Today was supposed to be a fairly short 3 lock cruise to the last FOTRN rural mooring before Northampton. However, it turned out to be even shorter!
We were a little slow in getting away - the other boat that shared the mooring overnight left quite early, but they do have a tight schedule to get back to Cambridge where they moor permanently.
After a short but very twisty section we arrived at Lower Wellingborough Lock. Alongside is a rather wide weir - the standard fall is only 0.8m, It also looks somewhat overgrown but presumably does what is asked of it!
This another lock with vee doors at both ends. This also means that we do not have to close up and empty after passage through - there is even a notice to tell us that.
It was only 10:30 when we arrived that Wellingborough Embankment. Three other boats were already tied up here but enough room for us. We started at the service point which we were keen to find - water and elsan were semi-urgent. Fortunately, unlike Peterborough, these are still in working order but rubbish has to go in general waste bins.
After completing these tasks we pulled back to the start of the moorings as we needed to walk across to Tesco for a good food top-up. By the time we had completed that, returned to the boat and stowed away, it was well after 1.30.
The main downside with this as an overnight stopover are the mills on the opposite side which have rather noisy air conditioning round the clock. However, we eventually felt that at this end it is not as bad as where we moored on the way down and agreed to put off going further until tomorrow! At least we have a better mobile internet signal than last night,
Apart from just chilling out, we did do some exploration of arrangements for October and the winter. It is still difficult, as CaRT are not yet committing to what will happen with the Northampton Arm in this time. Advice from the marinas, who obviously keep in close contact with CaRT, does seem to say that Cropredy will be a no-go for some time yet - water levels in the three relevant reservoirs are not recovering well - but that everyone expects that there will be at least one more assisted passage of the Northampton Arm.
Meanwhile we have booked for the winter at Brinklow - they have been exceedingly helpful during these uncertainties, as they were last year - and also for a week at Northampton Marina for the period when we need to go to a meeting in Rugby and then a quick two night dash back home. Hopefully by then there may be more clarity over the Arm. We even made some enquiries about moving our boat by road, as one of the members at Oundle Cruising Club have had to do: it is expensive, but not totally out of the question if we would otherwise end up paying for two marinas!
And people keep saying that life on the water must be so relaxing! If only . . .
1.3 Miles - 1 Lock
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