Safety first

Earlier in the week we made a flying visit to Warrior at Bill Fen. The reason for the flyingness was that we got a slot sooner than expected to get the BSS done, but the main reason for going was to pick up a few bits and bobs to borrow for Chertsey... an anchor, a VHF radio, and the keb (my, how I wish we'd had that at Glascote!)... and some little things for Chertsey to keep: my original miniature water can, which was a botawarming present when I first got Andante, and so in proper tradition must travel from boat to boat with me. It's a lovely thing, really nicely painted, bought from the K&A trust shop at Newbury, which is of course where Andante came from. Also, Warrior has gifted Chertsey an old, painted, Valour paraffin can. It came with Warrior, but of course we never have cause to use paraffin there; on Chertsey it can actually be used.

We didn't have too many worries about the BSS, but we did finally have to get round to putting some heatproof board behind the new stovepipe in the saloon - after four years! It's always been put off because of having it in our heads that it would be hard to get hold of, or at least to get hold of a small enough piece - but of course, we hadn't tried, it was just one of those thaings that hangs over you. In the end of course we just walked into a local builders' merchants (Ingles, this lot are called, and very good they are too) and they cut us a piece and it was about seven quid. Jim put it straight up, but it's not finished; it will have a piece of that copper that we got in Ely on top of it eventually. Anyway, it was all fine and Warrior now has a ticket through 'til September 2014!

Today, if all goes to plan, we should be setting off on the Great Trent Thrash (everything has to have a title like a cheap TV show now), the main object of which is to give the engine a really good workout in the hope that it will cure the oily exhaust - this being on the assumption that the problem might be caused by glazed bores. If it isn't, but turns out to be a damaged oil scraper ring as we first thought, then the engine will have to come apart - not a prospect to be relished. So we are going to give this a shot and have some fun in the process. And also, of course, visit that Shangri-La of the East Midlands, our favourite town ever, Newark. That is the destination we are aiming for; we'll get there, turn round and come back. Fast.

Speedy to Ely

We left Cambridge yesterday morning, with the Ducks along for the ride. Amy, being incredibly assiduous and self disciplined, spent almost the entire trip inside working, while James made the most of the opportunity to steer Warrior - and to check out what Moomin calls the Warrior Warp Drive with James's GPS... while simultaneously playing with the rev counter in the engine room. The speed limit for much of this stretch is 7mph/11kmh so we were looking forward to trying to break it :-).

Well, we almost managed, reaching a top speed of 10.7 km/h (6 2/3 mph), and cruising comfortably at around 10 (6 1/4 mph), but this is nothing compared to what Warrior used to be capable of, before Dark Deeds were done... Last summer, when Jim stopped for a pumpout, a chap leapt completely uninvited into the engine room and fiddled about with the governor. 'It was running a bit lumpy', he told Jim, 'But I've fixed it now'. It's just as well I wasn't there or I would have exploded but I think it was only later the full significance emerged, which is, in short, that Warrior's maximum revs are now limited to less than 800 (so we needn't have bothered with the new pistons after all then, huh). To think what might have been.

We had to be sure to arrive in Ely in plenty of time to revisit the Riverside Antique Centre and the pound shop. Sadly the pound shop really had sold that tin of primer, but the antique centre came up trumps. I finally got my sailor shirt (I got a blue serge one as it seemed better value and more practical; I think it's German. There must be a website where you can look these things up... something for anorak anoraks). We also got what we went back for - this:

On the label it says 'chimney hood' but to Jim when he spotted it it screamed 'big sheet of reasonably heavy gauge copper that you've been after for years'. So this will be cut up and flatened out to provide a big piece to go behind the stovepipe in Warrior's saloon and hopefully there will be enough left over to do the same for Chertsey's.

Whilst hanging about in the vestibule of the shop waiting for Jim, my eye was suddenly caught by this:
An attractive piece of horse brasswork.... or a chimney chain? Yes, it will be a shame to dismantle the original piece of equipment (whatever it is) but the stitching attaching the chan to the leather is already worn or rotted away (someone has tried to stick it down with silicone, which will be fun to remove) and couldn't be redone without dismantling the whole thing, and I like to think that re-using it like this is part of an honest and respectable tradition. (I await Blossom's verdict with trepidation...)

And finally, I went and fell in love again... this time with this wonderful, silk, eiderdown.

It is so light and fluffy, so beautiful, so redolent of another age. I imagine snuggling up under it, or, as it's only a single, wrapping it around me, on cold or sad evenings... it will be immensely comforting, as well as warm, and far easier to look after than a dog.

Bridge of Sighs and size of bridge

What a super day we had yesterday. A late start saw us waking to drizzle (again) but undaunted we set off to meet Amy for a spot of charity shopping. We visited at least seven different charity shops, randing from the very chi-chi and expensive, to the wonderfully down to earth Salvation Army one. I succumbed to a new bag, with rather nice embroidery and a pair of what will be forever known as my Cambridge Pixie shoes, in lovely soft green leather and with the suspicion of a pointy toe. Very Cambridge.

We took a break half way through for lunch, and afterwards met up with James, who had been to Ely on a wild goose chase after a tin of Hammerite primer that Jim had seen in the pound shop but that wasn't there when he got there.. Sorry James.

Having done Commerce, the late afternoon was devoted to Culture and Amy and James took us on an unofficial tour of the University taking in the splendid University Library and some of the colleges, including their own (Clare and Selwyn), and St Johns, which we had a particular reason for needing to visit.

Where we are moored now, below Jesus Lock, is the normal limit of navigation, but the head of navigation is a little further upriver. Between April and September, powered craft aren't allowed beyond Jesus Lock because the river is thick with punts, but outside that season, it is possible, with permission, to take a boat through. The other problem is that there are some pretty low bridges (exceptionally pretty in fact), but James reckons that Warrior's low profile is perfectly suited to a trip along the Backs and up to the Mill Pond, so we went to have a look at the lowest bridge, the charmingly named St Johns Kitchen Bridge - which was best viewed from the Bridge of Sighs - a copy of Venice's famous landmark. Jim reckons it'll be fine!

Having been on our feet for the best part of the day - it was by now nearly seven, and we must have walked miles - we made our way back to the boats having agreed to meet up at eight at the Fort St George, before going on to Cambridge's newest and most wonderful (and that's against some stiff competition) real ale pub. So, a quick dinner of sardines on toast, get the fire going for later and to dry my boots, slip into a clean t-shirt and my new shoes, and off out again, to see not only J&A but also the legendary Big James and Emma from Kestrel, for a quick pint before pressing on again.

Another long walk brought us to the Devonshire Arms, recently reopened in an entirely new incarnation by new owners the (local) Milton Brewery. The bar staff were wonderfully knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the beers (and cider) they sold, and it was all fantastic - just what I like beer to be (northerners look away now) crisp and clear with no head at all, definitely not fizzy, but not flat either, but a sharp, cleansing liveliness; glass filled to the brim, and no trace of foam or scum clinging to the sides on the way down. I started with the hoppy, golden Icarus, which was lovely, and then tried the Pegasus champion best bitter - which was also great. Jim stuck to the Nero stout which even I - not a lover of dark beers - could tell was lovely (but I couldn't eat a whole one). We also tried to convert Amy with the lighter Tiki, which for a not-so-strong (3.8%) beer had masses of flavour. And finally we shared a half of the 8.8% Caligula, smooth and sweet and scarily drinkable, although fortunately for me not quite my cup of tea. I fought Jim for the finishing of it though, and won.

Amy falls amongst real ale drinkers

And then - last orders being at midnight - we finally made our way back through Cambridge's deserted midnight streets to the river, and bed, where we slept the sleep of the virtuous who have spent the day in wholesome exercise... and awoke this morning to bright sunshine and the prospect of a pleasant trip back to Ely later.

Shopping in Ely and arriving in Cambridge

Still doing this retrospectively... so much easier than worrying about getting back from the pub in time, though I can report that we made a triumphal entrance into Cambridge yesterday evening and are tied up to Melaleuca on the visotor moorings just below Jesus Lock. They'll be leaving today and heading for home but we have time to hang about and explore this lovely city with its unbelievable quotient of good pubs, and have been promised a tour round the colleges by James and a charity shopping trip with Amy. But that's all in the future.

Back to yesterday and Ely... The Moomins set off relatively early, along with the Ducks, leaving us to follow once we'd had a look round Ely. It is a really nice city with beautiful buildings and good shops. There is a super housewares shop, not cheap but the best stock I have ever seen anywhere where we had a happy browse and I bought a sieve. Then on to the pound shop - again another marvel of its type with a wide variety of bankrupt stock as well as all the usual plastic boxes and cheap mugs, both of which we stocked up on as well as some springs(!)as Jim is still seeking the perfect one for the gear lever. He has replaced the previous one which was a bit feeble, with one that is a bit too strong. I prefer it, as now when you put it in reverse it stays in reverse, but it's quite an effort to get it back into forward and there is always the exciting possibility of losing a finger in the process. Then, scarcely able to carry our bounty, we pushed on to Waitrose... ooh, to be rich and classy and shop here all the time... for chick peas and spinach (the need to eat something healhy hving kicked in). After that we had to come back to the boat to drop all this stuff off before heading off to the antique shop.

Now this was really good, but ot in the way I was envisaging. We didn't buy any antiques although I was sorely tempted by a big enamel cooking pot, and fascinated by an egg preserving copper, but on the top floor there's an army surplus stall, which was utterly brilliant. Not least because normally when browsing army surplus you're being supervised by an army surplus psychopath in full combat gear, and secondarily because by London/Brighton standards, it was amazingly cheap. I could have got the sailor's top I've always wanted for a fiver (and probably will when we go back, although it's not really practical) but then I tried on a 1940s vintage Swedish naval (did I even know there was such a thing?) jacket and it fitted perfectly. And it has nine pockets including two great big ones on the back and it was £10. So I had to have that. And exploring further, I finally discovered a replacement for the anorak I've been attempting to pension off for a while. This has done good service, having been bought when we first had Helyn, but I am now the proud and very warm and comfy owner of a brand new, US government issue (Jim reckons) extreme cold weather parka, and by golly it's lovely. And it's not even khaki.

The shopping done, we had lunch and finally set off at quarter to three... only to stop five minutes later when I noticed that the habitual drip of oil from a long-term leaky joint had become a visible drop and a puddle. An impressively quick and effective repair was made with self amalgamating tape (well it certainly impressed me) and we were on our way again. The Ouse was still intrinsically dull but the sun had finally come out to bestow upon it a superficial sparkle, and that makes all the difference, and anyway, we were soon on the Cam, which might look exactly the same but is more romantic.

And then we were coming to the outskirts of Cambridge and surely one of the last really anarchic moorings left in the country... about which Jim and I had a trenchant disagreement... and then into the city to see the Duck on Midsummer Common, and James on the bank, and rowers all over the river, and right on up to the lock, the normal limit of navigation, dinner of chickpea and spinach curry, then off with Amy and James to the Elm Tree for more super beer, but time only to sample the one pub, which is why we will have to stay for a few days.

OK, I admit it

After five years, the Middle Level does get a bit boring.

So today, here is the boring travelogue, condensed. Eleven a.m., leave March. 12.45, through Marmont Priory lock. Four thirty, arrive Salters Lode. Distinguishing features en route... some low bridges. Er, that's it. Tomorrow we leave the Middle Level through Salters Lode and enter the Great Ouse via Denver Sluice.

Interesting bits (well, it's all relative)... Jim getting the chance to try out the rev counter he borrowed from PJ. From which we establish that tickover is about 250 and a reasonable lick on relatively shallow water just short of 600. Tomorrow on the river we will see what a thrashing entails.

And I had better update on yesterday... when I went back to join the others in the Ship it was packed with people, I know not where they came from, but the women looked liked they'd stepped out of the pages of Viz (and I don't mean Modern Parents) and were on their way to a hot and happening nite spot. It was very noisy and we didn't stay long. Yes, I did have another pint then, but I must confess I didn't have a whole one in most of the other hostelries. I ordered a pint in the Griffin, but left most of it, there was none in the Red Lion and we didn't venture into the Oliver Cromwell... so it didn't quite add up to five, sorry Blossom.

Warrior latest

My first post about Warrior this year, and the first post on this blog to be tagged 'Warrior'. How can this be? Well, I haven't set eye or foot on Warrior since I waved Jim off from Stretton following its blacking back in October (indeed, until last week I'd not been back to Chertsey since then either). Jim has been over to Bill Fen a couple of times though to keep an eye on things and meet up with Moomin, and returned last week with the news that the start battery is knackered, which is a bit of a shame but not the end of the world. It's done four years service so things could be worse.

All we have to do now is find a new one before Easter, because at Easter we will be off on our Warrior travels again. Yes, we are finally getting our act together to go back out onto the Great Ouse and thence into Cambridge, in convoy with the Moomins, and meeting up with the Ducks - on their new city centre mooring! - and their friends, and hopefully also the instant friends we made when we were last there in 2007.

I'm a bit torn, as really I should be spending Easter at the HNBOC gathering in Coventry, or up at Ellesmere Port, poring over other people's wooden gunnels and asking them where they got their cloths made, but after the long cold winter, who could resist a bit of spring boating (just hope it doesn't snow at Easter again like it has in previous years).