Harnser's Travels: Wicken Fen Saturday 20 July 2013

Saturday, 20 July 2013

Wicken Fen Saturday 20 July 2013

Last night true to form as it got dark nearly all the cruises left, we were the only boat left on the GOBA moorings and only a couple were left in front of the pub.

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday lunch time it was 28°C today it was 18° with full cloud cover until late afternoon.

We left the moorings about twenty to ten and made our way downstream arriving at Brownshill Staunch just as a Narrowboat and cruiser were locking down, so we had bit of a wait. Just as we were going in the cruiser we had shared St Ives lock with last night arrived and came in behind us.
The old flat that has been high and dry for a few years now has just received a coat of paint and is looking much smarter.

The tidal section of the Ouse was very low with the tiniest of flow coming over the weir. The level was so low that the EA have put extra buoys down at Hermitage lock and notices warning you to keep left. The DSCF2949 foundations of the old railway bridge were quite exposed as were the bottoms of the banks.

The Old West was much better than I expected with the level down a few inches. We only dropped about 12” in Hermitage lock. I was expecting lots of weed but we didn’t encounter any problems.
The highlight was to meet this lovely little steam boat burning coal near Halfpenny Bridge, he even gave me a toot on his whistle. At Popes Corner where we turned up the Cam there are now two Barges sitting on the hard with nice black bottoms. We went up the Cam as far as Upware, all the moorings outside the Five Miles from Anywhere were full, but we hadn’t planned on stopping there so it didn’t matter. We turned left through Upware Lock onto Reach Lode and then left again up Wicken Fen to the top where we winded and moored for the night. There was a Narrowboat and cruiser here already who we have seen several times over the passed two weeks and we have moored just in front of them.