Today we hired out a boat for the afternoon from St Ives, we took our picnic and our blankets (just in case) and headed out for some fun on the river. We have never been along this stretch of the river before, we always go to Wroxham, so it was nice to see something new.
It was our first boat trip where we have encountered a lock too and luckily from all our days of watching the sailors use them at Godmanchester, we “sort of” knew what to do and what was going to happen. Luckily, we had a very helping hand on both trips through the lock – so we felt a little more confident in what we were doing. First time Daddy span the boat around so we were facing the opposite way, this was clearly not ettiquette for the other sailors as they did look at us funny. Some passers by helped us moor up whilst the water in the locks rose to meet the level of the St Ives side.
We then went through St Ives, we went past all the people sitting drinking their teas and the ducks waiting to be fed and then headed back, through the lock again. Noah really enjoyed the lock experience, he seemed to pick it up and get the gist of what was happening. He was explaining to us all for the rest of the afternoon that the lock water went down, down, down and when we saw another lock further on in our adventure he pointed it out “lock, look Mummy”. Isla helped Daddy hold the rope on the way back so that we didn’t come away from the lock walls, they were all slimy though – we didn’t really want to be too near them!
We had a lot of fun watching the animals as we passed them by, it was such a peaceful afternoon and 4 hours felt like 30 minutes. We love hiring a boat, next time I think we will make sure we get a bigger boat with a roof as it was a bit open today. Windy when we were sailing and a bit chilly, opposed to boiling hot when we stopped in the sunshine. It was a lovely family day out and the children really loved it.
Boating is so much fun! My dream activity with my son actually. Thanks for sharing photos. This is the 1st time that I saw a boating country kids entry! #countrykids
Stunning photos as always and what a beautiful day. We love to do the self hire boats at Fowey and cruise up the estuary, more exciting to have a lock to encounter! Thank you for sharing on Country Kids.
Gorgeous photos lovely. We say every single year that we are going to hire a boat for the day and we never get round to it. Where did you hire it from? I would love to do that for the day. x
What a lovely trip. I must admit I haven’t been brave enough to take my children out on a small boat yet but I think they would love it! #CountryKids