More wind and rain

I know the southern, western and northern parts of the country have really had some bad weather but the forecasters have been telling us it's now our turn. A combination of high wind and heavy rain over the eastern counties prompted me to take a look at Skylark on her moorings. When I got there yesterday, it all looked fine but it was too tempting just to stay there and wait for the weather to arrive so I took a spin up to Ely. When I left Lazy Otter at about 1.30pm it had already started to rain, the wind was brisk and the current on the river was quite fast.

I pulled into Ely about an hour later - normally it would take about 1hr 30mins but the current and following wind helped propel me along.

I found one of my favourite spots near the Maltings and settled in for the rest of the day. The night was fairly quiet really; but, when I woe up, I found the current had increased and there was a lot of branches, twigs and leaves on the riverside. Now, I'm not saying we've had it bad here in the east, but I took me at least ten minutes to sweep all those leaves off the roof.

As the morning went on, the wind gradually subsided so I decided to head home. First, I went out of town to turn around. As I came back I was flagged down to help move a college catamaran. These are the ones that accompany the rowing teams. It looked like it had come adrift from its moorings and had floated a couple of miles downstream so, after a bit of maneuvering in the light wind and strong current, I hitched it up and towed it to the nearby moorings. I guess, the college guys will find it on their first trip out next week.

It was then a case of going back up the Ouse to Lazy Otter and as I did the wind reduced further. Once into the Old West River I caught sight of a Barn Owl hunting along the riverbank and I was treated to a good sunset (at 3.30pm!). The calm river also meant I could get Skylark back into her mooring without any embarrassing shunts or bumps which would also please my neighbours I'm sure.