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Lincoln to Newark
A day exploring Lincoln including a walk along the River Witham where it passes through the Glory Hole then up "Steep Street" to the Castle and Cathedral on top of the hill.
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| From June 2012 Leeds - Yelvertoft |
Mid afternoon we turned in Brayford Pool and returned to Saxilby for a Pub meal in the Sun Inn (dog friendl). After talking with the lock keeper at Torksey he suggested arriving at Torskey between 10:00 and 10:30 so an 8:30 start Saturday Morning.
Saturday morning after a short windy and cold run to Torksey we moored up and took water waiting for the 11:30 tide. At around 10:30 the lock keeper informs us that there is over 9ft of "fresh" coming over the weir at Cromwell so we are to leave early and fight the ebb for half an hour, this will make the most of any assistance from the incoming tide. We make steady but slow progress upstream but never get much above 4mph even at full power, and this slowly drops to under 3mph as any benefit frm the tide abates as we approach Cromwell lock. After 4:20hrs we arrive at Cromwell and lock up on to the non tidal River. We proceed through Nether lock and moor up in the middle of Newark town just opposite the castle.
Thorne to Lincoln
On the tuesday evening we decided to try an Indian in Thorne and found the recently opened Sadiquein King Street. I will be adding a piece in the pub and restaurant section, but in summary, highly recommended.
Wednesday morning we moved the boat to Thorne boat services next door to the visitors moorings and explained the work needed. Short work was made of removing the fender eyes from the top of the gunnels so that will be the last time they catch on a lock or landing stage. The eyes were followed by removal of the skin fitting that ventilated the battery box (redundant as the auto vent caps direct any gasses produced overboard) and welding flush, and lastly the toilet was refixed to the floor. The whole lot was charged at a very reasonable 2 hours labour plus parts.
We left Thorne around 1.30pm and arrived in Keadby just before 5pm.
Thursday an early start, up just after 6am and in Keadby lock by 7.10am. Within minutes the ebb tide had turned and started running in and we were out on the river heading for Torksey by 7.25am. Although a relatively high tide of 5m plus progress was not spectacular because of the large amount of "fresh" water in the river. At 1600revs (normally around 4mph in open water) we were making a maximum of 9mph slowing to around 6mph as we got closer to Torksey.
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| From June 2012 Leeds - Yelvertoft |
A day planned to look around Lincoln tomorrow before heading back to Saxilby for an overnight mooring.
Leeds to Thorne
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| From June 2012 Leeds - Yelvertoft |
Tuesday late afternoon and we have arrived at Thorne after the trip from Leeds. No real problems except the section from Lemonroyde to Castleford which was just below the red flood level and Castleford Flood lock in operation.
After an overnight stop at Castleford with a Sunday roast on board we set off to Ferry bridge where the flood lock was also in operation and then via the New Junction Canal to an overnight mooring at Barnby Dun for Mexican Enchillardas onboard.
Tuesday we took a short trip to Doncaster to drop off one member of the crew and to restock at the supermarket, turning around we retrace our route back to Barnby Dun and then turning right at Bramworth Junction and its manually operated lock, the first of the trip, to Stainforth and on to Thorne. Tomorrow we are booked in to the boatyard for some work on the boat, including repairing the broken toilet fixing, removing some rings from the edge of the gunnels that serve only to snagg on things, and to weld a plate over a redundant hull fitting.
Hybrid mk2
Spent a day on the boat yesterday while Graeme for Hybrid Marine fitted the new hybrid upgrade.
The mark 2 version includes many improvements over the original system including, a new control box, removing the electromechanical clutch for improved reliability and better control,single lever control using the main throttle for both the diesel and the Electric drive, a new colour control display with much more and clearer information displayed and a radio remote control unit allowing basic drive to be operated from the bank. Inside the system the software has been completely rewritten to take advantage of the new motor controller and to improve both the drive and the charging process.
I will update the hybrid page in the "About the Boat" section.
Weather forecast
Just checked the Met office medium range forecast and it looks as though it will remain reasonably dry between now and the start of June, this means that the planned trip from Leeds to the midlands via the Trent, with a detour on the Fosdyke to Lincon is looking likely.
Now that the restriction on the Leicester line has been lifted the second week via Leicster and Foxton is also on the cards. Ending up in the Braunston area.
