House renovations, local affairs, hot weather and our epic boating voyage - The month had started spending time at Heronshaw when I chaired a meeting of local residents and then continued later with my first solo voyage round the coast from Norfolk to Paxton before ending with my family cruise back round to Norfolk again, cruising downstream to Denver, out into the Wash and then around the coast, stopping for a few days in Wells-next-the-Sea before arriving in Great Yarmouth and cruising up The River Bure to Horning.
In between times, I did manage to attend a Huntingdonshire District Council Policy Committee meeting and also a Finance seminar and I was present to officiate at the Little Paxton Village Hall Fete, but boating was the first priority as I missed other Council meetings to make two trips. The hot weather was quite something and as July came to an end, it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter so that August might well see some record-breaking hot days as well. The water in the Great Ouse was low and we heard that they had to close some stretches of navigation after we had left. In Norfolk, it was also low but there were no levels to keep up and so we were safe.
The boat was working out very well and we were enjoying our holiday and intend to repeat the experience each year. The family are well with Debbie recovering from her finger injury although poor Di is suffering with eye irritation and has now arranged to be fitted for new contact lenses. My sister Freda and family have settled very well into their new house and business venture and are in the middle of the second visit of Mum who likes being there for the company. The rest of Diana's family are also all right, but her brother is out of a job at the moment ("between contracts") which is a worry.
Back home, we were in the middle of another building and renovation project as Debbie gets a new bedroom fashioned out of two and I get my office completely redecorated, furnished, and fitted. At least we were on our boat away from all the disruption!
Nelson Mandela was visiting the UK and plunged into a controversy by suggesting the government have talks with the IRA which started and stalled as Tory MP and Thatcher confident Ian Gow was killed by an IRA car bomb. The worst housing market for 36 years severely affected The Prudential after its acquisition of estate agents, but Chancellor Major is still ruling out reductions in the interest rate although Sterling has risen to above the three Deutschmark barrier.
The Soviet Union and Germany reforms go on apace as Mikhail Gorbachev was having to defend his reforms from attacks by his more conservative colleagues but he was re-elected as leader of the Soviet Communist Party by the huge margin of 3411 votes to 501. His domestic rival, Boris Yeltzin, President of the Russian Parliament, has quit the Russian Communist Party and it seems that multi-party politics is on the way.
US President, George Bush has proposed that Gorbachev address a meeting of NATO ministers and has proposed a joint peace declaration with the Warsaw Pact to formally end a decade of East-West hostility. 4,500 Albanian refugees sought refuge in western embassies and 50,000 Romanians were on the streets again protesting about their government. Armed police were clashing with rioters in Nairobi who are demanding the end of one-party rule.
The economic summit in Houston looked like being threatened by expected discord over agricultural trade but then western nations agreed a formula for future progress on reducing agricultural subsidies which pleased both the USA and the EEC. An Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanon bases of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah would delay hostage releases but Israeli Premier, Yitzhak Shamir, is only interested in surviving domestic challenges before the pending election.
** "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **
We fittingly end the month of July during a heat wave aboard the Paxton Princess. It has been a very hot, warm and dry month that both started and finished with scorching heat as the thrips had come back in there billions that makes the predictions of the "earth warming effect" sound quite plausible. There were some very windy days with forecasts of NW winds up to severe gale 9 prior to our sea trip and afterwards as we lazed in Yarmouth and needed a windbreak on the beach and we made our epic family sea trip but perhaps it would have been better to wait another day for the seas to calm down. There were very hot and sticky day days and nights when it was still in the 70'sF and we had to lay with the bed covers off and double doors and curtains flung wide open.
I chaired a well-attended Ropes Hill Dyke Meeting at Horning Village Hall at the start of this month. I was at a poor-tempered Policy Committee meeting of the District Council at Huntingdon on a hot and sticky evening, an HDC Council Finance Seminar in a heat wave and was officiating at the Village Hall Fete as Vice-Chairman where I was in charge in the absence of the Chairman. This was successful for our family stalls despite the hot weather and insects and I duly thanked everybody and ensured that we cleared up. I received another call from the Liberal Democrats trying to get me to stand for parliament which I deferred again, there being little chance of election, South West Cambridgeshire being such a Tory constituency.
Regarding family and domestic matters, I was also finding time for two property projects, investigating the viability of saving the old Heronshaw and supervising a variety of house renovations at The Hayling View. The latter involved the mammoth task removing all the books from my office and packing everything away to make the office ready for the workman to survey for the refurbishment whilst I was away later in the month and then trying to get work done later when my office was in rubble with a plague of thunder flies whilst being continually being called to the electrician as he wired up the remainder of my office and then the photo-sensed light by my riverside moorings! The girls and Daniel continually swam in the pool and Di’s brother Charlie and Chrisula visited at short notice more than once and stayed until late to bring their girls swimming.
We had the occasional trip to the cinema and I joined the rest of the family on a trip to Cambridge to see Di's Mum and Dad and driving Daniel's Montego much to his chagrin, dropping off with Daniel to see the HiFi and car accessory shops to try to find an alarm system for the boat without success before enjoying a lunch at Wimpy's. I drove my Rolls Royce to Cambridge on another occasion for a hospital check-up when both Di and I both were advised that we had a good time to come! At Kimbolton we were proud to see Debbie perform as one of the titled cast in her "Upper Operetta" which was a musical comedy all about a hospital and I visiting Mum with Daniel and Jason Chambers on the way to Norfolk where we set up her video recorder. I had been briefing Mark and Joan, the gardener and housekeeper before our long boat trip, in preparation for them looking after domestic affairs in our absence and had ordered the Fred Broad Ambulanceman's memorial trophy ready for its award later.
Earlier in the month, with Steve, Daniel and Jason Chambers, we had brought the Paxton Princess back to Horning. We had been servicing the boat engines and mechanics to ensure that the boat was in first class condition for this coastal trip and we undertook our sea voyage, refuelling at Acle before cruising on to Great Yarmouth and mooring up at the Town Quay. Whilst waiting for tides and a weather window, we made our plans and amusing ourselves bowling and eating out as the weather was looking better for the following day. After being up at about 5.00am and listening to the early forecasts, I decided to try and get round to the Wash in one go. There was an uncomfortable northerly swell which compounded with wind-against-tide effects for the first hour or two and the rain was a constant drizzle so we had to have the hood up which made Daniel and Jason sea-sick as a consequence and Steve was also feeling very queasy but I survived. We enjoyed the latter stages when we could take the north-westerly swell more head on and it died away to give way to a calm spell in the Wash.
Daniel and Jason took over the pilotage notes to find our way into the Kings Lynn channel until we moored up at the No2 GOBA mooring buoy. We then made the trip up the tidal New Bedford River on a gloriously fine and warm (if still very windy) day, approaching Denver a bit early on the tide, touching the bottom as we sought out deeper water, and then locked through Erith and St Ives with friendly lock-keepers. We got under Offord bridge with inches to spate on a hot and sunny day, arriving in Paxton for a Diana sandwich and tea arrival and then unloading and settling in. The following day was mainly dry with a few showers but very windy with forecasts of NW winds up to severe gale 9 and so I was pleased to be back out of the sea. After this inaugural cruise back to Paxton, I got Daniel to help me clean the salt off of Paxton Princess and serviced it on another hot and sultry day but with less insects as we made final arrangements for our time away, cruising off with Di and the girls this time.
Having got her back to Horning, later in the month we were preparing the Paxton Princess on the eve of our epic voyage on another hot and humid day with temperatures well into the 80'sF - and the thrips had come back in there billions. Diana and I prepared the inventory for the boat and then, once the sun had gone down a little, we loaded it up ready for the next day. I was also working on my video tape recordings from past holidays, archiving two years’ worth of film and making sure that the video camera was working properly for this one. The weather today started cloudy and misty and then ended up sunny and clear for the start of our epic voyage as we made our last-minute arrangements at home and then set off upstream to moor first at St Neots Town Quay where we ended up reporting vandalism damage to another boat. We had lunch at the Beefeater and then cruised on through Eaton Socon lock and upstream to Tempsford, where I managed some fishing and was then up late in my cabin writing up my ship’s logs whilst the family initially watched the film "Back to the Future II" on our boat video before going to bed.
We managed well for our first morning routine aboard, showering with the hot water stored overnight and then Daniel helped me clean and fold the canopy to give us more space on the bridge. We locked up through Roxton, Great Barford, Willington and then stopped at the riverbank there and took a walk in the hot sun to the Willington Garden Centre before setting off through Castle Mills but we could not get through Cardington as expected as the lock was really too narrow. After solving an engine overheating problem by clearing an inlet filter, we cruised back through the locks to The Anchor moorings at Tempsford again and settled there for the night. We had some drinks at The Anchor pub where Diana had spotted a "bouncy castle" available for customers' children to play on. I had taken care to note all the lock and bridge heights and distances for my log and tracked the river course with the Decca and Plotter; all for subsequent cruising interest. We then cruised from the Anchor pub in Bedford down river to moor at the St Neots pontoons for a Beefeater lunch and then on through Paxton and Offord locks to moor for the night at Buckden Marina on a quite unbearable hot day.
I then brought my computer on board for the trip to accompany my new Cellnet telephone so that I could keep in touch with events back home. After buying fuel from Buckden Marina and some bits in the chandlery there, we set off through a few downstream locks and moored up at Godmanchester on another swelteringly hot day, which we were finding uncomfortable, but Paxton Princess was running well if needing a range of running repairs which I tackled when we locked through Godmanchester and moored up under the new Huntingdon road bridge for shade. A short cruise to Purvis Marine followed after a session with a river inspector where we managed to get the temporary visitors registration before on to St Ives where we found The Waites Quay full but there was space at The Dolphin, the new river pub by the town bridge. An unfortunate row with Diana prevented us enjoying dinner there as she did not like the conflict with Daniel over trying to get him to help and was finding the hot weather too much for her. I fished with the girls until late by which time the temperature and tempers cooled down a bit. Daniel was watching TV all this time and contacting Jason Chambers, so as to be able to meet him the next day in St Ives.
After making up with Diana, after she had also felt unwanted and not needed yesterday, we all had a cooked breakfast at the "Harvest Bakery" which cheered her up and then I managed to move the boat round to Waites Quay and rigged up a sunshade whilst Di did some shopping. Dan met Jason there and, after lunch, we set off in mid-afternoon and through St Ives lock, a tight squeeze, and then on through Brownshill Staunch and Hermitage Lock after which we cruised along to moor up at The Twentypence Inn for dinner with Paxton Princess coping with the shallows of The Old West river well. A slight breeze made for better comfort, but it was so warm and still that night that we left the boat hood down overnight for the first time. After a very early start we set off to avoid the heat, a cool easterly breeze set in later as later cruised pass the Fish and Duck at Pope’s corner and turned up the River Cam, locking through Bottisham and Batesbite locks until we moored on the Jesus Green part of Midsummer common. We then walked to meet Di's family (Mum, Dad and Sister) in Eaden Lilley's for coffee and later rendezvoused at the air-conditioned Pizza Hut for lunch.
We purchased a toasted sandwich maker, went swimming in the open air pool and then Daniel took Debbie to see "Back to the Future III" as I wrote up my logs and Di walked along to Chesterton to do the washing in the launderette there. After another early start, the following day, I checked the weather to check for our proposed sea cruise soon and then ran the starboard engine for a while to charge our batteries as the hot weather was taking its toll of the domestic battery and the refrigerator had given up for lack of power. After breakfast, we walked to the town centre, via the launderette in Chesterton again, and had a nice morning coffee in a café there. Then we cruised down The River Cam, stopping at "The Plough", Fen Ditton, for a very pleasant barbecue lunch before downstream past Popes Corner and on to Ely for water and to take Diana to the cinema at the adjacent "Maltings" and we watched and thoroughly enjoyed the film "Search for Red October" whilst the children watched a video on the boat, not a stone’s throw away. I slept in for a change in the morning and Diana made the morning drinks after which I ran the engines to charge the batteries and to enable the refrigerator to keep working.
We walked to Ely Market Square for coffee after breakfast and then bought some spares, another lifejacket and navigation books from Ely Yacht Chandlers before lunch out that the French café. I managed to fix the helm indicators that evening and started to plan our sea trip. I was up early listening to the Radio 4 shipping forecast and planning our first sea trip together for the day after next by locking through Denver the following day and staying at Kings Lynn that evening. We had lunch at the nearby Maltings Café, an afternoon swim in the 85degF warmth of the Ely swimming pool and then made the cruise down to the Denver mooring nearby ready to lock through the Denver Sluice at about 11.30am the next morning, still planning to stay at Kings Lynn the following night. We had a nice tea of prawn salad and, after I put the boat to bed, I sat and typed up these last seven days' journal. The next day, as the winds were very light and our departure through Denver lock would allow us enough tide to get through Kings Lynn and the Yarmouth Coastguard weather report was good, I opted to cruise on rather than staying in King’s Lynn a further day.
Once we were at the No8 buoy, we found the North-Easterly 3/4 breeze and the Wash open to this and getting choppy as we anchored within sight of the tide gauge by No 5 buoy in Cork Hole to await the tide. With favourable reports from an incoming skipper we left the shelter of Cork Hole but began to feel the waves that built up to at least moderate sea and the breeze turned easterly at force five. I had only allowed enough time to take the shallower route at the Wash entrance through the sandbanks from Woolpack to Bridgirdle buoys and then across the Stifkey Overfalls and, as we turned East along this route at about 5.00pm, the waves were becoming so high in a moderate to rough sea with the wind now F5 that they broke over our forward cabin roof and occasionally over our windscreen so as to splash us in the bridge. Di was frightened and our tender was coming loose so I had to deal with that as well. Before 8.00pm, we were within reach of Wells Harbour Radio on Channel 12 and the harbour-master advised us to follow the fishing boat "Ma Freen" into the harbour as we were early on the spring tide for even our draft of a metre. This worked well and were able to stay at Wells Harbour Quay for the night.
There then followed a recovery day in Wells after the stress of the previous day, moving Paxton Princess away from the quay to the pilot boat's moorings for the coasters to upload their cargo and finally drying out as planned on a level sand bank. WE had a welcome day ashore taking the miniature railway to the Pinewoods for a walk in the woods as the girls played finding and hiding games. We spent the next day in Wells-next-the-Sea, first taking advantage of Paxton Princess being dried out to clean the hull, check the propellers, removing some fishing line, and then freeing off a log impeller from the rope tightly wound around it. There followed a rush to get aboard with the incoming tide flooding the sand bank after which we were able to moor back at the quay for the night as the incoming ship had grounded until the next day. There followed more shopping and maintenance before we cruised from Wells-next-the-Sea to Great Yarmouth around the North Norfolk coast in much better conditions.
There was some choppy water off Cromer and Sea Palling but slight seas in the Yarmouth Roads. We tied up at the Town Hall Quay and went ashore for tea at McDonalds which everybody enjoyed. After a disorganised morning routine, we did our chores and left for the beach as the calmness turned into a windy day that made a windbreak necessary and the antics of the Scroby Sands trip boats quite interesting to watch. After lunch, we found that that "Java Moon" had followed us round from Wells and had tied up alongside, having had problems in their passage. Later, we went for a ride in a landau and the children enjoyed the scary and gentle rides of Pleasurebeach. It was the Yarmouth Carnival Procession and we saw all of the floats and heard the music as we had a nice meal in one of the sea-front family restaurants. Another hot and humid night followed for which we were glad to be by the sea and its refreshing breeze. We decided on a further day at Great Yarmouth and so I ran the boat engines for half an hour and then used the generator to make sure the fridge would be working as we took breakfast in Tooks after which Di went shopping on her own as I took the girls and bought them gifts. After a lunch together at McDonalds, I taught the girls to catch crabs as I made up a better wire harness to better support the inflatable tender as the weather continued very hot, sunny and dry. After breakfast, Diana took Daniel and Della to do some supermarket shopping and I took Debbie to the museum opposite the quay that was a merchant's house. Then we set off from Yarmouth in late morning and cruised off up the river Bure, stopping for lunch at Stokesby, before arriving at Horning and Heronshaw where we connected to the mains electricity thus completing our epic voyage!
Whilst boating and local affairs dominated my time, I spent an evening watching England win their first in the World Cup after which they then played West Germany and I watched that in our boat television. The match was drawn 2-2 after extra time and England then lost the game on the deciding penalty kicks. I then watched England’s next world cup match with Italy for the third place which England narrowly lost 2-1.
Nelson Mandela was visiting the UK and plunged into a controversy by suggesting the government have talks with the IRA in the same manner as his South African reconciliations but there was an Irish peace initiative led by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Brooke which stalled as the month closed with news of Tory MP and Thatcher confident Ian Gow being killed by an IRA car bomb. There was an industrial setback as British Airways are ordering from Boeing, but at least they are also ordering Rolls Royce engines worth £600m and considering the Airbus A-330 for the next generation The Prudential has been severely burned by its acquisition of estate agents during the worst housing market for 36 years but Sterling has risen to above the three Deutschmark barrier but Chancellor Major is still ruling out reductions in the interest rate. Nicholas Ridley, Trade and Industry Secretary, made a right fool of himself by sounding off in a magazine interview with a stream of ignorant and offensive comments about our European colleagues.
As calls were mounting and he had few friends in the Cabinet, the month ended with the news that the idiot, had resigned as DTI minister. The House of Commons is set to make its TV coverage permanent, Arthur Scargill maintains that the miners' money is intact after the NUM were facing further allegations over their strike funds and the UEFA has lifted its ban on British clubs taking part in European competitions from next season. A bomb was found outside the El Al building in Regents Street. The Soviet Union and Germany reforms go on apace and leave the politicians breathless in their wake as Gorbachev is having to defend his reforms from attacks by his more conservative colleagues. Mikhail Gorbachev has been re-elected as leader of the Soviet Communist Party by the huge margin of 3411 votes to 501 but Boris Yeltzin, President of the Russian Parliament, has quit the Russian Communist Party and it seems that multi-party politics is on the way. Gorbachev is now looking at forming a "broad coalition" of politicians from both within and without the Communist Party. US President, George Bush is starting to shake up NATO, and has proposed that Gorbachev address a meeting of NATO ministers at the end of this year as a measure of the increased understanding between East and West NATO leaders and have proposed a joint peace declaration with the Warsaw Pact to formally end a decade of East-West hostility.
4,500 Albanian refugees sought refuge in western embassies and were evacuated by four western ships to the Italian port of Brindisi before Albanian police moved to seal off the diplomatic quarter to avoid more defections. 50,000 Romanians were on the streets again protesting about their government. Armed police are clashing with rioters in Nairobi who are demanding the end of one-party rule Violence is now spreading across Kenya in the third day of unrest and the government looks to be in trouble with the threat of anarchy, and Kenya is now "unsafe" according to Britain and the US and citizens have been warned against travelling there. The economic summit in Houston looked like being threatened by expected discord over agricultural trade but then western nations agreed a formula for future progress on reducing agricultural subsidies which pleased both the USA and the EEC. An Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanon bases of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah would delay hostage releases but Israeli Premier, Yitzhak Shamir, is only interested in surviving domestic challenges before the pending election.
.