Post by JohnV on Aug 22, 2016 9:42:11 GMT
Back in Essex again after another few days in the Fens.
Took a friend with me for the trip. He is a bumpy water boater, (his only previous experience of Inland waters was a trip to the Broads as a child)
Our departure was delayed by a side trip to his mooring as he was concerned about this boat, his bilge pump switch had packed in, sticking in the "on" position flattening his battery
so he had to go out in the dinghy to fit the new switch. He had forgotten to bring the battery with him that morning so he "borrowed" the battery from his Transit van and took that out with him. When he returned from the boat we put the outboard in the cab of his van for safekeeping and mechanically locked the van with the key.
My plan was originally to top up with diesel at Little Ouse moorings (and buy some fresh eggs at the same time) and then head up to Ely for the evening and then on towards St Ives.
However due to the delay we didn't arrive at Littleport till late afternoon. By the time everything was aboard and everything explained it was too late to go anywhere that day apart from the nearest pub.
We topped up with diesel as planned, just almost a day late. My friend was intrigued by the narrow river so we decided to go up to Brandon.
A very slow trip, involving lots of creeping along looking at the wildlife and several stops for cups of tea.
Bought steaks from the excellent butchers in Brandon, sampled the wares in the local hostelries, stocked up with beer from the supermarket and spent the night on a mudweight mooring near the wildlife sanctuary.
The Ship Inn for lunch and then an afternoon siesta (on the moorings just down from the pub) gave me a pretty good idea how the rest of the trip was likely to go.
We settled for a couple of miles along the river in the evening before settling in by the Swan on the River for the evening.
The next day was Ely and the day spent sightseeing (great place to visit) staying the night on the moorings by the green.
the following day was along to the Lazy Otter for lunch and then a run back to Ely for a meal in the Cutter and along to Diamond 44 for the night.
The condition of his boat was concerning Eric and we decided that we would go back the following day, aiming to be at the river Crouch by about three o'clock for the tide,
so he could get out to the boat. So the next day we duly trotted back to Littleport on to the mooring we had just left a few days before.
When we reached his van the fun really started. The van would not unlock with the key. As there was no battery obviously the remote wouldn't work. as the battery in this model is behind the driver's seat, you can't jump a battery on to it.
The outboard for the dinghy was of course inside the cab so the only way out to the boat was to row. The tide was just starting to ebb and the wind was very strong and gusty and with the current, so it was going to be a real slog to get back to the club's slipway.
I kept a close eye on him going out to the mooring to make sure he got there safely and saw him get onboard. I then spent the time sorting out the crap in my car.
A while later I glanced over to the boat and saw him standing on deck waving his arms. Looking carefully I realised that there was no sign of the dinghy tied to the boat but in the distance there was a dot that was the right size and shape that was rapidly disappearing towards the sea.
Most normal people would have a mobile of some sort but Eric is a bit of a technophobe and either never has his with him or it's not turned on ...... this time it was in his bag in the back of my car !
Walking a few hundred yards down the river till I was opposite him we held a screamed conversation by which I gathered that he had shouted to someone on the other bank who was going to get a boat out to him.
After about 20 minutes or so I noticed that he was leaving his mooring buoy, I couldn't work out what he was doing as by this time the rescue boat from the yacht club on the opposite bank was being launched. I then spotted that another yacht had broken its mooring and was blown aground on the opposite bank quite close to him. (Talking to him afterwards he was saying that he thought they might want to try and pull the yacht off the sea wall but apparently they decided she was too hard aground to try)
The rescue boat shot off downstream to rescue the dinghy and Eric went back to his buoy. I was very impressed by the way he managed to get back on it, no easy matter single handed in a strong wind. To complete the tale of woe, when he stepped out of the rescue boat at the slipway he skidded and sat down in a foot of water (I did try not to laugh ..... honest)
Eric following the rescue boat in "Beagle"
SAM_0427 by mudlarker2, on Flickr
Yacht on the seawall
SAM_0429 by mudlarker2, on Flickr
Took a friend with me for the trip. He is a bumpy water boater, (his only previous experience of Inland waters was a trip to the Broads as a child)
Our departure was delayed by a side trip to his mooring as he was concerned about this boat, his bilge pump switch had packed in, sticking in the "on" position flattening his battery
so he had to go out in the dinghy to fit the new switch. He had forgotten to bring the battery with him that morning so he "borrowed" the battery from his Transit van and took that out with him. When he returned from the boat we put the outboard in the cab of his van for safekeeping and mechanically locked the van with the key.
My plan was originally to top up with diesel at Little Ouse moorings (and buy some fresh eggs at the same time) and then head up to Ely for the evening and then on towards St Ives.
However due to the delay we didn't arrive at Littleport till late afternoon. By the time everything was aboard and everything explained it was too late to go anywhere that day apart from the nearest pub.
We topped up with diesel as planned, just almost a day late. My friend was intrigued by the narrow river so we decided to go up to Brandon.
A very slow trip, involving lots of creeping along looking at the wildlife and several stops for cups of tea.
Bought steaks from the excellent butchers in Brandon, sampled the wares in the local hostelries, stocked up with beer from the supermarket and spent the night on a mudweight mooring near the wildlife sanctuary.
The Ship Inn for lunch and then an afternoon siesta (on the moorings just down from the pub) gave me a pretty good idea how the rest of the trip was likely to go.
We settled for a couple of miles along the river in the evening before settling in by the Swan on the River for the evening.
The next day was Ely and the day spent sightseeing (great place to visit) staying the night on the moorings by the green.
the following day was along to the Lazy Otter for lunch and then a run back to Ely for a meal in the Cutter and along to Diamond 44 for the night.
The condition of his boat was concerning Eric and we decided that we would go back the following day, aiming to be at the river Crouch by about three o'clock for the tide,
so he could get out to the boat. So the next day we duly trotted back to Littleport on to the mooring we had just left a few days before.
When we reached his van the fun really started. The van would not unlock with the key. As there was no battery obviously the remote wouldn't work. as the battery in this model is behind the driver's seat, you can't jump a battery on to it.
The outboard for the dinghy was of course inside the cab so the only way out to the boat was to row. The tide was just starting to ebb and the wind was very strong and gusty and with the current, so it was going to be a real slog to get back to the club's slipway.
I kept a close eye on him going out to the mooring to make sure he got there safely and saw him get onboard. I then spent the time sorting out the crap in my car.
A while later I glanced over to the boat and saw him standing on deck waving his arms. Looking carefully I realised that there was no sign of the dinghy tied to the boat but in the distance there was a dot that was the right size and shape that was rapidly disappearing towards the sea.
Most normal people would have a mobile of some sort but Eric is a bit of a technophobe and either never has his with him or it's not turned on ...... this time it was in his bag in the back of my car !
Walking a few hundred yards down the river till I was opposite him we held a screamed conversation by which I gathered that he had shouted to someone on the other bank who was going to get a boat out to him.
After about 20 minutes or so I noticed that he was leaving his mooring buoy, I couldn't work out what he was doing as by this time the rescue boat from the yacht club on the opposite bank was being launched. I then spotted that another yacht had broken its mooring and was blown aground on the opposite bank quite close to him. (Talking to him afterwards he was saying that he thought they might want to try and pull the yacht off the sea wall but apparently they decided she was too hard aground to try)
The rescue boat shot off downstream to rescue the dinghy and Eric went back to his buoy. I was very impressed by the way he managed to get back on it, no easy matter single handed in a strong wind. To complete the tale of woe, when he stepped out of the rescue boat at the slipway he skidded and sat down in a foot of water (I did try not to laugh ..... honest)
Eric following the rescue boat in "Beagle"
SAM_0427 by mudlarker2, on Flickr
Yacht on the seawall
SAM_0429 by mudlarker2, on Flickr