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