Off to the Nene day 4

Needles to say both the other boats had departed before we were up this morning. The cruiser just crept away, but the Narrowboat who was moored against us rattled well before setting off.

It was a bit windier still warm and sunny, I am keeping a close eye on the weather because I know the Nene can rise very quickly if they get any amount of rain further up.

Just before we set off the 10 am steam train crossed the bridge on its way to Peterborough at the same moment that a boat was coming under the bridge so a quick snap was taken, the angle could have been slightly wider to get more of the engine in.

There is a very smart building at Sibbington that looks as if it should be a boat club but I don’t think it is, I will try to get a photo as we head back down stream, its right beside what I think is Pat Buckle’s yard.
We made our way upstream through Wansford lock, just below the lock an Environment Agency weed cutter was moored up, this was much smaller than the last one we met on our trip down the Nene.

As we approached Yarwell lock there was a boat on the lock moorings and the guillotine was down. The people on the moored boat explained there was a boat trapped in the lock, they had gone in and tried to close the guillotine which dropped a few feet by its self and then wouldn’t move so they were stuck. EA had been called so we breasted beside them and had lunch. It wasn’t long before two EA chaps arrived and diagnosed a sheared bolt in the drive. A new bolt was fitted and the gate raised exposing the stuck boat. Just then another boat came upstream and past both of us who had been waiting some time and headed straight towards the open lock, I explained the situation but he carried on only to be stopped at the lock mouth by EA as they wanted to run the gate up and down before anything went underneath it. So boat number 1 who had been stuck since I don’t know when went up alone. This was followed by a boat coming down, the late comer still tied to the bollard at the lock mouth. I then dropped back to let the boat on the inside of us go in as he had been waiting longer than us fully expecting the other boat to slide in, but no, the crew came back and said we could both go ahead of them as they were only going to fill with water and then come down again. The fact we had been waiting 2 hours wasn’t mentioned.

Once up in the lock I left first, its not he easiest of locks to leave as its a very sharp turn to the left and the river flows across the mouth of the lock to the weir on the right, added to this there was a fair blow coming down the river and then I spotted 8 swimmers coming down stream who wanted to get out on the lock moorings, right where I wanted to go to fill with water.
Once they had crawled out and dragged their canoe out I pulled in and filled with water, this still left 2 swimmers and the back end canoe who hat to swim past me to get out.

Just past the lock on the right hand side there is what looks like an alligator on a stick, I spotted him last time we came this way but was to slow to get a photo.

I haven’t posted a plane photo recently so I thought I would include this shot of a powered glider just to make up for it. We moored for the night just above Elton Lock hoping that they are doing food tonight in the Crown Inn hoping its as good as it was last time we came this way.
We had only been moored up about half an hour when the other Narrowboat moored here started the noisiest petrol  generator I think I have come across and there is a cruiser between us, so we are not close.