Before we set off we visited friends who live in Fulbourn (without the 'e') and found this exhortation to careless steerers.
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Baitsbite Lock
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Clare, 6½ steering...
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... with the assistance of a milk crate.
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We passed the end of the unnavigable Bottisham Lode.
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Pippa, 4½ has a go, with the assistance of her elder sister.
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Clare has another go.
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We passed the entrance to Swaffham Bulbeck Lode, unnavigable according to our guide book, but with a proper entrance lock, so we winded and went back to have a look. Approaching the junction.
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We got into the lock without any trouble - deep clear water....
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... and put the bow on the top gate...
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The surroundings looked somewhat overgrown....
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... but the slackers (paddles) looked to be in working order, but chained up...
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... but there were a few holes in the gates. We subsequently found out that boats do go up occasionally, if EA can be persuaded to unlock the slackers and the guillotine.
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George, 8½ steers past boats coming the other way.
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We then tried Upware Lock which leads to Reach and Burwell Lodes. When there still a few feet to go to get the stern into the chamber...
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...the bow had reached the other end of the lock. Our guidebook unhelpfully gave the width, depth and headroom, but not the length of locks.
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We continued down the Cam and onto the Ouse. Shrinkage of the peat seemed to have affected some electricity poles!
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Joint effort on the Ouse before we turned up the River Lark....
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...where we found a sister craft. This appeared to be the front half of a Small Woolwich (Star Class) undergoing reconversion near Isleham.
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Brunch on the move.
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