At the club BBQ last night, Mike was persuaded that, with the offer of a lift to the X4 bus stop, he would bring the car from Fox Narrowboats in March to here. There is a good bus service from Northampton so it will take much less time when we eventually know more about how we will 'escape' from the Nene.
When the lift arrived he unexpectedly said that he would take Mike directly to Peterborough Station rather than the bus stop! It was a very interesting half hour journey as he seems to know quite a bit about the back story with the marina, especially as it is apparently now up for sale. According to Rightmove the current owner is asking for just under £5 million for it, after having found it harder to re-develop that when he obtained planning permission for just that. (Note that the agents photos are how the owner imagined it might look after wholesale redevelopment - it is not yet like that!) We hope that in any negotiations, the Cruising Club is able to continue, at least in its present site as the priceless friendliness that the club engender should not be lost, it is all too rare.
At Northampton Mike bought his train ticket for the short hop to March - the train runs from Peterborough to Stansted Airport via Ely and Cambridge and was certainly busy today.
At March Station the taxi that Mike had booked was ready and waiting. The town of March seemed much larger than we had perhaps taken it to be. After being dropped at the marina entrance, Mike prepared the car for the return trip. After our unplanned tour of the countryside a week ago, the battery was down to 61% so a call at an EV station was scheduled. Mike had picked out a couple, just in case there was no room at the nearest. He entered the details into the satnav and set off - about 30 minutes away. There were only two charging points - Instavolt are usually a bit more substantial, but Mike forgot to check for setting off! In any case, both were free although the other was taken soon after.
Setting up to charge went as smoothly as it seems to be with both Instabolt and Gridserve - not all are like that! However, it does seem that the charging companies are gradually getter better and being more reliable in the user interface.
The main 'attraction' on the site, in the middle of an industrial estate, is a large drive thru McDonalds. There was a steady stream of cars arriving to place their orders, collected shortly after from another part of the system.
Despite feeling that it was time for lunch, Mike did not fancy a burger but there was also a Subway. It is a long time since Mike had patronised a Subway so he had to take a few moments to come to terms with the fifty million options available (a typical New Testament hyperbole!) but is was certainly more than the typical Meal Deal range. A cheerful young lass served him patiently and soon had the chosen roll ready to be taken back to the car to eat whilst checking on charging progress,
It did not seem long before the charge level has reached 95% and Mike decided to unplug and continue the journey. It was only 27 minutes from there back to the marina where Christine had been cleaning, phoning possible stopping points if the Northampton Arm takes longer to let us through (and also to keep our place for a winter mooring) She also wrote a reference for a member of staff from many years back. Changes in the way in which these documents are prepared and returned meant that she had to await Mike's return to sort out he finer detail!
After a recovery break and a change of clothes Mike faced up to the real challenge of the day - emptying three elsan cassettes and a similar number of bags of rubbish. One of the complications of cruising this river is the distances between such disposal options, made worse by the closure of the installation on Peterborough Embankment. Let's hope that the one at Wellingborough has not suffered a similar fate since we used iot on the way down. At least we could use the car to take everything from the boat club to the other end of the marina!
A nap and a mug of tea followed but all too soon it was time to set about preparing the roast meal for tonight.
0 Miles - 0 Locks (so no photos - did not think you want one of the disposal facilities!)
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