Monday 15 April 2013Denver Sluice

I had forgotten just how noisy these moorings are with the heavy lorries battling across the bridge just at our bows. Sleep came in very small bit is the best I can say.

We set off at our normal 10AM to a bright day, slightly cooler than yesterday and a bit less wind thank goodness. It only gusted 28 MPH today. The boat is full of black from yesterdays dust storms and its surprising my shower water made it down the plug hole. Every time we moved something on the roof there was a pile of black under it and inside the boat every surface was covered in dust.

As we passed under the guillotine sluice that is designed to stop high flows running down the river it was obvious it couldn’t be used as there are supports bolted under the gate. Just below this sluice the EA have installed a fish siphon to allow the fish access between the river and the Cut Off Channel. I am not sure why they need the buoy so far out into the river.   I managed to find a piece of video on the internet of the Fish Siphon being installed.

Wissey to Cut Off channel fish pass

We carried on downstream hoping to fill with water at Hilgay but the boat that was on the moorings covering the waterpoint was still there today, as its right by a bridge we decided to carry on to Denver.

Just below Hilgay I spotted a sheep in trouble, it was stuck in a wet mud hole between the piling and the bank, where the piling had dropped away. I didn’t think to take a photo first, but backed up to the piling and jumped ashore and proceeded to drag the poor thing out, getting a wet smelly foot in the process. She couldn't have been there that long as she was not exhausted, but she would never have gotten her self out. I did photograph her afterwards. We pulled over onto the GOBA moorings for lunch and a change of clothes and then set off again to Denver for water and a pump out.

Most of Silt Farm 24 hr moorings are closed, it looks as if the bank has subsided, maybe when they drained the river at Christmas time. We carried on to the service point only to find that the pumpout is out of action, good job we are not desperate or it would be a trip to Ely, however we were able to fill up with water before going to the 24 hr moorings by The Jenyns Arms for the night.

Once moored we went to look at some of the interpretation boards around the complex. There is a series of 5 and most of them were pretty illegible due to being dirty, so we did our second good deed fro the day and went round and cleaned them all.