Monday morning dawned bright, but the afternoon forecast was rubbish, so the outline plan was to get going from Elton straight away, stop in Wansford-in-England for elevenses and shopping, and hopefully a make a recommended overnight stop on Overton Lake near Peterborough before the deluge. Well some of that worked…

The river guide shows Environment Agency and pub customer moorings in Wansford-in-England. Wrong. No sign of the former, and although the pub was glimpsed across the high bank and field, there was nowhere to even get a nose in. Onwards…

A couple of  miles out of W-in-England we came to the Nene Valley Railway Bridge at Wansford Station, their HQ. There was a perfectly situated floating pontoon right by their cafe, so it seemed rude not to stop for an early lunch. The sky was already lowering and dark, so no photos, and it started raining a bit, so our plan was rapidly going down the tubes. We could have stayed there for the afternoon/night but mistakenly believed the forecast, and set off again in light rain.

At Water Newton lock the skies opened for 15 minutes. Like standing under Niagara Falls. In full wet weather gear we set off again, and at Alwalton Lock (no relation) the same thing happened just after we’d passed some decent looking moorings. Another Niagara Falls job, but at least the waterproofs were waterproof.

And it continued to pour until we limped into Overton Lake where we eventually located some excellent moorings. Well, the crew liked them: the Captain wasn’t so impressed as the pontoon open-weave mesh flooring was not very suited to small pawed pussies. Mind you, the crew would have liked pretty much any mooring while the deluge continued.

Tuesday dawned fair again, so Peterborough here we come.