Mike Stevens' UK Inland Waterways Pages

TRIP REPORTS : THE FELIS CATUS II YEARS

Spring & Early Summer 1992 :
FOUR WATERWAYS EVENTS

PART 1 : EASTER CRUISE TO THE RIVER LEE

Click here for information about our then boat , Felis Catus II

We arrived later than intended and then had to mend one of the joints in the domestic water system that had popped out over the winter. There was no condensation, except one light-switch playing up. We set off from our home mooring at Cowley Peachey at 17:25 in pleasant conditions.

At Bull's Bridge we joined the Paddington Branch and moored just past junction at 18:29. We were opposite Sverre Koxvold's barge Kong Sverre & enjoyed his wind-chimes.

We set off at 10:14 after a lie-in and had a pleasant run to Paddington Stop where we took on water. Passing through Browning's Pool we noticed that the floating bandstand for Canalway Cavalcade was already in place. On the Regent's Canal we found Camden Lock market as horrendous as ever at weekends with lots of entertainers, druggies and beggars, the last of whom we recommended to approach Conservative voters, whose fault it all was. While we were working the top lock there, a German tourist asked us where the waterway went, a Londoner was amazed that anyone might think it went anywhere. We shared Kentish Town & St Pancras locks with the community boat Opportunity , then tied up at Islington visitor mooring at 16:32 . This is a pleasant mooring which was enjoyed by cats - ours and others.

Arlecchino decided to spend the morning exploring some gardens, so we did some painting while waiting for him to come back. I finished the "summer" and "winter" castles on the galley side doors & Wendy touched-up some of the hull. We finally set off at 14:30, helped by St Pancras C.C.'s club cruise coming the other way. We locked for a while with Hero (a local and rather tipsy boat who got stuck on a cill without noticing) and then with the community boat Pirate Princess through Old Ford lock and Duckett's to the River Lee Navigation, where we moored at a very cat-friendly mooring on Walthamstow Marshes at 17:41.

There was a lot of diesel smell overnight : there seemed to be a leak at the filter. Accompanied by good birdsong, we set off at 08:59. Springfield Marina had no engineer available to deal with our fuel leak. We found that he mechanised locks were no longer keeper-operated as they had been when we came this way some years ago, but worked by boaters using a BW key. We stopped at the Old English Gentleman, Waltham for sandwiches in the pub, then Wendy went by bus to a not-very-special Sainsbury's in Waltham Cross. In the afternoon we went on to Broxbourne where at 18:08 we found a pleasant moorings, if a bit close to the railway. There were quite a lot of people around, but also rabbits very close to the boat. Our cats stood guard against a local cat who challenged them vocally at intervals during the night.

We set off at 09:03, again accompanied by good birdsong. The cats were very tired after a vigorous night. At Fieldes Weir junction we stayed on the Lee and went on to Stanstead Abbots Marina, where they cured 2 fuel leaks and only charged us £15 for about 2 hours' work. After that we went on to Hertford, tying up at 17:39 outside the Old Barge, too late to shop. I went to the pub, then found us a Chinese take-away.

We started the day with some shopping, finding a useful Waitrose. We started boating at 10:43 and winded by the last bridge after running aground before the proper Head of Navigation. Then we headed back down-river on a bad road behind nb Willow. We stopped above Stanstead lock and bought diesel (at good discount for quantity). We had to wait for the chap (John) to finish lunch, so we had ours too. After that it was mostly a bad road. Near Fieldes Weir junction we met what seemed to be a post-Passover pleasure trip in three day-boats from Broxbourne. We tied up below Rammey Marsh lock at 18:23. We had dinner on board, then went to Rammey Marsh Cruising Club for a local IWA meeting. It was a good spot for the cats : even Dido went hunting.

It was very windy as we set off again at 10:35. Pickett's lock-keeper was busy elsewhere, so we had great fun with the gates blowing around in the wind! Before Tottenham lock we stopped in fierce rain and used the loo-point (not in Nicholson's). I found a source of solid fuel at a garage just east of the lock. There was a good Wetherspoon pub below the lock. (subsequently that left the Wetherspoon chain and went through a bad patch, but rumour says it's OK again now.) The final leg of the day's boating brought us to just before Old Ford lock (the one on the Lee), where we tied up at 17:05. I'd planned to photograph the Bow Back Rivers, but the weather was too gloomy.

We awoke to brighter weather, so I went for a photographic walk round the Back Rivers. Several rowing fours were active around our mooring. Dido was very lively both inside and outside the boat. We moved off at 11:38 into Duckett's and started locking with another boat until they were stopped by a bladeful. Joining the Regent's Canal, we continued to Battlebridge Basin, where we found no apparent entrance to the Museum from the water-side, so continued to moor at Gloucester Avenue (Camden Town) at 16:04.

We overslept, so didn't start until 12:04, in filthy weather. We went to Paddington Stop to use the sani station and take on water. The visitor moorings were very crowded, so we joined some other early Cavalcade arrivals in the Pool on Rembrandt Gardens., tying up at 13:35. We chatted with some of the other boaters before going home.