Newark

After a night in Nottingham we continued east on the Nottingham Canal and rejoined the River Trent opposite the Nottingham Forest football ground.  We had intended to stop at Holme Lock but after pulling over we noticed some signs advising the visitor moorings were not available.  The Lockie told us the boats on permanent moorings were moving onto the visitor moorings during some initial work on the hydro-electric generator which is to be installed.  We carried on to Stoke Lock to find the moorings had all been taken and so went on to Gunthorpe and although it was busy there was space for us.  

On Sunday Shaun, Laura and the kids came over and brought with them some sanding discs.  After all our hard work sanding down Brent III we'd used up our supply.  We all enjoyed an excellent meal at the Unicorn Hotel which is conveniently across the road from the moorings.  

On Monday we moved on to Hazelford Island, famed for it's blackberries.  This year the bushes were laden and we quickly had enough for a blackberry and apple crumble. Hazelford is also famous for it's rabbits but the population seems to be diminished and Kev found the reason for this when he spotted some mink droppings.  The weather was fine so we removed everything from the roof, including the solar panels, and painted on an undercoat.  

We left Hazelford in the fog and as we approached Newark we were surprised to see some rowing boats emerge through the mist.  They were probably surprised when we blew our horn in warning.  

At Newark we hoped a mooring with an electric point would be free and we were in luck; 2 boats left the moorings shortly after we arrived.   This enabled us to leave the solar panels off and complete the roof with two gloss coats in light grey.  We also painted both sides in cream and added a red band over the roof handrail so we were pleased with our progress.  

On Sunday Sarah came over to see us and, as we both have new cameras, we went for a walk with them before enjoying lunch and a lazy afternoon chatting.  

Newark Town Lock from the castle

By Wednesday morning we'd been at Newark for 8 days and decided it was time to move on before Just Beer really did become Kev's local.  We arrived at Cromwell in time to go through the lock and onto the River Trent.  As we headed north Kev spotted an unusual sight and grabbed the camera for a photo of a low-flying vulcan bomber.   The plane was part of a fly-past on the following day to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. 

A vulcan bomber flew over as we sailed down the Trent

After a pleasant journey we moored up outside the lock at Torksey and very carefully returned the solar panels to the roof.  It was nice to be away from civilisation again and some spectacular clouds at sunset preceded a clear starry night.  

Torksey sunset

Our journey from Nottingham to Torksey