At the start of a four day bank holiday break (Friday to Monday) we departed Goole Docks with three other vessels of which were all bound for York and us for Grimsby. The above photos are courtesy of a friend of ours taken from Ocean Lock.
We had a very good run down to Grimsby on a westerly F3, however it did get a bit lumpy upon the aproach to the Humber Bridge. It was quite busy with shipping off Immingham, and we had to alter our course to go around the stern of a freight ferry. We took our usual route across the Burcom Flats from the Humber Power Intake Beacon to Novartis Beacon then into Grimsby Fish Docks, as it was shortly after high water there was plenty of depth to take this route.
Upon arrival 'Crambeck' (Peter's dads Aquastar 33) had arrived half and hour before us. That morning he had come down from Scarborough, to make his way back to his mooring at South Yorkshire Boat Club. He had been as far as Hartlepool on his 2 week summer holiday, however the weather had beaten him for the 2nd year in a row in his attempt at making Amble, but to say both him and his crew member are well into their 70's and on a semi displacement boat they did do very well.
When we undertook Moonshine's engine room checks upon arrival at Grimsby, we found the starboard alternator pulley had come loose, but had stayed on its shaft resulting in the spindle hole wearing and the belt chafing. When Peter reassembled it and put a new alternator belt on he discovered significant wobble on the pulley which could result in transmitting shock to the circulation pump, as it has been known to snap these shafts. We therefore decided to take the alternator and belt off so as not to risk any more damage, and will rely on the port alternator to charge all the batteries on the return run back.
We have ordered a new pulley from Keypart at around £21.00 incl delivery and will have to sort a new alternator during the week as there is wear on the shaft of what appears to be the original alternator.
It was a beautiful end to Friday in Grimsby, and after a good nights sleep we awoke to a very mixed day on Saturday. We thought the showers had abated after lunch, so ventured on foot into Cleethorpes via the river front and ended up getting drenched. A very wet evening ensued, the South Coast it ain't but whatever Grimsby can throw at us we still love it! On the plus side after checking our emails today we now have one estimate from a firm in Eastbourne for the damage caused to Moonshine whilst on holiday several weeks ago, so we can pass this onto our insurance company. We just require another which we hope to receive this coming week from a firm in Hull to start moving forward...fingers crossed.
We had a decent run from Grimsby to Hull on Sunday afternoon on a westerly F4. Upon arrival on the visitor pontoon we were told the shore power was playing up, most probably to do with someone having a faulty installation, this appeared to soon resolve itself only to go off again on Monday. Upon arrival we met up with a couple on the same pontoon who remembered us from Wells next the Sea two years ago, along with a Birchwood 370 Commando which was also at Wells that same year, and three other South Yorkshire Boat Club boats.
On Bank Holiday Monday we called the lock at Hull Marina at 3pm and got swift service penning us out. Blowing a westerly F4 it was quite choppy in places, and heading into the sun we had to be vigilant as there were lots of debris floating which was very difficult to see. We planed to Old Goole where we had a short wait for Ocean Lock to be lowered off in our favour. We planned it nicely to be at Goole an hour and a half before high water before any inward ships arrived. We made very good time from departing Hull Marina Lock to standing off at Goole in a respectable 1 hour and 3 minutes. After the usual engine room checks and shutting Moonshine down, we heard over the vhf the South Yorkshire Boat Club boats arrive off Goole as they had left Hull on the following pen after us. We believe they had to wait whilst the 'M.V. Paper Moon' penned in, and they would still have another 2 hours up the canal back to their base in Heck Basin, something we certainly do not miss at all when we arrive back on a later tide.
We have been caught on camera again by a friend on the Humber Shipping Movements Facebook group, a few more rare photos to add to our collection of Moonshine under way.
After a great weekend with mixed weather and Moonshine running very well apart from the alternator falling off, we are now looking forward to our next trip out, but with work and family commitments coming into play this may not be for a fair few weeks....
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