Holiday preparations

During the week we ordered another Admiralty chart to complete our folio for our anticipated travels this August.  We have a good two and a half weeks holiday this year, and have great things planned unless of course it is scuppered by the weather!

Whilst at Hull Marina last weekend we tried to purchase this chart from Kildale Marine, however they had every other chart apart from this one (they do usually stock this, but they had sold out).  We eventually sourced this from www.dash4it.co.uk at a very competitive price of £39.87 incl vat and free delivery.  These are around the £44.00 price mark from an Admiralty agent.

Due to work commitments we couldn't dedicate much time to Moonshine this weekend, however Peter did manage a quick visit to check and reset the valve clearances on the engines. 

Whilst the rocker covers were off, the breather filter in the aft cover was taken apart and cleaned before reassembly.  All the fuel filters were changed ready for our holidays, and the shower sump box was cleaned out ... a horrible smelly job, but someone has to do it!

Lord Mayor's Parade, Hull

Humber Bridge

Visitor Pontoon

Having departed our mooring at Goole Boathouse bound for Hull on Saturday morning, we enjoyed a very calm run down.

Lord Mayor's Parade

Lord Mayor's Parade

Lord Mayor's Parade

Lord Mayor's Parade

Lord Mayor's Parade

Lord Mayor's Parade

Whilst in the town we stopped to enjoy the Lord Mayor's Parade. This year is the one hundredth year of the title of Hull’s Lord Mayor and to mark this occasion the City held a Lord Mayors Centenary Celebration. It appeared to be a fun filled event, and there were lots for everyone to enjoy including street dance, music, vintage car rally etc.

 

Hull Marina

River Humber

York and Lincoln boats, Hull Marina Lock

Despite the day starting off very overcast with very heavy intermittent showers in the afternoon and very early evening, the latter part of the evening rewarded us with beautiful warm sunshine.

Ocean Lock, Goole

Ocean Lock, Goole

The main advantage of Moonshine being moored at Goole Boathouse, is that we are able to take full advantage of later tides coupled with the light evenings this time of year. Therefore, on the longest day of the year we were able to enjoy another full day in Hull whilst only paying for 1 overnight stay. It is worth noting that  had we still been moored at South Yorkshire Boat Club we would have had another 2 hour run up the canal in the dark whilst returning back home close to midnight, and it is that what makes Goole perfect for us!

A classic British weekend!

Moonshine. S.Y.B.C

We visited South Yorkshire Boat Club again on Friday evening. The original plan was to spend the evening at Pollington and then move up to the club on Saturday morning, but due to the heavy rain that was forecast for Saturday we decided to go straight there.  Once at the club Moonshine moored in her regular spot near the club entrance.

Crambeck. S.Y.B.C

The purpose for this weekends visit was to help change the engine oil on Peter's dads boat Crambeck. His dad is a full time carer now for Peter's elderly mother, and finds it difficult finding the time to do jobs such as this. His dad plans on taking Crambeck to Amble, Northumberland in July with one of his friends (another club member) as crew, and Crambeck needs to be maintained to a sea worthy standard. 

 

S.Y.B.C entrance

Top side, Pollington Lock

The Hounds, Little and Large checking things out!

 

The weather this past week has been warm, sunny with little wind. Unfortunately the weather gods always have their wicked way at the weekend, as this and last weekend has shown. Windy last weekend, but wet this weekend. Even the hounds had to wear their Hurtta raincoats on their walk to Whitley Lock on Saturday morning.  Thankfully it wasn't too much of a wash out considering the club held a Flag Officers bbq event on Saturday evening. An enjoyable weekend was had by all and catching up with old friends we didn't expect to see was an added bonus. 

Next weekend we plan on another tidal trip to Hull, however this is all dependant on Peter's standby work commitments on Friday into Saturday morning...if it's not the weather spoiling it then I am sure something else will.

A Windy Weekend!

Goole Boathouse

 

Our original plans changed this weekend due to the very high winds on Saturday.  We did intend on a trip to Pollington Lock for a bbq, but instead spent an enjoyable weekend in the Marina, and a sheltered spot was found on our jetty for our Weber gas bbq.  We experimented with cooking gammon and fried eggs on it, and whilst it all tasted lovely, the eggs took too long to cook...so it's back to the boat cooker for the eggs.

 

Jacks at play

Jacks at play

Wouldn't want to mess with those teeth!!!!

In the afternoon we allowed the dogs some play time on a rather wind swept canal bank.  One of the things we love about being moored at Goole is that 'well behaved dogs' can be off lead, and ours are able to burn off some energy with still being young dogs.  The visitor moorings on the canal bank were quite full this weekend, which was nice as they have been very quiet lately.

The Mood Swings

Northstar Marina Club, which is situated within the grounds of Goole Boathouse, had a D-day function on Saturday evening which included The Mood Swings trio with food also being available.  It looked as if this was a very successful and enjoyable event, and the singing trio sounded fantastic.

Silver Witch

Silver Witch is a wooden vessel that has recently changed ownership, and is currently undergoing restoration, and is looking stunning once again.

Bienville inward bound for Goole

St. Mary Magdalene Church, Whitgift

Unusual clock face

The Marshland Trial

Replica windmill dwelling under
construction

Looking towards Reedness

Whitgift old lighthouse

White horses on the river looking towards Yokefleet

Sunday morning brought a much better day with it where the wind was concerned.  Therefore, equipped with the handheld vhf (as it was tide time) we had a ride along the river bank in the car to Reedness and Whitgift to observe the shipping.  Unfortunately today there was only Bienville which was inbound for Goole, but this had already passed by the time we ventured onto the river bank.  We spent a pleasant hour with the dogs on the river bank and enjoying these lovely rural villages, of which we never see when we are on the river.

A chilled out week on the Upper River Trent

Cromwell Weir and Lock approach

We departed Hull Marina last Monday morning at 10.30 and planed from Hull to Keadby Lock, then slowing to displacement speed to ensure we didn't overtake the tide due to the neap tides. 

Cromwell moorings

We arrived at Cromwell Lock at 16.23 after having stopped for a short 10 minute toilet break for the dogs at Dunham Bridge.  The moorings were empty after the bank holiday rush, and we were able to comfortably moor on the floating pontoon there to make use of the water and electric facilities. From Hull to Cromwell we covered just short of 60 nautical miles.

Gunthorpe moorings

We departed Cromwell mid morning on Tuesday for the short hop to Newark Town where we were lucky enough to enjoy a decent mooring on the Kiln pontoon. After stocking up on supplies and having a pub lunch at the Weatherspoon's in the town, we vacated these moorings and headed up to Gunthorpe for the evening.

Holme Pierrepont moorings

On Wednesday morning we headed towards Holme Pierrepont bright and early.  We hoped that since narrowboats take up such a lot of the visitor moorings they would also be departing early and as luck would have it there was a bit of space top side of the lock. 

There are ground works currently being carried out on the lock island, and we had to wait for the temporary plant bridge to be opened prior to exiting the lock. Upon leaving the lock we were met with an unsightly view of fenced off long term moorings, which takes up approximately half of the visitor moorings.  We suspect this is not permanent and as soon as the ground works are completed they will be moved back onto their lock island on the lock approach.

 

National Water Sports Centre

Holme Pierrepont Country Park and National Water Sports Centre are easily accessible from the visitor moorings that lay here on the upper non tidal River Trent.

Nottingham moorings, Trent Bridge

Peter and Natalie went in the dingy through Nottingham on the non navigable Trent past Clifton, and headed back at this point when they discovered they could see the river bed as it was quite shallow. It was a good job he had the forethought to take a can of petrol with him as the outboard ran out of fuel whilst up there, otherwise he would have had a long row back.

Hazelford Weir

The windy weather that had been forecast hit us on Wednesday evening whilst moored at Holme Pierrepont. The wind was coming straight down river and with the fetch it had it felt quite savage at times. After stopping for water at Gunthorpe we arrived at Hazelford mid Thursday morning and settled on the bottom side moorings until the following day. 

Torksey Lock 

 

Friday morning greeted us with heavy rain as we set off for Newark.  On the plus side it was a good test for the new portlight lenses and the re-bonded rubber window seals, with no evidence of any water ingress. The rain had stopped by lunchtime, and we continued on our journey back down to Cromwell.

 

Cottam Power Station

We departed Cromwell Lock at 18.48 and arrived at Torksey 20.56 after a steady trundle down river. 

Lower River Trent at low water

We left Torksey at 12.02 on the ebb to meet the tide at Keadby. We planed from Flixborough Wharf to the Apex, then went at a steady speed again arriving at Goole at 16.38 passing RMS Cuxhaven on the way. A total of 205.4 nautical miles has been covered this week from Goole to Grimsby, Hull and Nottingham, not bad to say this has been an incredibly steady week away for us.

Keadby Bridge

Incidentally whilst underway back to Goole, I was researching on the internet what the general consensus is regarding the life span of an automatic life jacket and whether they should be replaced once they reach 10 years of age, with a view to replacing ours next year.  The article I read was an interesting one noting that at the start of each passage to make sure that the co2 gas cylinders are properly screwed in, as loose cylinders are the main reason for automatic life jackets failing to inflate.  Upon checking our 4 life jackets I discovered mine was completely unscrewed...not good news for anyone, especially a non swimmer.  To a cynical mind this would scream sabatage, but to my knowledge there is no bounty on my head nor has Peter insured me for a small fortune, but it just goes to show that you have to check everything!