Narrowboat Balmaha – Leaving the Fens

Monday 22nd to Monday 29th September 2008
Very much like the summer’s sunshine this blog is brief. Travelling by day and socialising by night has left little time for anything else, not that I’m complaining,

It’s been good to see a bit more of Sue, Vic, Kevin, Chas and our family - Ter and Claire.

It seems a long time ago now but only last Monday we waved goodbye to the Fens and made our way out of the R.Lark to Denver on the Great.Ouse ready for a dash across the tidal waters to the Middle Levels. After checking out the tidal bit and watching No Problem slip out of Denver Lock we followed them down river and did our bit for the Environment Agency by rearranging the mud at the entrance to Salter’s Lode.

Doesn’t Nordelph give the traveller a lovely welcome? I admired the pretty picture until I realised it was telling me the water freezes over in the winter and the locals leave their cars at home and skate to work. Time to get out of here.

Sorry, I just couldn’t spare you the picture of wind generators, they occupy the horizon for so much of the journey it would be impolite not to include them.

Middle of the week saw us complete the Middle of the Levels and we finished up at Peterborough with its embankment, goose droppings and winos. We had a quiet night, no helicopters this time and in the morning toured the town’s pound shops. We probably did more than that but the pound shop treat stuck in my mind. The LED cap lights still work, the SIM card reader never did and the socket set – well you can’t go wrong with that can you?

Back tracking a little to the day before, we couldn’t be sure what we were looking at in a field on our left. Strip farming for pink, white and blue flowers left us clueless for flower names. A little like lupins but they weren’t. Did anyone else see them?

Impossible to pass Ferry Meadows without a stop-over and it gave me an opportunity to play with cameras on No Problem. Which reminds me, I was going to stick a camera under Balmaha’s stern so I could watch the plastic bags go round the prop shaft but just like BW’s repair plans for Foxton Locks it’s been delayed another year.

Friday morning gave us thick fog, so thick that I had to use GPS to see the way across the lake to the R.Nene. I kept my nerve as the ‘navigator’ pointed at all the gaps in the trees and I turned 90 degrees when the pointer drew level with the channel on the GPS’s map. Bingo, smack on target. I thought I might try steering the boat up the Nene by GPS, without looking ahead but when V asked if the map showed overhanging trees I realised we had a problem with that.

As sometimes happens a foggy start heralds a sunny day and as we climbed the Nene we shed layers of clothes until all we had left at Elton were a pair of flip flops between us. Only kidding but it was hot enough to light the barby and watch the sun go down behind the trees.

Water Newton’s lock landing faces a really pretty house, the picture doesn’t do justice, you have to be there to appreciate it.

And this little fella makes up for the dozens of kingfishers that won’t stay still and the rat that scampered along the lock landing, too fast for the camera, and the muntjac that swam across the river in front of us, climbed the bank and walked, yes walked off into the field as though it owned the place.

I never seem to get a photo of anything unusual when we're out cruising but as no boating blog would be complete without the cows-in-the-water picture here’s my best attempt at capturing all the cow colours of the R.Nene.

Saturday was another smashing day, weather-wise. Jobs and hobbies progressed together and I joined the fishing fraternity by pointing two 10 metre poles into the sky and hanging wire between them for Sunday morning’s attempt at reaching Graham (G8LUV) on 80 metres.

Sunday brought brother and sister Claire and Ter with a mail drop. I know Ter spent some happy years (not) in the RAF many, many years ago but imagine his shrieks of joy at spotting a Lancaster bomber circling the fields beside us. I don’t remember him telling me about those when we were lads but he was certain he’d seen one and this is the best the camera could do to record it.

Sue’s 29th September blog confirms our sighting and she tells the story about WW3 down river at Wansford railway station.

Sunday over we made our way up to Oundle where we found poor old Chas on Moore 2 Life. As happens when we meet certain boats we ate, drank and threw dog sticks while catching up on news.

The weekend is over, we’re back to travelling, and winter has kicked in again. The Nene is behaving itself and all bridges so far have left us alone. Bit dismayed to see dreaded floating pennywort on the river, three patches of the pesky stuff are clinging to the river bank above Titchmarsh Lock. I wonder how that got there.