What's all this wet stuff? And what's this skeleton?

… and I don't mean the River Nene. Yes, our first rain since the Crick Boat Show - and that was in May, almost eight weeks ago. I'll come back to the weather in a bit.

First, the boating. We left the lovely Overton Lake mooring after lunch, cruised past the long line of boats moored above Orton Lock and arrived at Orton Lock itself.

Next to the lock were two large adjustable weirs.

Downstream, on the left bank, was a strange white skeleton. What on earth …?

After spending more than a week on the Nene, where bridges have been a rarity, the approach to Peterborough is marked with a sudden flurry of railway bridges, foot bridges and a road bridge.

This railway bridge looks to have used rather a lot of iron. (The arches belong to the next bridge.)

Coming under the road bridge the Peterborough Embankment moorings appear on the left. The first boats seem to be long-term; we tied up just beyond the water point behind BCF boat The Lady Beth.

We weren't alone on our trip from the lake to Peterborough: Ally and Josiah came to visit today and made use of some of the facilities Ferry Meadows Country Park offers before enjoying the short cruise to the city.

I mentioned the rain. It was quite a gentle refamiliarisation to the wet stuff, starting with no thunderstorm but softly at first, gradually getting heavier. It began at 1800 and it is still raining at 2200. We understand that the Nene can respond quickly to rain; our plan is to leave this river on Sunday though Stanground Lock onto the Middle Levels. Meanwhile I suppose I'd better loosen the mooring ropes.