Sunday 7th September 2008, Lazy Otter.
Rain with the occasional thunderstorms swept across during the day and we thought of those poor boaters stranded higher up the Ouse or those, like Chas and Ann on Moore 2 Life, on the river Nene.
As she lives not far from here we got a call from No.1 daughter so we opened our doors for lunch and spent the afternoon sharing family news. River traffic was light, the odd plastic hire boat looking for a pub and a mooring for the night with hardly a face to be seen behind their misted-up canvas pram-tops.
Mon 8th
Poked my head out of the roof just in time to catch our old travelling companions on nb.Toe Rag doing a turn before heading back to Ely at the start of their trek home. Hope they aren’t in a hurry because the Nene is still closed.
We followed them at a distance as far as Pope’s Corner where we will doss for the night and catch up on the scratch repairs. Bloomin’ lock chains have pitted the paint down both sides, why do we have to have horizontal chains in locks? I can understand vertical chains but horizontal ones?
Jobs done and who should appear around the corner but nb.No Problem, there’ll be a party tonight.
My planning is all up the chute, I lit a fire and then went out for the evening.
But it was all in a good cause, Sue and Vic invited us over for drinks and tab-nabs on No Problem. Had a good time.
Tues 9th
The weather isn’t brilliant but we’re off anyway. Having waved Sue and Vic off on a westerly course we set sail for Ely.
We found the place quiet, nay deserted, until the afternoon when a solitary plastic hire boat scraped down the side of us on its way through town. Now I can see where we are picking up blue skid marks on our green gloss under the gunwales. It’s those blue rear corner fenders and not a strange coloured undercoat showing through.
School sculling practise entertained us as boats jostled for the landing stage. Oops, over they went and screams from the girl’s team told all.
There’s obviously a knack to unhooking the oars and climbing out.
Wed 10th
A sunny day and a walk to town, whoopee. Visited the library and a model aircraft shop in my search for a World War 2 aeroplane. I’m trying to identify a ‘plane in one of my dad’s photographs, a twin engine, twin bladed prop, gun turret in front of tail and windows behind the pilot’s seat. Nothing in a dozen books looked anything like it and certainly nothing in the aeroplane kits bore any resemblance. Anyone got any ideas?
That walk was enough for me but V had to do a Tesco run to burn off some energy. I resorted to studying the backs of my eyelids.
An unremarkable day brightened by a fire in the evening. Our wood burner seems to smell different to others and I’ve often pondered the cause. Then the light went on and I realised that the smell was hot CIF or JIF as it used to be known. No matter how I clean the glass in the fire door there’s always a trace of JIF (I don’t want to call it CIF) around the edges and it gradually fills the boat with a comforting homely smell.
Thurs 11th
Market Day in Ely means V does the proper shopping while I wander round the stalls looking for bargains. There was one decent hardware stall but nothing I desperately needed so I returned empty handed but remained uneasy about it for the rest of the day.
Quitting our 48 hour moorings after only 46 hours (knowing how the some people feel about overstaying) we pulled in at Little Thetford, an hour’s drive up river. Got talking to the owner of Jasper, a new and rather attractive Dutch Barge, we talked about crossing the Wash between Kings Lynn and Boston. Seems his first attempt was exciting, the easy crossing forecast turned out to be anything but, and I made notes in my mental book of things to do when our time comes.
Friday 12th
Another summer’s day, overcast and cool. Day spent reading books on navigation and roasting our bodies in front of the fire.
Sat 13th
We intended moving later in the day but the alarm went up at the sound of lawn mowers.
I’ve had it with cleaning the boat of grass cuttings and gave the order to abandon moorings. We must have looked a sight rushing about gathering ropes and ramming the tiller arm onto the swan neck as the petrol monsters broke into a run towards us. I even caught sight of an evil glint in the operator’s eyes as he pelted down the bank towards us, strimmer roaring, flailing from side to side, heading for tufts of grass next to the boat.
Heading north under a grey fog and with a right wintry feel to the day, everything lay still with an eerie mist hanging over the marshes.
Power line poles leaning at an alarming angle tell a different story, strong winds with few hills and trees for many, many miles must make boating an interesting experience in the winter.
Made a mental note to be gone from these parts by October.
Back in Ely the fog lifted, the sun appeared and the river front filled with bodies. Before it got too hot we raided Tesco, well V did and I helped with the bags on the last hundred yards, I’m nothing if not big-hearted.
Made friends with the locals, some I recognised from two years ago and still begging for bread at the portholes.
We’d just got settled when a call came from a couple of Aussies passing through.
Penny and Graham dropped in and filled in the news since we saw them five years ago.
We could hardly have asked for a better day as we sat out back and watched the crowds watch us. It was good to catch up with P&G and even see photos of Chris and Laddie in Chicago who we last saw more than twenty years ago. They haven’t changed a bit, could it really be so long ago?
Two new additions to the family will share a shelf with Maisy 2 and remind us of how we suffer here when we could be relaxing on Queensland’s sun-drenched beaches. On the other hand I’m pleased we can squeeze our spiders between our fingers and swim in the sea (if we wanted to) without worrying about box jellyfish and sea snakes.
We were in two minds whether to move on before dusk because a passing boater told us they were pelted with eggs when they parked in our spot last night. As it happened we had a quiet night and the only eggs were those I had with bacon on Sunday morning.
Interesting photo of your dad's aircraft. I thought it looked familiar. Its an Avro Anson trainer. I looked it up in my copy of "Britains Wonderful Fighting Forces" by Capt. Ellison Hawks RA, published in 1940 by Odhams Press. Page 93 gives a good picture of one in flight. According to the picture caption " .. a twin-engined monoplane used during intermediate training by pilots who will eventually qualify for work with bomber sqaudrons."
Hope that helps.