Two luxury canal boats, eleven crew, a peaceful location and perfect weather formed the ideal combination for a fantastic club weekend in the Fens.
Boat availability issues found us split between the seven berth Desert Fox, with Stanley, Victor, Nick, Hilary, Steve, Val and Diana aboard, whilst Dave, Adele, Simon and Lorraine (the Ramet Family) were allocated the smaller four berth Swift Fox. Accommodation on Desert Fox was a little tight but both boats were extremely well-appointed and well-equipped.
We all met up at Fox Narrowboats in the little town of March, Cambs. at around 16.00hrs. The Desert Fox crew arrived with provisions which they distributed between the boats. It was heart warming to note how, Famous Five style, the women on each boat organised the groceries, whilst the men busied themselves making everything ready or as Victor put it, ‘supervising’. True seafaring custom ! All was going well, with everything stowed away and everyone happily settled until the mysterious case of the missing apples began rocking the previously harmonious boats. At least two, if not three, bags of apples had apparently gone missing from Desert Fox but the crew of Swift Fox were adamant that there were no apples on board their craft. A thorough search of Swift was conducted to no avail but some of the crew on Desert remained unconvinced to a level worryingly reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart in the film, The Caine Mutiny. In fact, the crew of Swift got so nervous, at one point they thought they were going to have a repel a hostile boarding party but thankfully, the apples finally turned up in a locker – on Desert Fox of course.
After a short instructional chat, we were taken out of the marina entrance by the Fox staff before the boats were handed over to our respective skippers, Stanley and Dave and our hardy crews. Stanley had planned a route to Ely which took us through the now notorious tidal Salters Lode Sluice but more of that later. First, we had to get through the first lock at Outwell Junction, approximately 2 hours away and find a place where we could moor to spend the night and leave in time to catch the tide at Salters Lode the next day. Manouevering at first was shaky but experience tells and within the hour all helmsmen steered with confidence and aplomb.
Having successfully negotiated Outwell lock, we eventually found a place to moor. The natives were not very friendly as most of the moorings were private – even the pubs. The crew of Swift were invited aboard Desert for a sumptuous Friday night meal of chopped liver, egg and onion, roast chicken and latkes brought by Stanley and brilliantly prepared by Hilary, Diana and Val. With eleven of us squashed round the table it was cosy to say the least but all the more convivial for that. As befitted his station, our commodore was seated at the head of the table, albeit on a step with the table at eye level but nevertheless, at the head. True to custom the ladies did most of the hard work; it’s really great having a mixed crew !!!
The seven aboard Desert Fox settled down snugly to the snores of their companions with a competition for the quietest of which all claimed to be the winner.
An early start the next morning saw us arriving right on time at Salters Lode Sluice, a high-tech complex, hydraulic system comprising two locks, one each end of the tidal section of the Great Ouse. Other boats were already waiting to go through and as time is a major factor and Swift was the smallest boat, the lock keeper paired it with one of the waiting boats to go through first. The lock was only just wide enough for the two boats and skipper Dave placed Swift perfectly alongside the other boat in one smooth, skilful manoeuvre. Then it was a sharp, tight turn out of the lock to the next one, still with the paired boat, crewed by a group of friendly guys on a stag weekend. Safely through the locks, we moored up to eat lunch and sit around on the bank chatting and relaxing in the bright sunshine.
The rest of the afternoon was spent chugging through the countryside, water fowl spotting, relaxing and for some of us, catching a little too much sun. We arrived at the beautiful City of Ely at around 17.00hrs and split up to do some sightseeing before meeting back at the boats to go out for a group meal. Agreeing on a restaurant was easy. One splinter group spied the perfect place and popped in to make a reservation only to find that Stanley had got there before them and the booking had already been made. By the time we returned to the boats, some members of the group were having second thoughts and started to look for somewhere else to eat. Suggested alternatives were considered, reasons for refusal discussed, reasons for acceptance tossed aside and thankfully, hunger decided the matter for everyone and we ended up at the restaurant we first thought of.
Sunday morning’s start had to be early to catch the tide at Salter’s Lode and we were off the mooring by 06.30hrs with the mist still rising on the water. With another perfect day’s boating ahead of us, we set off happily for the lock, arriving well in time for the tide and meeting up with our stag party partners, who were on surprisingly good form considering their pre-wedding revelries. Commodore Stan made his well deserving crew a breakfast of French toast by way of reward for their loyalty whilst on the move. Once again, they were paired with Swift Fox to go through the narrow lock but this time, things didn’t go quite so smoothly. The lock was slightly narrower at the Ely end, so that Swift Fox became firmly wedged between the lock wall and the other boat. It took a good bit of brute force to push Swift Fox free and reverse her clear of the lock to wait for the larger boat to go through by itself. To his credit, the lock keeper admitted that it was his error and was incredibly helpful. However, as any delay getting boats through has a knock on effect on those still waiting, it was imperative to get Desert Fox through as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it was at this point that the lock gate stuck with Desert still outside. If they couldn’t fix the pneumatics controlling the gate, then the only option would have been for Desert to go back through the first lock and moor on the non-tidal side until the next day whilst Swift would have had to return to the boatyard on her own. Thankfully, Nick came to the rescue with the brilliant suggestion that the lock keeper should shut down the computer and reboot it. Works every time!
With both boats safely through, we were more than ready for lunch on board before heading back to the boatyard to decide where to go for our last meal together.
Travelling with both boats together and eating together made the whole weekend much more of an enjoyable weekend and more of a club event.
Sadly, Stanley, Simon and Lorraine all had to leave for work in the morning and with Val and Steve, they left for home. This time, agreement on where to eat was almost unanimous. This may have been because the weekend was coming to an end or perhaps because the restaurant did a really economical Sunday special! Whatever the reason, the remnants of the two crews spent a very congenial evening together and the fact that they woke to rain the next morning did nothing to dampen their high spirits.
To quote Stanley, ‘This weekend, I believe we’ve all learned something that we hadn’t known before’. After sharing a relatively small space with a relatively large number of people, this is a sentiment with which several of the crew would certainly agree.
Many, many thanks, Stanley, for organising a thoroughly enjoyable club weekend.
