another grand day out on the Ouse (very picture heavy)
Jul 16, 2021 11:29:37 GMT
kris, peterboat, and 8 more like this
Post by JohnV on Jul 16, 2021 11:29:37 GMT
Setting Off from York and turning in the river. The boat is going to Hull for some structural work. Crew of three, two very experienced skippers and and ......... me
a pleasant trundle down the river along the non tidal section and arriving at Naburn Lock, waiting for us and straight in and penned down to meet the first of the flood.
A very windy and very tree overgrown river down to the first bridge, the very attractive old swing bridge at Cawood. There is meant (according to my book) a BW pontoon above the bridge for emergency holdovers but I could see no sign of it but there is boat (canoe?) club pontoon in an ideal place in an emergency ......... (but I wouldn't like to try and hang a big barge on it.)
T
in the second picture you can see the downstream emergency layby pontoon, which looks as if it has had a good renovation since I was last here (it was then very battered after floods and was in a sorry state)
As we got close to Selby (who knew we were on our way) we turned the boat so that we would drop backwards through the bridges. We were then informed on the VHF that the railway bridge was broken.
The engineers were on their way and we were directed to an emergency layby berth to wait. After quite a longish wait we were told that their was a casting snapped on the rail bridge and it wouldn't be fixed for quite a while (one hopes quite a while is in railway speak as opposed to CRT speak)
The two very experienced guys had a long discussion about best course of action, If there had been shore access from the layby berth we would probably stayed, gone to the pub for a meal and left on the mornings low tide. the other options were to see if we could make Barnby barrier or even Goole before we ran out of water or even just keep going till we went aground and just sit and wait for the tide. How far we might get would depend on the boat itself and it's speed and that was to a certain extent still an unknown factor.
(If it had been me, not being familliar with the river and having also had an ........ interesting time running the Hook rail bridge in the dark against a roaring flood tide ...... I would have stayed)
These two between them know just about as much about the river as is possible (as one said you can't really know all of the river unless you are on it every day as it is always changing) and the decision was go as soon as the water was low enough.
It was a long wait as the boat has 5.2 metre airdraft but eventually we were told by the Rail bridge that the tide marker was at 5.2 so off we set ..........dropping backwards was awkward on this boat as the stern view from the wheelbox was very limited and a stern lookout was needed with lots of distance and angle shouting to the wheel.
The first bridge is the road bridge which is a few inches higher so it would give a good indication of the clearance under the rail bridge. The road bridge is on a bit of a curve and because you don't have much time to re position for the rail bridge, you need to be tight to the piles and rest on them to keep aligned
the railbridge coming into view as you go under the Selby road, that at least is a straight run, although still interesting with poor visibility astern
as soon as we were passed the rail bridge we turned back round (something that scares me, turnig in the river to go backwards you are helped by the current whereas turning back the right way the current resists you and going down a fast flowing river sideways is ...... unnerving
There is a third swing bridge at Selby on the bypass but this is very high airdraft and way above normal craft on the river.
In the afternoon the clouds had cleared and it was clear blue with lovely sunshine, It made for a proper pleasant run down the river.
The boat proved to have a good turn of speed, Only a 6LX driving it but it has a very fair hull shape and galloped along at a decent pace, Although she "sniffed" the bottom a couple of times she kept going.
The mouth of the river Aire where it joins the Ouse just above Boothferry bridge ...... I would like to explore up there in a small boat some time.
The view from the helm
The Boothferry bridge (with the motorway bridge in the background)
When you go downstream under the Motorway bridge you have to be to the Port side but soon after you have to cross to tight to the starboard bank.
There is a light and marker post to show you where you have to cross from one side to the other.
When Peterboat and I came down in Sabina H we went under the bridge with both of us scanning the bank for the marker pole that was to show us where to crossover ...... there was no sign of it ..... and we promptly went aground and then did the rather scary sideways drift across the bank as the water boiled out from under us. (when I spoke about it yesterday I was told that if you do that in a big barge you can do a sideways wriggle for the best part of a mile down the river)
Because both of them knew exactly where to cross of course it was no problem but even when I knew where to look for the marker, I couldn't spot it ....... and then as we got closer to the bank I spotted it
So just for Peterboat, to prove it does exist
Remember this is viewed from the best part of 5 meters above the water ....... what chance do you have in a barge, narrowboat, or cruiser !!! ...... Thank you CRT for your excellent maintenance !!!
We were soon past the ship quays at Howden Dyke and then past Goole and still running well.
As I have remarked before, the way the Humber changes all the time is startling, you can understand why it is classed as the second most dangerous estuary in the world.
Just near South Ferriby where the river Ancholm joins the Humber used to be a very large island. years ago complete with a farm and herds of deer. (Reeds Island) The river has been steadily eating it for decades. and it is only a fraction of it's original size but the channel separating it from the Lincolnshire side has been steadily silting up, at one time it was one of the main channels but now you would only get a rowing boat up there.
The entrance to Sout Ferriby used to involve going up the channel behind the island. I was planning on going up the Ancholm in Sabina (cancelled because they wer having problems with the lock) but I blagged a free trip on the Amy Howson that was going there just so I could learn the entrance. ........ that was a waste of time !!! The island has shrunk in length by at least a hundred yards since my visit and the entrance to South Ferriby is now straight off the river !!!
This a very poor photo taken through the side window of the saloon but it shows the pub and the lock just to it's right ..... the mudbank coming in from the right is the tail end of Reeds Island
Out in the middle of the river (where the channel was when I first came up here) there is now a massive mud bank growing which looks like it might soon become another island !!!
The evening was drawing on and we were now punching the incomming tide having made excellent time and avoided going aground, The sun was just setting after we went under the Humber bridge
and we were soon outside the dock with a view of Old Hull, the Sealife centre and in the distance the towering bases of wind generators awaiting transport out to a wind farm
We had to hang around for a while as there was a ship coming out of the lock (which was on free flow) and it was getting dark
As soon as he cleared we were round the corner and straight in.
No photographs of tying up .... as I was too busy !!!
It looked for a while as if it was going to be a problem trip ..... but it definitely ended up as a Grand Day Out