of the Rothersthorpe locks. Whilst we were there, another boat arrived, 'Nairn', crewed by a couple of Australians. We went down the rest of the locks into Northampton ahead of them, not that it made much difference as the locks were generally against us. We had to wait a few moments for some workmen on a raft working on the disused railway bridge, bridge 16, above the last lock.

The last lock, 17, is below an odd acute-angled turning point beside a modern development of flats. I would hate to actually try to wind a boat there. The lock gives onto a sidearm that suddenly turns onto the river, which at this point is wide, impressive and backed by the Carlsberg brewery. It is apparently possible to navigate up the river "the wrong way" for a short distance, but we didn't try it. Instead we turned right towards the South Bridge and the town mooring, followed by 'Nairn', who apparently fancied the turning point as little as we did.

We went straight past the town moorings and Becket's park and into the lock. This is a conventional lock with pointing doors at both ends that can be locked closed, so you need an EA Abloy key to get through. It's very like a canal lock except that it's made of steel and everything is large and heavy-duty. After this lock the river flows past Midsummer meadow and the Barnes Meadow nature reserve before reaching Rush Mills lock, which is also conventional. This section of the river is very attractive, with a lot of wildlife, including herons and the first grebe we've seen on this trip.

Our map shows a mooring just beyond the lock but it wasn't obvious. We pulled in alongside The Britannia Inn to enquire, and to scout ahead as we were near the washlands flood storage area and wanted to stop before we reached it. We were made very welcome, and they serve Greene King IPA so we were very happy to stay for the night, our first bar meal of the trip.

Engine on for 6h50, seven miles, nineteen locks.

Sunday 5th April 2009

To Wellingborough wharf

Away about half past nine, and on to Abington lock, then the barrage gate, which is an impressive slot in the flood wall with a serious steel door. The washlands flood storage area stretches from here to the Weston barrage gate. There is a very broad section of river, with a storage lakes to the east. Although there are footpaths either side, most of the area is undisturbed and we saw several herons and grebe.

The exit from this section is through an obscure side channel rather than the obvious broad channel. The side channel has emergency moorings that can be used overnight in summer. Weston Favell lock is the first with a guillotine gate, so is quite exciting on the first encounter.

These locks are left with the guillotine open except in times of flood, so the first thing to do when going downstream is to lower the gate to fill the lock. The operating panels are secured by Abloy key and a lot of them are rather high for Jane, who is a little under five feet tall. Northampton Boat Club has its mooring just downstream of the lock so there are a lot of moored boats, and we met the first moving boat we've seen today.

We made steady progress down the river, getting into a swing with the locks. Most of the landing stages are very short. We usually get on and off the boat at the stern, but some of the stages aren't long enough for a 45' boat to get completely alongside. We moored for lunch just above Cogenhoe lock, where (unusually for a river) there are steep enough banks to get alongside and a good enough edge to take mooring stakes.

After lunch, we pressed on downstream, reaching Earls Barton lock about a quarter to four. This was the first of the manual locks, operated by an enormous wheel that takes a huge number of turns from top to bottom. This lock has now been electrified

We hadn't been sure how far we would get tonight, but there are private moorings just before Wollaston Lock, and we got into conversation with a local boater who advised us to stop at Wellingborough Embankment. Our guide book says that mooring there is difficult since the local council dropped a lot of rocks into the river to stabilise the bank, but new moorings are now available opposite the grain mill. We carried on through fields of lambs and widgeon, and moored up just after six. Quick walk around the park before tea to locate the water point (not very obvious) and the Tesco (very obvious). The mill is quite noisy but we tend not to notice noise too much in our tin box.

Engine on for 7h50, ten miles, eleven locks.

Monday 6th April 2009

To Nine Arch bridge, Thrapston

Wellingborough Embankment is Swan Central. A huge group live close to the part of the embankment that is closed by rocks. We passed them at very low throttle, keeping a lookout in the clear water, but all the rocks are close up to the embankment where you would expect them.

The water is generally very clean with little rubbish, though we did pull a plastic beer barrel out of Lower Wellingborough lock. There is a lot of wildlife. We spotted a buzzard, swallows, heron and a couple of kingfishers during the morning

We had been entering the locks with the fenders down. The locks are wide and there didn't seem too much chance of getting stuck, as there is in some narrow canal locks. Since the locks have unfogiving sides, with chains, it seemed wise to fend the boat. It looked a lot less wise after one of the fenders went the wrong side of a chain at Lower Wellingborough lock. After that we just accepted the damage to the paintwork.

Ditchford lock has a huge radial gate, fortunately powered. Like all the hardware on the river, it's made of steel and massively built.

We stopped for lunch at the Rushden Diamonds football club ground, where there is a long mooring with a DIY pumpout and a waterpoint. There should also be rubbish disposal here. Whilst we were moored a narrowboat came out of Irthlingborough lock and passed us - only the second boat we saw moving all day.

Almost as soon as we started moving again, we saw a little egret on the pond to the east of the river, and another kingfisher and buzzard just after passing through the lock. Immediately after this we were back to tick-over whilst passing a group of canoes from the youth club camp, which is in a wonderful setting.

There was an EA work crew replacing the chains at Upper Ringstead lock. They helped us through the (manual) lock at about three o'clock. Shortly after this, we spotted a red kite hunting near the river.

We had decided to try to reach the bridge between Thrapston and Islip for the night. The approach to Thrapston is dominated by the A14 bridge, which obscures the much more pleasant old rail viaduct on the way downstream. We've often seen this viaduct from the A14 itself, so passing it felt like a milestone.

The 48-hour mooring is along a short arm immediately on the upstream side of the beautiful old Nine Arch bridge. Although there is traffic over the bridge, it goes quiet in the late evening so the mooring is idyllic. However, the mooring isn't very long. Another narrowboat joined us on the mooring later so it was very full and we were on "spring" mooring lines.

Engine on for 8h00, twelve and a half miles, eight locks.

Tuesday 7th April 2009

Stuck on the mooring

Ric opened up the engine bay to do the pre-start checks (oil and water levels) to find that the level of oil in the bilges was a bit higher than expected. The bay looked as though it had been sprayed with high-pressure oil.

As in fact it had. We contacted River Canal Rescue, and a really helpful and polite engineer came out. The diagnosis was reasonably simple. The head gasket of our tired old Lister-Petter had gone, putting cylinder pressure into the oil. The crankcase doesn't have a breather, so high-pressure oil had sprayed out of the joint between the filter and the crankcase. The engine would still run, and didn't squirt oil everywhere if you left the oil filler cap off. Instead, almost as much exhaust came out of the filler cap as came out of the back of the boat. The engineer did a remarkably good job of mopping up before he left, but you still wouldn't want to run the bilge pump.

Here's a nice picture of the old railway viaduct to help you get over your dismay at the picture above...

Jane took this picture whilst walking in a nature reserve just to the north of the mooring. Later, we decided that we could continue the trip, but slowly. As we had lost a day, we contacted Stanground sluice and the IWA trip organisers to say we would be a day late.

Engine on for 1h15, going nowhere, no locks.

Wednesday 8th April 2009

To Oundle marina

Decided to press on to Oundle marina and get them to have a look at the engine and maybe vac out the bilges properly. They're closed today but we can moor up overnight at "The Mill".

Leaving the mooring was complicated by wind and the arrival of another boat. We were being careful with the engine so we ran aground and had to pole our way out. Made it through the bridge arch without actually hitting anything.

Lots more wildlife. This section of the valley is a chain of gravel and sand quarries with most of the old workings turned over to wildlife. We saw a buzzard in Titchmarsh nature reserve, then a heron, then another buzzard and a kestrel, then a couple of red kites.

We arrived a little before we expected. At Wadenhoe lock we were helped through by an EA crew who were replacing the chains. At Lilford lock another crew were panelling in the mechanism, and they also lent a hand. We passed Upper Barnwell lock at about twenty past one. Contrary to the information in our guidebook, The Mill at Oundle doesn't have moorings, so we stopped outside the Oundle Cruising Club. We walked round the marina but there were no obvious alternatives, so we stayed where we were and walked up into town to shop. Later, a treecreeper came and worked over the willow by the mooring.

Engine on for 4h10, eight and a half miles, five locks.

Thursday 9th April 2009

To Thrapston lagoon

We had debated last night if the tea tasted slightly odd. This morning, there is no doubt. The water tastes of oil and the hot water is not completely clear. Obviously, when the head gasket blew it pressurised the water system as well as the oil and has burst something inside the calorifier, allowing the engine coolant (half anti-freeze) to mix into the water.

Under the circumstances we decided to give up and run for home, so after we'd phoned Standground, the IWA and our friend Linda to cancel everything, Jane went into town to buy bottled water and Ric went to organise a pump-out.

Except that Oundle marina don't actually do pumpouts. However, they did give me a number for John Holland, who runs a mobile pump-out service. We called and arranged to meet at Thrapston lagoon.

After a multi-point turn in the (extremely awkard) entrance to Oundle Marina, we set off back upstream. Lots more wildlife - buzzard, kestrel, heron, even a daredevil squirrel in the low branches over the water. The EA crew that we'd met at Wadenhoe yesterday followed us to Titchmarsh, where they unhitched their work platform into two parts and hoisted it onto a lorry. The gated here were overtopped by at least four inches of water, which made controlling the boat in the lock interesting. Most of the levels on this section of the river seem very high for navigation, but the EA are probably more driven by the drainage and supply side of their business.

"Johnny the Pump" duly arrived at the Middle Nene sailing club, where we were moored for the night. So that's one thing we don't have to worry about.

Engine on for 4h00, eight miles, four locks.

Friday 10th April 2009

Back to Wellingborough

It's Good Friday so it's raining! We were expecting a long day, so away just after nine. Steady run down to Woodford lock. There are a lot of newly-pollarded willows along the last stretch, and what we assume to be owl boxes perched on poles. We saw cormorant and a kestrel perched in a tree, and, just after Woodford Lock, a buzzard.

We passed the youth club again about half-past one. They were hauling out their canoes, presumeably to go to lunch. We were already eating ours "on the fly", but we stopped again at the Rushden Diamonds football club to dump rubbish and refill the water bottles.

Just after we started off again we saw a green woodpecker. We've been hearing them for several days so it's a relief to actually see one.

After that it was a slow but steady run to Wellingborough through the rain and drizzle. We messed around a bit getting to a decent mooring close to Tesco and the waterpoint - but that's for tomorrow.

Engine on for 7h55, thirteen miles, nine locks.

Saturday 11th April 2009

Back to Northampton

Rain overnight, heavy overcast, generally dank and stayed that way all day. After all, it is Easter.

Off to Tesco for a few bits, then to the waterpoint to fill bottles so we didn't get away until just after ten.

Very little wildlife, which was keeping it's collective head down. The swans at Wellingborough seem to be waterproof, and we also saw a few grebe, several herons and a lot of rabbits

It's not like the canals. You can go for hours without seeing another boat, so the river seemed quite crowded today - a couple of boats coming down at Wollaston lock, and another following us. But the mooring at "The Britannia" was free so we tied up with sighs of relief around five. Had a couple of steaks and showed some gongoozlers round the boat. The children were really worried that we were deprived of comforts until they found our television. We didn't tell them it has only been on once (to test it) since we got the boat.

Engine on for 7h50, ten miles, eleven locks.

Sunday 12th April 2009

To Gayton marina

Drizzle with occasional real rain, forecast to last all day. Set off early so as to get to Gayton marina as soon as possible. Under way just before nine. Heron and grebe on the Barnes Meadow reserve again. Went straight through the town and onto the BW waterways at about ten.

Called ahead to the Alvechurch marina at Gayton. They told us we're OK to moor in their area overnight. Stopped for lunch at the same spot as on the way down, just before the complex of bridges that carry the motorway and slip roads. We were following another boat, so all the locks were against us, but we had time to talk to some gongoozlers from New Zealand who had been trying to figure out how the locks work.

We reached the boatyard a bit after four, so everyone was busy. Moored up for the night, as engineers may be available tomorrow.

Engine on for 6h20, six miles, nineteen locks.

Monday 13th April 2009

To the Buckby flight

A slight improvement in the weather. Paul from the boatyard turned up early so we moved the boat across to their poly tunnel. Paul vacc'd out the engine compartment then sprayed in a lot of detergent. He then went to fix one of their hire boats that was being turned around, so Ric played "twister" in the engine compartment with a stiff brush and cleared as much of the oil as possible, then got the vacc in there again. The staff at the Gayton marina are always polite and helpful.

We talked to Derek, the manager, about getting quotes for the engine, then, after lunch, set off towards home, intending to get to somewhere around bridge 21. At least now we could run the bilge pump without committing an offence! - and the level of water in the engine bay was low enough that we probably wouldn't need to, despite the recent rain.

The journey back was slow, lots of moored boats and a fair amount of traffic, but the sun came out a bit and we saw some Brimstone butterflies.

Engine on for 4h20, ten miles, no locks.

Tuesday 14th April 2009

Home again

Cold bright start. We ran out of water in the boat tank first thing, which is handy as the system will need to be emptied and flushed. One of the gas cylinders also ran out last night, but the boat has two.

We had an eventful run up the Buckby flight. There were several boats coming down so we had most of the locks with us. Jane was on shore side with Ric on helm and running up and down lock ladders. He managed to kick a windlass over the side in one of the locks. Cue the SeaSearcher magnet. In fact, an oncoming boat found it with their magnet as they came into the lock. Not our finest hour, but we got back to the home mooring in reasonable order just after lunch time.

On the drive home we spotted some bits we'd been on in the boat. We even saw a couple of kites.

Engine on for 4h30, three and a half miles, seven locks.

Well, we knew the engine was "tired" before we bought the boat, so in a way we've been expecting something like this. Time for a new engine! But the river is beautiful and the wildlife has been outstanding. We'll be back.