Project FloatingAbode Diary
23 February, 2001 Winter is definitely in full swing. I thought the October floods were bad - the floods at the beginning of February were a lot worse. Lots of pictures follow but first here's a couple showing some work inside Uisce. The floods have been quite disruptive and I went to Malaysia for a week so I haven't done all that much. The first roof panel cut to size and temporarily fixed in place... ...closely followed by three more. And that's it... here's some flood images: When I went to work, the water was well over my wellies. When I got home, the water had gone up even more and I had to get Estelle and Terry to ferry me to my boat! We then moved Uisce nearer to the car park so that I didn't have to paddle quite so far! This is them moving their garden. My jetty is the one in the middle of the picture... what do you mean you can't see it? Before and after pictures. As you might imagine, the electricity kept tripping out and had to be turned off. Three narrowboats rafted up in the inner marina so that their owners wouldn't have to swim to get to them. There was a great sense of community throughout the floods, everyone mucked in and helped out. This is Terry of Tyne... afraid of getting it's keel wet? There was only a few inches stopping this narrowboat from floating over the concrete... ...and nothing stopping this cruiser. The entrance to my jetty. As in October, the first bit is floating, albeit significantly higher! Gary didn't bother moving his boat nearer the car park - he just rowed in and out every day. Note the tips of the fence visible just under the boom. The river Cam flows through the car park of the Fish and Duck and into the Ouse. Where possible, shallow draft boats were tied to boats opposite to keep the tension on the mooring lines thus stopping them drifting onto the concrete. More before and after. And before and after again. All in all it was an interesting experience. It was inconvenient but nowhere near as inconvenient as for those whose homes were devastated. The rising waters have an air of inevitability about them. Boats are by no means immune to floods but I'm glad my home floats.
