Goole to Newark

After an excellent week at Viking Marina we sailed away from Goole. 

Leaving Goole, a familiar view of the Aire and Calder

We moored up at the top of the New Junction Canal, one of our weekend haunts before we sailed away as continuous cruisers.  We were surprised to see a lot of flooding in the fields and the bottom of the canal aqueduct was under the high waters of the River Went.

The submerged trough of the Went Aqueduct

We set off the next morning, I was on the bike to open the numerous bridges and had the camera to take some photos.  

Looking down from the footbridge as the boats cross the Went Aqueduct

At Sykehouse Lock we had a surprise, a new building has replaced the lock-keepers cottage which was a burnt out shell last time we came through.  

The new house at Sykehouse Lock, rumour has it this building will feature on Grand Designs

We came to the last bridge on the New Junction Canal and I took a photo of Bess looking out from the back of Brent III.

Little Bess looking out from the back deck

We continued south and Chris had the pleasure of stopping the traffic to lift the bridge at Barnby Dun.  We moored up at Doncaster which has excellent markets as well as being a good shopping centre.  

On Friday we set off back to Bramwith and from there onto Thorne where we stayed for the weekend.  We're going to sail south on the Trent but CRT's winter opening hours don't coincide very well with the tides, hence the longer than usual stops until the timing is right. 

We arrived at Keadby on Monday and after a chat with the lock-keeper we arranged to lock out onto the Trent at 8.30 on Wednesday.  Usually we would go out onto the river before the tide comes in but due to the winter opening hours the tide will already be coming in.   We would run out of help from the tide long before Torksey and had considered stopping at Gainsborough but the lock-keeper advised against this, apparently the pontoons attract unwanted attention from the local youths.  Instead he suggested West Stockwith and as we haven't stopped there before we thought it a good idea. 

Geordie Spirit leaving Keadby, the lock entrance is behind the bow of the coaster

West Stockwith has a quiet little basin which connects the Trent to the Chesterfield Canal. There were plenty of moorings but not the type we are used to.  We reversed back to the bank and tied up our stern then secured Brent III to a pole stuck out of the water; there weren't any jetties.  We could step off the back of our boat but Geordie Spirit's stern is enclosed so they tied up to us to enable Ziggy to step off our back deck.  

Moored up at West Stockwith

We stayed a while in the pleasant basin, the White Hart served excellent meals, Bess and Brinny enjoyed their walks along the Chesterfield Canal and Kev took off on the bike.  On Sunday afternoon he set off for the Co-Op in Misterton with his phone in his pocket.  He came back with the shopping but no phone.  I rang the number and a woman answered, she had seen the phone lying in the middle of the road and had already tried ringing some of Kev's contacts.  Luckily she was walking back towards the basin and I was able to go and collect the phone.

On Monday we left West Stockwith and had a reasonable run down to Torksey.  The following day it took 4.5 hours to sail 16 miles to Cromwell.  We knew the tide wouldn't be helping us but 7 feet of fresh water and strong winds created a powerful current against us. We were pleased to arrive and see the pontoons were empty.  I plugged into the electric point, inserted a new card and started the washer.  During the second load the electric ran out, that card should have lasted a week but the electric points at Cromwell have always been temperamental.

On Wednesday we moved onto Newark.  Although the river is non-tidal after Cromwell there was still a strong current holding us back.   We tied up on the pontoons under the CRT office, very convenient for a complaint about my electric card and I was pleased when they offered me a replacement.

On the pontoons at Newark with an ominous cloud overhead

Our journey from Goole to Newark

Selby to Viking Marina

As we prepared to leave Selby the weather forecasters were issuing warnings about Storm Doris which was due the next day.  The wind was already getting up making turning difficult on the open stretch of canal in Selby.  Once we'd sailed under the road bridge the canal  was sheltered by trees and embankments so we hardly noticed the wind.  After we'd sailed out of West Haddlesey Lock onto the River Aire it was a different story.   The wind whipped up the waves and we were pushing against a strong current all the way to Beal Lock.

Geordie Spirit  creating spray in the strong current and apparently chasing a swan up the river

   
We moored up on the floating pontoon and drank our cuppas in a howling gale. Later on we received an email from CRT; the flood gates had been closed due to the rising water levels on the River Aire.  

On the rising pontoons at Beal before Storm Doris, the pontoons slide up and down the poles with changing water levels.

The next day Storm Doris crossed the UK; Kev and I braved the winds to walk up to the Kings Arms for another excellent lunch.  During the evening the water levels started to rise again, peaking at midnight.  We had 6 feet of leeway on the rising pontoons but it was still reassuring to check the Environment Agency website which shows the river levels, we were pleased to see they were starting to fall upstream at Castleford.   On Friday morning we awoke to find the river was going back down but as it was still too high for travelling we stayed another day. 

The water was subsiding on Friday morning, at midnight the gangway was beginning to slope in the opposite direction.

On Saturday we moved on, the river was much calmer than on Wednesday and we quickly made our way to Bank Dole Lock and back onto the Aire & Calder Canal.  We carried on to Pollington where we moored up for the day. 

With another storm on the way we didn't waste anytime setting off on Sunday morning and had an easy run into Viking Marina, our boating home.   It was good to be back and we had a busy week planned.  

As always there was some maintenance, in the last week Kev had noticed the starter motor was sluggish and we thought it was down to the battery.  Unfortunately a new battery proved this wasn't the case so Kev took the starter motor off and went, on his trusty steed, to Goole Electrics.  They checked the motor and found the problem so Kev left it for repair.  It was ready the same afternoon and to save Kev a return journey on the bike they delivered it back to the marina; excellent service.  We did some other general maintenance including a top up for the domestic batteries.

Shaun came to take us for our annual maintenance check at the doctors and dentist and on the return journey Nic came along and we enjoyed lunch in the Green Tree at Hatfield.  During the week we met up with friends, had an excellent evening with Cath, John & the kids and toasted Dave & Rowena's new boat on their first night on board.  The time flew by but it was a good week to be in a marina, heavy rain was once again bringing up the river levels which may delay the next stage of our journey.


Our journey from Selby to Viking Marina