Trip up to the North East

Yes whatever Nick.

just an update.   first off a thank you to TD.  We left Goole at 5 am Sunday and had only been on the river for a few minutes when received an unexpected call from Tony checking our progress.   He gave us the best courses for the next section and in a series of further phone calls piloted us down the river.

We trickled down the river at just over tickover past Apex and into the Trent and still at the same low revs crept into the Trent and anchored  just up from South Trent beacon at just after 8am. a very pleasant morning relaxing in the sunshine then weighed the anchor at 2pm and trickled up the river again at tickover arriving at Keadby at justb after 4pm.

The Lockie (Nick) I had met at Naburn when he was relief there last year.  We had a barbecue that evening with visitors.

The next day left Keadby at about 4.30 pm after a couple of narrowboats (one heading for Stockwith the other for Torksey)  We went at slow speed up the river doing about 6 kts
but had to drop speed when we got nearer as the keeper needed to reset the lock so we drifted in neutral just occasionally going ahead when she started going off line keeping the speed to about 2 kts until the lock was ready.

The lock had been warned that there was a large boat coming in and there had been a bit of checking done to make sure we would fit (the lockie said it was the biggest boat he had ever penned at West Stockwith)

We had arrived at slack water and Peterboat on the wheel we made a 10 out of 10 score for the entry.  Sabina fitted the lock fairly snugly with maybe 4 or 5 inches clearance each side.  Of course as is normal when something is spot on ..... there were no onlookers !!!

The route to the only spare berth big enough was very difficult and again Peterboat did it well ..... I knocked off 1 point for scaring me as he missed the bow roller of a very expensive looking bit of plastic by about 8 or 9 inches.

Staying two nights here before heading for Torksey     

I'll put up some pictures when I have downloaded them off the camera

Lock 62 is now a stoppage.

Damage to gates according to the notice, but passing boaters are saying 'they've been told damage from a boat strike'.

The gate was rotten and collapsing.

I can't say a boat hasn't  struck it, but a strike hasn't caused the rot

Rog

Well we are still pressing on with Plan b, which is to go anti-clockwise around the Pennines to end up in Liverpool 20th Aug. Currently at Westport Lake, Harecastle and onto the Mac tomorrow. Picking up a Nicholson’s Book 5 via Amazon Lockers (a recently discovered boon for boaters on the move) at Macclesfield because my Book 5 has both the Rochdale and the Hudd Narrow as unnavigable. When I checked the date on our current one it is 2000!

So we slip through the stoppages at Boseley. We make a 1hr slot at Marple lock 11 on Sunday morning. We will be early for our Standedge slot on 20th but I want to get through Marple before they change their minds and close it again! There is now a stoppage on one of the Hudd W side locks but hopefully it won’t be closed for too long, and there is a scheduled stoppage on another one later in July. So if all that works out it will be a miracle! But maybe we will get to the E side of the Pennines eventually.

With the L&L now being closed end of July we won’t be able to go back that way for our Liverpool slot on 20th Aug, but then again will they actually manage to re-water the breached pound? If they do perhaps we will be able to go back via the Rochdale and Bridgewater. In the mean time, we hope to explore the waterways of the NE and if the worst happens (all pennine routes run out of water), we will have to go home via the Trent.

Ta. Yes it all getting a bit complicated. How did we ever do canal boating before the Internet?



Oh, maybe there weren’t so many random emergency stoppages!

We were discussing how life on the canals has changed over our brief experience, earlier today.

We were travelling along the Mac upto Congleton and recalling our first adventures up here.

Overall, things are much better, but there certainly are a lot more boats.

Swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Rog

I expect they are speeding because they are desperate to get past the smell of your bog. 

Anyway, what is this all about? I've met you and you seemed decent enough, I've met Nick and he seemed decent enough. I'm sure you wouldn't talk to each other like this if you met each other so what's with all the "Billy Big Bollocks" keyboard hero stuff?