To Keadby and beyond – Take 2 on approaching a lock in tidal waters

Wednesday 3^rd May 2017

It would be difficult to call it a wonderful day – very cloudy overhead and a bit of wind early on which seemed to get a bit stronger before lunch.

We moved relatively early today, going down the last two locks on the canal and mooring up just before the entrance to the basin; we took a walk along to the basin and around; spoke to the guy we had met coming into the lock just 4 days earlier; enquired about diesel and rang the operator and booked with him for a fill at just after 1pm – all very casual around here.

We popped over to the café next to the pub for a coffee and ended up having a light lunch as well – it was a very pleasant place with a couple of lovely ladies looking after the customers – after this it was time to get back to the back and move up to the lock for diesel.

The fact is that it is easiest to fill whilst the boat is actually in the lock and since we were due to go out at 2:30 and there would be no-one coming in from the Trent, we could just stay there until our time.

 

The basin as we were readying to leave

No rush here; we are carefully tied up in the lock - just waiting

No problems with water coming down the canal - it was the amount of water
coming up the river that concerned us

The river was still flowing in quite strongly at 2pm and speaking to the lock-keeper he decided that we wouldn’t go out before at least 3pm – we watched and waited and only after the river had turned did we eventually get back on board and untie the ropes so that they were hanging over the bollards and the lockie started to let the water out.

By 3:20 we were heading out again onto the Trent – the flow was now definitely outbound and we had no need to turn the tiller to head in the right direction – we were taken by the river.

 

Finally out and away

The grey clouds overhead and a bit of wind - but we were underway

The overall views were still quite brilliant

As on the previous trip to West Stopwith, the boat speed was well up – about 10-11 kmh and even up to 12 kmh.

There is not a lot to see along this stretch but it is all pretty well peaceful and with its own beauty.

 

a few places to see

The wind wasn't that strong to blow the sails away

We were enjoying it at this point of the trip

No other craft along the river – we were well and truly on our own and with very few obstacles or silted areas to negotiate.

The weather, in particular the wind, which had by now increased in intensity, was less than ideal. The river was buffeted by the wind and waves, which were blowing over the gun-whales and the bow was dipping on occasions.

 

Then the wind came up, as did the waves on the river...

...pity I left my surfboard behind

We were hitting them front on

We had had a long chat with our diesel man before we left and as he had done this stretch a number of times and we took his advice on board.

By the time we had reached the high bridge which allowed the M180 motorway to pass over the river, Diane had the helm and was steering under the left hand archway, whilst I was on the VHF to the Keadby lock-keeper advising of our progress.

He was concerned about another boat which had supposedly left the River Idle (just down from West Stopwith) but he had not heard from them – we had not seen them at all, either out on the water or moored up anywhere.

 

The M180 ahead of us and we were getting close

Keadby Bridge and we were now very close

Really close - that's the Lock-Keepers control tower

Approaching the lock from the right hand side, the mistakes at West Stopwith were remedied – going completely past the lock we executed a 180 turn across the river and were about 20 meters off the wall (we had a cross-wind which was pushing us towards the wall, so a little bit extra power was wise).

Punching against the current we inched towards the lock entrance and as the bow lined up opposite the upstream wall, the tiller was turned at the same instant the lockie gave the signal and we entered into the lock without any problems.

 

Time to turn - at 45 deg to the lock

easing it around and using the river flow to get us heading into the lock

Phew! We made it in without touching the side...

There was a feeling of complete exhaustion and utter relief over my entire being – the errors at West Stopwith were now behind us.

 

...and it was a relief!!

On your own the lock is really quite large and the gates closed behind us; the water flowed in; we rose up; gates opened and there was a low road bridge in front of us – the lockie headed up to open that for us as well and we thanked him profusely and then proceeded to moor up on the visitor moorings about 200 metres further on.

It had been a testing day and we were a bit exhausted, so mooring up for the night was very welcome for both of us.

 

Coming out of the lock and the low road swing bridge ahead...

...thru the bridge and the moorings are there on the left

The visitor moorings were very quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed a great nights sleep – although there could have been a brass band practicing all night long right outside the boat and I am sure that neither of us would have heard it.

14 Miles, 4 Locks, 1 Swing Bridge

YTD:  328 miles (528 km), 166 Locks, 15 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 4 Swing Bridges

Total: 4960 Miles (7982 km), 3317 Locks, 139 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 176 Swing Bridges

A Decision is made

Saturday 29^th April to Sunday 30^th April 2017

We made an early start this morning but not moving the boat – it was a trip to the Co-op. Saturday and someone could not do without her paper and a couple of other bits and pieces – so very “happy” to say that she also had to buy another few gallons of milk – just in case there is some kind of cow shortage.

But on return to the boat we did make a getaway – our thoughts being that we may need extra time to get anywhere….

….boy we were not wrong.

That bloody dead elephant was on the back again and tick-over was top speed – beside the canal being shallow it also has a limited width in which the boat can move at all.

There were two locks to get through – these were the fast points of the passage today.

At one point we had a boat approaching and each of us eased a bit to the right – right was right – we both scrapped the bottom on our starboard sides – it was that close – we managed to get through a little easier than the other boat, but it was an inching along process.

Passing would be not a lot of fun; couple that with the 1.5-2 mph speed; the reeds that had been cut and dumped in the water liked to wrap around the prop shaft; all of this was going to a lot of “fun”.

Bridge 72 - notice the bust of the man's head on the parapet -
It is named Old Man Bridge

A closer look at the bust

A sign that we would like to see more often

We got through Drakeholes tunnel and there were some lovely mooring spots – but we thought another 3 miles to Clayworth and we could moor there.

That meant about another 1½ to 2 hours – well it would have been that, except that just by Bridge 71 the engine decided to die.

Diane is now an experienced marine engineer – she has done her time on the Thames and has qualified in advanced engine-onics – instantly she knew it was a fuel problem – the words being “It sounds the same as on the Thames when the fuel pump stopped”.

I don’t need any computerised diagnostics with all of that nonsense.

The trouble wasn’t that we were in the middle of the canal and no power, normally we would have been able to pole our way to the side and hold up there – on this canal you cannot get anywhere near the side except at the nominated mooring places – we were stuck 3 metres out from the bank.

Down the engine hole; located the problem – the water separator was clogged up – must have been some crap in the last fill, but I am not going to be absolutely sure about it – so change the filter and reassemble it all; start the engine – success – no, it went for a while and stopped.

Checked the second filter – it wouldn’t bleed through here, so loosened the last injector – start the fuel pump – wait for the tone to change – stop the pump and tighten the injector – restart the engine – all is well, it starts and keeps going.

Wish I could say the same about our rate of progress – but it was still slow, hard and frustrating going.

We made it to Clayworth; all the moorings seemed to be for the boat club; the few that were assigned for visitors were right on the winding hole and except for right in the middle of the hole, they were all occupied by cruisers.

Nothing else to do but carry on for a bit – another mile and a half and we found a stretch of armco and we could get in – so we moored up.

As it turned out it was a lovely spot with a field of ewes and lambs on the off side and on the towpath side was a sweeping view over flat farm land.

It was 13:30 when we moored up and we had been on the go since 7:45 with a 45 minute stop for the engine problem, therefore 5 hours to go 9 miles and 2 locks.

We were more knackered than if we had done 3 times that distance or traveled for twice that time – the day ceased to be enjoyable a long time before we moored up.

With the Reflecs not lit it was time to change the basket - here is the old and the
new baskets together....

...trouble is that the old one is in two parts

Sunday was a bright day but very windy and seemed a very suitable day to spend it stationary – the landscape had not diminished – and we found some work to do on the boat.

The paint locker was opened and out came sander, paint and brushes – and about three hours later we had sanded, primed and painted the starboard gun-whale; filled a few indentations on the front deck and felt a great deal better with the improved look of the boat.

We also had a chance to seriously think about what we wanted to do on this canal.

From where we were there was still another 21 miles and 40 locks until the end of the canal – and that many back to where were, plus the 10 miles and 4 locks that we had already done – a total of 52 miles and 84 locks – at the same speed that we had suffered through.

Decision time and we decided to cut our losses and just head back – we are not “go-to-the-end-of each-canal people” and we have other things to see along the way.

Sure everyone is saying how beautiful the end of the canal is, but we have a “pain-thresh-hold” which was pretty close and we didn’t want to cross it.

So tomorrow we would move the ½ mile to the winding hole and head back.

9 Miles, 2 Locks, 1 Tunnel

YTD:  304 miles (489 km), 160 Locks, 14 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4936 Miles (7944 km), 3311 Locks, 138 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 175 Swing Bridges

On the River (again) to West Stopwith

Friday 28^th April 2017

After talking to the lock-keeper the previous day, we knew that we were due to lock-out about 11 am, so there would be plenty of time in the morning to do what we needed to do – or so we thought.

I was up reasonably early, although not early for me – I popped my head outside about 7am and who did I find there – the lockie.

So chance for a chat when he suggested that if we were up for it,we could lock down now and wait on the pontoons below the lock and in the short arm off the river before the lock – we could then head off when we wanted – the real reason behind this was that there were a few boats heading up to West Stopwith and with only being able to get two down at a time it might take a little while to get them all out – no problems with going down – well that would be except for telling Diane to get herself up and out of bed – even before she finished her first coffee.

But we made it through the lock and moored up below and could just relax – it was a fine sunny day with a bit of a breeze – almost perfect cruising weather.

We had wanted to fill with water, but didn’t get around to it.

By about 10am there were a few boats already down and ready to go – we had a bit of a chat with the guy on the boat behind us – he had done this trip a couple of times but had always encountered slack water at West Stopwith, so he was no help in advising on our approach. The lockie probably would have been helpful, but my understanding left a bit to be desired – as I have indicated very early in the entire blog – some accents are a bit difficult to understand.

By 11 am we were ready to go and we allowed a boat to head off before us and after that we were off. The tide was still on its way in and would be that way for another 30 minutes before it slackened off and than turned, so coming out into the flow was a bit different and we needed a bit more power to make the turn fully and head downstream against the flow.

Stay close but not too close

The remains of Torksey Castle - no chance to visit

...same remains - different angle

The church at Torksey - we didn't get a chance to visit here either

We quickly found the right speed and follow behind the lead boat. The flow eventually turned and we were moving downstream much more quickly – up to 11 kmh at one stage – so we eased off a bit, as we were catching up to the boat ahead.

They appeared to be easing back as well and we thought that slowing further was not an option so we overtook them.

Crocs in the water???

The Trent is starting to get a bit bigger

Someone is enjoying it

The Folly on the hill - is a landmark in the charts for the Trent - glad we
hadn't taken a wrong turn

Lambs again - certainly must be spring

The tide was on the way out and this shows how far it had
dropped in about an hour - it was a 9m tide at Hull - quite high

Eventually our speed meant that we caught and overtook the boat in front

I had spoken to the West Stopwith Lock-keeper earlier (before we had left) and he had advised of a timing to let him know where we were so that the lock would be ready – so then as we approached Walkerith Ferry, we radioed ahead.

The bridge at Gainsborough

There must still a bit more for the river level to drop - these steps still
head down into the water

Knowing that there is a lock to get into; knowing that the river flow is taking you downstream; knowing that the lock-keeper will provide some assistance by way of hand signals is wonderful (in theory) – it’s when you are out there on the back of the boat and underestimate the flow completely and then have to make the U-turn to turn around completely and have almost full revs on to start moving upstream, that you truly have your heart in your mouth hoping that you can make it.

The hand signals help to a point as the lockie indicates to keep heading towards him – standing on a solid rock wall and you have full revs on – I did turn a bit too soon and we nudged the other wall, but managed to pivot into the lock in one go – phew! Glad that was done – hindsight is always wonderful and there are things that I should have done differently and better.

The second boat came in OK and we were locked through – rising about 10 or so feet and exited into a lovely basin area.

Yes - we made it!

We headed through the basin and along the canal – our warnings had been that the Chesterfield Canal is shallow, but apparently the end of the canal is so very beautiful.

Through the bridge is the basin that we have just left

...and we are on the Chesterfield

As we slowly made our way down, it quickly became clear that our normal speed would qualify as tick-over and we would not need to slow down for moored boats – it is very much a case of the bottom being VERY close to the top.

We made it through the first two locks – suitably locked both bottom and top – just past the second lock we found some lovely armco which looked like a nice mooring place – but would we be able to get in close enough – luck was with us and we thought this would be just the place to stay – all open on the off side and one to mark in the book.

There would be no problems with the neighbours – a retirement village – they might very well be the only group of people who would be going to bed earlier than we usually do and not likely to be up too early in the morning to wake us.

So we stopped and settled down for a bit – Diane had a strong desire to get the TV going and see how the snooker was going – she is definitely a sports girl.

We shall see how tomorrow goes with the cruising and if the depth gets any better.

15 Miles, 4 Locks

YTD:  295 miles (475 km), 158 Locks, 13 Tunnels, 3 Lift Bridges, 3 Swing Bridges

Total: 4927 Miles (7929 km), 3309 Locks, 137 Tunnels, 69 Lift Bridges, 175 Swing Bridges