On the River Nene

At Peterborough we picked up water and used the facilities before moving on to stay at Ferry Meadows Country Park.

Two empty pontoons welcomed us to provide moorings for one night. Spent the afternoon tucked up inside watching a DVD with the radiators keeping us warm. When the rain stopped we walked round the lakes.

We spent time just watching the wild life on the water.
Set off next day heading for Elton but the water flow seemed to be increasing as we approached Wansford railway bridge. There a boat moored under the bridge restricted the available width. We managed to miss both the boat and bridge as we passed in the fast flowing water. “Why are some people so inconsiderate?” Passed the boat club and arrived at Wansford lock with the bypass weir water rushing across the bow.

“Oh look the landing stage is under water, hang on we can’t get under that lock bridge”. Some landing stages are pontoons floating on the water but this was not. Ann had to get her wellies on before jumping off into two inches of water. Thankfully most of the river water is flowing over the weir so not much is falling over the lock gates and passing us. We did not see red flags flying at the boat yard and no other warnings were offered about the conditions and several boaters had passed us going down stream in the morning.
Next day the Environment Agency River Inspector arrived to offer some safety advice and told us that most of the locks were ‘reversed’ yesterday afternoon. That is no boats move as water is allowed to pass through the lock with all gates open. We could be a week here as there is a lot more water to come down. If the water rises more than 2 feet above the landing stage the boat may land on top of it! Then we would not get off as the water went down! We have hung our metal ladder down below the water line to prevent that happening. When we arrived the air draft was only 1.9 meters and we need 2.2, it is now only 1.7 and getting smaller as the water continues to rise.