Scholar Gypsy

Sorry I didn't make it clear, the local staff who operate the sluice gates at Grand Sluice work for EA. They also showed me around the pumphouse at Black sluice. The lock is operated by CRT, of course.

I think only one boat ended up hitting a buoy ....

Just to add a couple of points from the convoy that St Pancras Cruising Club organised last weekend 1) One of the boats did run aground on a falling tide, and had a four hour wait. They did deploy their anchor at low water, to control the way they floated off when the tide rose again. This worked very well, though with the benefit of hindsight I should have suggested a trip line. This is a line attached to the bottom of the anchor, with a buoy or float attached, and used to lift the anchor out of the mud. Makes recovery much easier. 2) It's really important to get well lined up for the bridge arches well in advance, so that if your anchor fails in the dead zone then you have some chance of going theough the bridge rather than hitting the bridge. The dead zone is the region before you get to the bridge where, if you try to deploy the anchor, it won't stop you before you get to the bridge. 3) We rarely go above normal canal cruising speed. But clean fuel (not just clean filters) is really important. Here's a photo (on the way back from the anchor store in Gravesend, that @Tim Lewis posted about earlier). Not a bad attempt at a straight line.

You can get pretty close to the Dyke's End by boat - a couple of hundred yards.

I did see a boat moored on the pontoon a week or two ago (on the non-tidal section). I was driving back from a holiday near Skegness. Sorry not very helpful, I hope they are not still waiting to do the lock. There are also local staff who operate the sluice gates at Grand Sluice, not sure if they would also operate the lock or not?

Very nice - reminds me of when our garden backed onto school playing fields and we quite often had a request from a sheepish pilot to use our phone. A few hours later (in pre-mobile days, 1960s) a rather cross wife (which it always was) would turn up with the trailer and pack it all away. Sorry! I didn't leave enough time to explore the Welland, Surfleet and Glen on the way home, sadly. You'd need to ask Chris Howes about that.

I agree - the boats I was referring to were proper sea going cruisers. They do seem to enjoy burning rather a lot of fuel .... I was at Gibraltar point last week, but could see no narrowboats at all ....

Not this year. The Denver/Boston crossing is trickier than Wisbech/Boston, for a number of reasons.

I can offer 1) this guide, 30 years old but it hasn't changed a lot. I managed to get hold of a decent hard copy recently: https://nbsg.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/kl_denver_foote_1992.pdf 2) The Spotted on the Wash facebook group, largely cruisers going round to Wells etc but they have good advice on where the sandbars are especially around Stow Bridge 3) The Denver lock keeper, who will advise on when to leave 4) This website which includes details of the new pontoons. https://www.sailthewash.com/sail/harbours/kings-lynn-pontoons/ 5) some other bits and bobs in section 3 here: https://scholargypsy.org.uk/washing/ PS this map shows how the waterways were in about 1080. There are some sources that say the Old West used to flow the other way ie to the west. I am visiting Crowland tomorrow.

There's a campaign to rename the Ely Ouse the Cam. The Ely Ouse and Bedford Ouse are really two separate rivers/drainage systems, only joining together at Denver (or even Kings Lynn in extreme flood conditions when Denver Sluice is permanently shut).

Yes, you are right. I decided not to point this out to the author. It's also a common mistake on the Trent, where people often use "up" to mean "north". One of my other visitors (and Buster did the dog) made this video which includes my attempt to get the boat up the rollers above Silver St...

I crewed on an interesting trip there last year .. https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2021/06/17/rivers-trent-humber-and-hull-2-old-harbour-to-beverley-beck/

There's a free app call "G string" (no not that sort of a G string) that does this. It does work, my tacho hasn't worked for over 20 years now so I do it all by listening. For a four cylinder engine 1500 rpm is 3000 bangs a minute (each cylinder goes bang once every two revolutions) which is 50 Hz. So you divide by 30 not 60 (for a four cylinder four stroke engine).

Yes, looking at my photos again I suspect it is the channel below the lock that is new, not the lock.

Abington lock is new, but Weston Favell is as built in the 1930s. (It has a new barrage above it.) I think the lock under the M1 on the Northampton Arm is new - relocated as part of the construction no doubt. I will find out more about Bottisham.

I'd need to look at the book again but yes they were used for navigation. It is thought the stone for Ely Cathedral came by stone from the Crowland area, and the river was moved nearer to the site to permit that, to its current route. Some of these waterways are part of the scheme to connect Boston to Peterborugh by non-tidal waterways, as part of sorting out drinking water supply in Cambridgeshire. Chris Howes did a rather good talk about this a year or two ago. You may mean Little Thetford, just south of Ely?

The weather is improving in Ely, though the moorings are pretty full. (Queen Adelaide EA moorings are still out of use).

This is a fine map of the system as it was in about 1080. Source: Anglo Saxon Hydraulic Engineering by Chisholm. You can see the original Nene that (obviously) went round March (to the North) not through it in a cutting (as the Old Nene does...).

River Nene, an unofficial mooring near Oundle. This was even nicer (near Wadenhoe)

Yes, that's right, folds in. The profile is no higher than the upstand on the inside of the side deck. I decided to put it in front of the step that I use to get up to the side deck. I never walk that part of the gunwale, not least as there is nothing to hold onto!

The relief channel could be even lower. It's worth noting that the Old River Nene used to flow in the direction you are travelling, ie downhill towards Upwell. The lock at Marmont shows how much the bottom section was lowered in 1850 or so when the main drain was built. I do think Mullicourt muist be the lowest aqueduct on the system ... PS the stretch to the south west of Lode End lock is lower than the main section when the lock is in use, but is not at a lower level below sea level if you see what I mean!

It folds flat when not in use, and the trip hazard is I think less than taking the line to the T stud.

Apologies if someone has posted this before, but I find my folding cleats very handy, especially for spring lines (like this one).

there is in mine.

They look like posts for securing the gates in a closed position ?? There are paddle bars I think in the centre of each of the four gates. The top ones appear not to leak at all ...