Cambridge to Aldreth Bridge, Old West River
22 miles, 2 locks
Yes we were off again heading west this time along The Old West River which does at times seem to be endless!
First I have to go back to last night when the world exploded yet again. This time a little later and just as Chris was about to take Monty out 'down the garden' before we went to bed. Needless to say we had to wait until it was all over, which thankfully was not as long as the display the night before.
We moved across the river to the facilities and whilst Chris filled and emptied as required I took Monty to Jesus Green for a game of ball - it is the most wonderful area, but oh how I wish people would respect this world a little more. I have never seen so much litter in one spot - it was mostly soft drink bottles, sandwich and sweet wrappers, so was probably youngsters. It is such a sad state of affairs that they just assume someone will come along and clear up after them. The mess covered a large area.
A hire boat had moored up behind us the night before, crewed by a couple from New Zealand. They had headed off before us, so we knew the locks were likely to be against us, but there were only two to do, so no problem there.
First we passed Midsummer Meadow where they are preparing for the Midsummer Fair on 23rd June - it is going to be huge.
On arrival at the first lock we found a cruiser had beaten us to it!
They made it through okay, but the wind gave them a lot of trouble getting away from the side once they were below the lock - a pole and a good shove was required
This (Baits Bite) lock is really pretty - today the couple who look after it were hard at work. Their efforts have paid off as it is a delight
Whilst we were in the lock a rowing eight came along - we expected them to turn round (i.e. spinning for them or winding for us).
but no, they portaged the lock to continue on down the Cam
and thanks to a sign in the pump out station in Cambridge we can identify the college by their blades and strangely enough it was Pembroke - yet another reminder of our absent travelling companions. I am glad to say we had no 'incidents' to report.
The cruiser ahead of us had not gone far and we sailed past
and the rowing eight? Well they had stopped for lunch at the pub!
The rest of the journey was uneventful - it was a long day for us - 6 hours of cruising - we usually aim for a maximum of 4 and often a lot less than that. We did, however, know that the more we did today, the less we would have to do tomorrow.
There was a lot of this
There are not many 'different' boats on this river, but I am sure someone calls this one home
The wind was relentless which did not help and the layers kept increasing as the day wore on, but we made it eventually to our target of some wild GOBA moorings, but as we approached we saw that a cruiser was moored almost in the middle!! However, as soon as he saw us, he got out, pulled his boat forward and then took ropes from us. There was another patch of moorings a bit behind us where the couple from New Zealand ended up for the night.
The mooring was safe and quiet, but the scramble up and down to take Monty for a walk (and go and chat to the NZ couple - Di and Doug) made it a bit of a challenge.
Thursday 21st June 2018
Aldreth Bridge to St Ives
11 miles, 3 locks
First job of the day was to scramble up the bank and walk Monty along the top - a pleasant walk once you were up there
It is certainly 'big sky country'
It had been agreed that we would travel with Di and Doug, so we all set off around 08:45 in a bitingly cold wind again - the winter hats came out! Still the sun was shining which always helps.
Just three locks to do today - the first at Hermitage is operated for you and takes you from the Old West River onto tidal waters.
Today the tide was out
so there was less bird life to be seen - just the usual swans, ducks and a few cormorants
There was plenty of mooring at Earith had we wished to stop, but still no seals for us to see
We knew there was a boat ahead of us which was going into the second lock (Brownshill Staunch) as we arrived
Doug and Di had stopped at Hermitage for water, so by the time they arrived the cruiser we were moored with last night had beaten them to it. It was here that we discovered that the helmsman is from Australia and he spends from May to September on these waters, starting and finishing at Oundle each year. And what a gentleman he turned out to be as he insisted that Doug and Di go through before him.
Back onto the River Great Ouse - we passed another rather different boat
Both boats made it to St Ives lock which is where the fun began. There were boats all over the place. One was already in the lock going up, then two very large cruisers entered to go down - they inched their way in
and out again!
It was then our turn by which time yet more boats had turned up to join the queue.
We went in first and tucked into the cut out, followed by Doug and Di who went as far forward as they could with a cruiser tucked in behind them. A tight squeeze, but we made it through safely
to find even more boats waiting to go down - the busiest we have seen any lock since joining this river at the beginning of this month
I just love this view of Chapel Bridge as you enter St Ives
whilst we continued on to see if we could squeeze into The Waits. It was a long reverse past three sizeable cruisers, but we made it. Monty has got the hang of waiting to board until he is told to go
when a quick hop onto the stern locker and he has made it safely. Four years ago he just did not have the confidence to attempt this when we were moored against high walls.
Late afternoon after two of the cruisers had left we pulled forward and Chris went round to give Doug and Di a hand reversing down to tie up behind us. As lovely as the town quay is, it is much quieter down here and worth the long reverse.
ps - they called in on their way back from town today (Friday) with a bunch of flowers to say thank you for our help yesterday. They were much appreciated and it was our pleasure to give them help and get to know them a bit. One of the great pleasures for us about this boating lark is meeting people from all over the world, even if we are ships that pass in the night.
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