Narrowboat SKYLARK: A few days away

With a predicted 3 day break in the cold wet weather, I decided to have a few days on the boat. So I packed my bags and headed off to Lazy Otter. Over the ‘summer’ I had drained the fuel tank to less than 50 litres (oops) but now I had about 150 litres of diesel so Skylark felt a little heavy in the water. This put up a higher stern wave than before so I kept the revs down. The weather on the Ouse proved good although there was a bit of a cold breeze blowing in from the south. At least this meant it was hitting me from behind rather than in the face.

I got to Ely at about 2.00pm and went down to the water and waste point. Unfortunately a cruiser was moored up to the first bollard which meant I couldn’t get far enough along to use the facilities. It’s a shame some people don’t think more about the effect their actions have on other people. Anyway, I moored nearby and hoped that the owner might turn up in the next day or so in order to let me in.

While it was still light, I popped into Sainburys and bought a family sized Apple Pie for my desert – well, they didn’t have a small one – and settled in for a nice quiet evening on board.

Next day, with more good weather on the horizon, I chilled out around Ely; a wander around the Thursday market and the local shops, a bike ride along the waterfront and a few jobs on the boat including putting up a new piece of brass bling..

The cruiser had moved so I took on board some drinking water and I emptied the waste tank.

In the afternoon, I thought the sun was about to take a dive behind the ever- building clouds so I thought I would make the most of the remaining light and pop up the river for a spin. As I started to unhitch, a Canadian man asked about the boat and I spent the next few minutes giving him a potted history of narrowboating. Now, I can tell when someone is genuinely interested in boating or if they are getting bored with it all but this guy was really interested. After about 20 minutes I had to make my excuses and I slowly moved off.

As expected the sun didn’t last long so I turned around near Little Thetford and headed back to a peaceful mooring right outside the Malting Conference Centre. After a slap up tea, I went into the centre and watched one of their Thursday night films.

9 November 2012 - Happy birthday to me!

Following an unusual breakfast of man-sized Apple Pie and Yogurt (yum yum) followed by industrial strength coffee, I went for an early morning walk into town while the sun was out. The sun then disappeared and I decided to head home.

Au revoir Ely al la douche.

Now some photos...at 7.30am while the sun was out...