Thursday morning, and Sir made it clear he was ready to get going again: no more hanging around hoping for an otter or three.

We seemed to cruise along in an almost meditative state, the river scenery all very pretty and winding and remote, without anything specifically grabbing the attention. Not for nothing is Northamptonshire renowned for its church spires, and there were always several in sight. Trying to work out which is which as the river keeps changing direction is a real challenge.

Somehow we managed to cruise for 6 hours, covering over 12 miles and 7 locks: a long day for us. As usual on the Nene, we’d not found too much in the way of useable moorings, but had noticed that the pub/restaurant/hotel Oundle Mill had limited moorings for customers. And if that didn’t work, Oundle Cruising Club just under the bridge was rumoured to be friendly towards itinerants with their bankside moorings just outside Oundle Marina.

Well, Oundle Mill was closed (somewhat suddenly, it would seem – a shame as it had looked like a good spot for a dinner out); their limited moorings were empty but too shallow for Song & Dance so under the bridge it was… a club member graciously moved his boat up to make room for us, and as the club was shut there were no formalities. Not only that, Sir really took to the site and went off exploring before we’d got the kettle on. Stayed out most of the evening too. No exploring for us… as unofficial visitors we  could get out of the marina site, but the gates were locked at 17:15 and we had no way of getting back in, so dinner in Oundle was out.