Boatwif
The occasional adventures of the Cleddau crew
About Us
We are ‘The Captain’ and ‘Boatwif’, owners of nb Cleddau.
Cleddau was a five year old youngster when we took her on in 1994. She was built for cruising on the River Trent. Over time Cleddau has had internal and external adjustments but she retains her original hull, propeller, anchor and portholes.
When asked (frequently) “What does Cleddau mean?” our response is usually “In Welsh it means swords but Cleddau is the name of the river that flows into the Milford Haven deep water estuary in Pembrokeshire…”
We both grew up in Pembrokeshire; for some years we have kept a record of what we call ‘Monkton Moments’, those exchanges with boaters and non-boaters who recognise our Pembrokeshire connections.
This blog below is a record of our mainly boating adventures.
RECENT KEN & SUE LOCATION
Battling on
There had been a sharp right at Marston Junction off the Coventry Canal. High winds and poor weather drove Cleddau...
An end to things
Cruising since Braunston Summit has had a sense of finality about it. This (Braunston Tunnel on Saturday morning)...
Grand cruising on the Grand Union
Safely up and away from the River Nene, Cleddau and Tentatrice both had engines serviced at Gayton Marina on Tuesday...
Back to the canals
Cleddau had been climbing steadily since leaving Peterborough on 27th August. Peterborough is judged as 10 feet...
Bridges, boats, trains – and reeds
What are the characteristics of the Nen (as in hen and men, spelt Nene) between Thrapston and Northampton, a...
Never presume…
Along the Nene (rhyming with preen and mean) from Oundle to Thrapston, 8½ miles, 4 locks So what of Oundle then?...
Upstream strategy
Wet, wet, wet it was, when Cleddau and Tentatrice left Peterborough on Sunday morning. What strategy would...
From east to west...
After the trip along the Relief Channel it was back to Denver. Here the boats and boaters would need to wait for suitable...
What a Relief…
From the narrow twisty River Wissey – to the broad man-made Relief Channel. On Saturday Tentatrice and Cleddau...
Sweet Wissey
The River Wissey is another so far unexplored East Anglian river. Like the Lark and Brandon Creek the Wissey feeds...
Up the Creek…
9 miles from Ely along the Great Ouse is The Ship Inn – it sits at the mouth of the Little Ouse River, often referred...
Sound. Colour. Action. Bored? Never!
To be bored in Ely is to be bored with life… that was the gist of a conversation with an Ely local a few weeks ago...
Where to? And where next…?
There was time to squeeze in one last little boat trip before the Cal Clan flew back to the US. But where to? From Ely, heading...
Easy days in Ely
29th July – 1st August Cleddau had arrived in Ely on a Sunday. Unusually, especially on a summer weekend...