Typical British weather this past week meant we had to resort to plan B yet again. Had the forecast been better we would have liked to have visited Wells Next The Sea and Kings Lynn, however we didn't dwell on the disappointment too much as Peter had been recovering from a bout of suspected food poisoning (not my doing I hasten to add), in which case going to sea may not have been a good idea anyway, and young Natalie is also recovering from toe nail surgery, therefore taking it easy this week seemed the best medicine.
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| Little Shifta Looking Very Smart, Ocean Lock Goole |
We enjoyed a quick transit through Ocean Lock Goole, heading out onto the river on neap tides so we were not delayed by any shipping movements.
We decided to start the week by journing up the Trent, with an initial overnight stay bottom side of Torksey lock, heading further up on Bank Holiday Monday to stay for three very wind swept days and nights in Newark. Upon our arrival at Cromwell we were advised that there was siltation build up prior to the lock entrance, we did ground, however after trimming the out drives up we soon floated off.
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| Nitty Gritty leaving Torskey Cut |
On Thursday we headed back down river Torksey bound in preparation for our trip on Friday to Hull Marina. Care was once again taken when exiting Cromwell Lock, we were advised to follow the bull nose round into mid river at 90 degrees, we had no problem this time and had plenty of water. We have been advised that this build up will be cleared next week.
Whilst at Torksey we walked the dogs up to the Torksey Viaduct which has just recently opened to the public. It last carried trains in 1959.
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| Heading Downstream Towards The Apex Light |
We departed Torksey at 12.15 on the Friday on the ebb tide and travelled at displacement speed enjoying a very economical run, until we met the flood just between Flixborough and King's Ferry Wharf at which stage we were able to put those sticks down and stretch Moonshine's legs to Hull on a lovely flat calm river. We eventually arrived at high water at Hull Marina at 16.45.
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| At Last! The Sun Comes Out At Hull Marina |
After a day spent in Hull on Saturday we had a fast run back up river. At Whitgift Church we eased her back off the plane as both engines were experiencing severe overheating issues, also a quick look at the engine room camera told us we were taking on water. With me 'flapping' whilst removing all the cushions and the cockpit table to enable the engine room hatch to be lifted, we were soon able to determine that the cause of the water ingress was a cracked raw water strainer cap. To be told that was a good sign when my initial thought was that we were sinking and having visions of us beaching Moonshine was such a relief to hear. After a quick diy 'tape up job' we eventually made Ocean Lock before the ships we had passed in the upper reaches of the Humber arrived. Upon landing on our mooring we further discovered our permanent head line that stays on our jetty had been stolen (all our permanent mooring lines match and are properly fixed to our jetty), we can only presume by our neighbour who appears to have vacated his mooring as his own line had snapped months ago and we were good enough to tie his boat back up for him... Note that I refrained from entitling this blog 'The Cheeky Bastard', what a nice welcome back after a potentially traumatic experience! However it was nice to return back to base to the sight of familiar faces.
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| Westewind |
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| Fluvius Otter |
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| New Constellation |
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| Jerome H |
A very typical end to our holidays being that the winds have died down and are turning to a more favourable direction next week and the weather is warming up... Perfect for going to sea, however everything happens for a reason and in this instance it was probably best we were unable to go.
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