News came through this morning from Lisa that the level in the marina had risen by about 4 inches. Such good news. As I’ve mentioned before there is a lot of water needed to get the level back up to normal, so 4 inches must have meant things had improved at the breach site overnight.
Around about lunchtime Mark Penn posted more aerial photographs from the breach.
No diggers today
The large boulders have been backfilled. The tarpaulin has been put down along quite a length of the bank and is held in place by ropes you can see criss crossing the path to the hand rail.
Blue rope holding the tarp in place
Back filled to the shuttering
There is still water making its way through into the drain, but the level in the drain itself is far lower than in yesterdays photos.
This afternoon
Yesterday
Boxing Day
As it looked like nobody was on site today I suspect this is now the temporary fix. If the levels at the docks continue to rise there will be a lot of relieved boater owners. At one point today Mick noticed four ships in the docks, so ABP must be happier with the state of things too.
Another angle
C&RT in their last email said that they would be keeping this stretch closed until the 4th January. Now it will be up to the engineers to come up with a solution for a more permanent fix.
Apologies for those who receive an email when the blog gets posted, everything is fine I was just trying to work out how to share some footage, which didn’t work on that attempt!
Steaming up the windows
With various deadlines coming up I stayed at the house today whilst Mick headed back to Goole to check on things. We’ve builders coming next month so before then our old bedroom needs to be reclaimed and then there are accounts to do so that the tax man knows we don’t owe him anything, along with the next phase of my panto design.
So whilst I stripped wallpaper Mick drove over the wolds to Goole, he was under instruction to take photos and measure the water level in the marina.
Today 3ft 8″ half an inch higher than two days ago, small progress, but progress all the same. Oleanna’s engine was run whilst he had his pack up. More cupboard doors were left open, then he headed off to see what he could see.
The pumps at the caisson stop gate were pumping away. Gallons and gallons over from the canal into the docks. From the photos it looks like they have more than two pumps but only two jets of water were doing their stuff.
Because you can’t get up close to the gates it’s hard to tell what the height difference is on both sides. Mick thought it was only slight, not an obvious difference. The bubbling up of water into the canal wasn’t evident today either. Maybe some work has been done on the gates to stop leaks, or maybe the water being pumped out hides any leakage.
Mick also headed to the docks. Two ships were in. At least the level in the docks is being held high enough for the port to operate.
Ship! Another was in the West Dock
During the day I’d been checking in on Social Media for any updates. In the Goole and Surrounding areas, aerial view group it looked like someone would be out filming again today. The road by the breach site was closed and there was a lot of activity going on.
Later in the day Mark Penn put up a series of photos from the site along with some footage. He has very kindly given me permission to use the images and footage here. Thank you!
A roadway had been laid before Christmas to get to the breach. Bags of aggregate had been lifted to help block the flow of water. Today diggers were on site along with a couple of work boats.
The tarpaulin waiting to be used
From the photos it looks like they may be going to use a tarpaulin along the bank to hold back the water. The long blue sausage on the bank, using un-technical terms. Once this is lowered into position it will be sucked by the force of the water over the breach, hopefully stemming water from escaping.
Diggers are busy dropping large boulders into the cavity on the off side. You can see where a large area was washed away before Christmas
Lorry loads of clay are arriving too, this is used to help plug gaps through the boulders.
Clay arriving
Plenty going on. According to Mark they will be working through the night.
He has also posted the following on his facebook page.
Some interesting aerial views sent to me via Mark from the Goole Aerial Views Facebook page who was down at the site with a drone earlier. What you can’t see from this is the depth of the breach or the whirlpool which is apparently below the surface suggesting a quite significant breach which they tell me is actually some way up from where the bank collapse is and where the water is coming out. What you can’t see is what is happening under the water at some depth. I have seen people on other pages holding forth with their reasons for the breach, some with strong political views trying to play a bit of politics. The reality is we do not yet know, but there is an old culvert under here which was apparently abandoned some decades ago which may be part of it. Rather than speculating though, it is better if we all wait to establish the facts. In my time in Parliament I have consistently argued for better care for our rivers and waterways and for improvements in defences. Whilst flood defence spending is now at a record high, the record of governments of all colours over the decades has been to ramp up spending after a major event and then for it to fall away. I’ve consistently argued the case for more investment in defences and maintenance because we are one of the most flood prone areas of the country. We have had a lot of flood defence works locally but the changing climate is straining the defence standards we have.I have also seen and had reports about the banking coming away in other parts. Some people are calling these ‘breaches’ which naturally will cause some alarm. I have reported these faults on the banks to the Canal and Rivers Trust over recent days. They tell me that this is to be expected when the water level has fallen as the pressure from the water obviously keeps the banks in place. This will need to be attended to in the future as part of the permanent repairs but they tell me that their engineers have assessed these and whilst they are unsightly, they are not a concern at this stage and are not breaches.Again, all I can do is pass on the concerns and pass on the responses. I understand people want to share these concerns but we all need to be careful to not report as fact something we may not actually be sure of. Thanks to Mark for sharing these images.
So things progress on the Aire and Calder, levels are low. Meanwhile across the southern canals and rivers they are suffering from too much water! Way too much water. Boats are stranded, surrounded by flood water. Somerton Meadows which when we passed last year was a lake, today it resembles a sea!
28th November Somerton Meadows
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 more trip, 0.5 inches, 2 ships, 12? workmen on site, 1 hole being filled, 2 boaters in need of water, 3672 boaters with FAR too much water.
Thank you for all the Christmas and Birthday messages we’ve received over the last few days. We had a lovely Christmas Day. Stockings, scrambled egg and smoked salmon with Bucks Fizz, presents, a walk down to the sea with the sun out.
Then back to cooking and Frank arriving. More to drink and then plenty to eat with more to drink. Birthday presents, birthday cake, more to drink. Then onto pavlova provided by Emily and Ben who normally have Frank round for Christmas dinner. A very good day had by all, we even had some left overs despite Franks attempts to finish everything off!
Boxing Day we started by seeing Mick’s family on the Geraghty Zoom call. Then we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Goole. Lisa had sent footage of Santa paddle boarding round the marina and an early morning photo of Oleanna on her mooring. Was the level rising? Or not? Only being there and getting the tape measure out would tell.
Boxing Day morning
The step down onto Oleanna’s stern wasn’t so bad. Heating on, put the dinette back together and open the hatch. How I miss our hatch views, even if it is of another boat.
It may not be of a beautiful sunset, but it’s still a view to make me smile
Mick removed our large buoy fender and I measured from the top of the pontoon to the water level. 3ft 8.5 inches, 3.5 inches higher than three days ago. Progress, small progress.
There she is!
We could have started on a job or two, but most of them would involve several hours and with it being Boxing Day we decided to leave them for another day. Instead we sat down for a picnic lunch before turning the water off again.
Up against the pontoon
Having risen a touch we had the urge to tighten the ropes with Storm Bella on her way, but decided that as the wind had changed direction again, pushing Oleanna towards the pontoon and against the plank and pole we’d leave her be.
A boat winding
As I bobbed to the loo Mick had a chat with a lady from a few boats up. She reported that the levels kept changing, the boats would go up, then back down again, then up. We’d checked on the ABP notices to mariners and from Christmas Eve, vessels could now pen in and out of Goole Docks with advanced arrangement and agreement with the Dockmaster. Maybe this was why the levels were fluctuating? But a check as I’m writing this suggests no vessels are currently in the docks.
The lady also said that the Caisson Stop Gates had been closed and water was being pumped back over them into the docks. This didn’t sound too good. We decided to see if we could get close to the breach site to see for ourselves.
Water in fields
We headed out of Goole past the new 67 acres Siemens site which will be a train manufacturing plant, building new Piccadilly Line tubes. Then on through Rawcliffe to the 90 degree bend in the Aire and Calder.
In a layby alongside the road, diggers sat, now dormant (B). On the south bank we doubled back on ourselves turning onto a road that runs alongside the Dutch River (C). Here there were diggers, all sorts of machinery, but this side was more planned. This is where works are on going for flood defences.
Machinery
We turned round and crossed back over both the Dutch River and the Aire and Calder and turned onto Between Rivers Lane. From here we could get glimpses of the breach site (A). A small layby already had cars parked in it, chaps with drones, so we couldn’t pull in and go for a walk.
Other people were stood by the breach, there was a lot of interest. All the drainage channels in the area had plenty of water in them and as we turned to come back we managed to pull up for a shirt while so I could take a video.
Water was flowing round the metal and concrete into the drains. We could see the big bags of aggregate and where we assume the breach had washed away the bank. Was this how it had been left before Christmas? Or had the temporary fix failed? We have nothing to compare it with, so don’t know for sure. It could be that the drains in the area can cope with the amount of water coming through, but will the canal cope with that amount of water being lost?
Water coming round
Next we decided to head towards Pollington and see if we could get to see where the bank slip has occured. Back the way we’d come, then through Snaith and West Cowick, crossing the canal at Cowcroft Bridge which is just downstream of Pollington permanent moorings. The light at the lock was red, the lock having been closed since the breach.
A C&RT notice before Christmas had said that the towpath between Pollington Lock and Went Aqueduct was closed due to bank slippage on the southside of the canal. A good look towards the lock suggested it wasn’t along that stretch so we walked towards the New Junction Canal.
Flag to the left near the woofing cottage, flag to the right the main slippage area
Before we reached the swing bridge cottage with the noisy barking dogs we noticed an area of bank that we’re fairly sure hadn’t looked so crumbly when we were here in September. This was on the north bank, so not the slippage referred to on the notice.
That looks a bit messy
On we walked, now along the stretch we’d planned to spend Christmas, where Tilly and I back in mid September had had our last towpath walk with the Kingfishers swooping past. They were still here, chirping and swooping past as Mick and I made our way along the towpath between the drainage channel and canal.
Just after the trees on the left would have been Christmas
A short distance further on we could see two lengths of orange netting, this must be the problem.
Two lengths of metal shuttering leant out towards the water, the bank behind them having slipped. Not good, but so far not another breach. This did look like the shuttering had relaxed without the pressure of water to hold it in position.
This must be it
As we headed back to Scarborough a message came through from Lisa saying they’d had word that the temporary fix at the breach had failed, the levels may start to drop again. Then some aerial photos came through giving a different perspective from my video of the leak.
More drone footage appeared on social media during the afternoon and evening. Those brave enough to have walked up close to the breach had taken pictures and footage. We’d noticed a steady flow on the canal near Pollington, not alarming but it was noticeable and all these photos showed why.
Al returned to the marina and loosened ropes in case the levels there were to drop again whilst we hunted around on social media. Rumours were that C&RT had been informed and that the reply had come back that nothing would be done until Tuesday.
For us and Oleanna, all we can do is wait. Thank Al, Geoff and others at the marina for keeping an eye out and loosening ropes as and when needed. Having a car at the moment means we can head down every couple of days or so to help keep our minds at rest and we’re thankful to Lisa for keeping us posted with photos.
This morning, 27th, levels have remained pretty constant over night, so maybe the caisson gates are working better than before, but time will tell.
0n locks, 0 miles, 1 more birthday, 1 very sunny Christmas, 3 for diner, 3.5 inches, 1 set of gates closed, 250 ish bags, 1 big leak, 3 slippages, 1 emergency wee, 2 marinas back on watch, 32nd viewing of Grease.
The big man in red visited us last night whilst we were all asleep. We’ve obviously been good this year.
Our stockings weren’t as brimming as in recent years, but then again I think the Scarborough Father Christmas has contributed to quite a lot of things recently and shopping hasn’t been so easy for him as he is in the vulnerable age group.
As we are about to start on Bucks Fizz with scambled eggs and smoked salmon I’ll wish you all a very Happy Christmas!
Since my last catch up we’ve been doing our best to get festive. Our Christmas lights went up earlier than normal, thankfully they have all survived our time away. We used to have two 6ft Christmas trees that we’d buy in Dalby Forest, but this year our £4 tree from Newark Market, back in 2015 sits on a table in a bay window. The lights that used to decorate the trees are now around the windows.
A week or so ago we had a half hour singing carols with neighbours at the top of the road with Scarborough’s Town Crier, he lives two doors up from us. Have to say I surprised myself at the number of carols I knew without a song sheet. The Town Crier may have been loud, but we were more tuneful shall we say!
Tilly about to give the penguins what for!
A burst water main at the top of the street gave the Crier something else to shout about as Yorkshire Water turned the water off for a few hours one evening. No need to knock on doors just get the Town Crier to do his thing up and down the street.
Frank our bubble carpenter has helped sample Christmas biscuits, more ginger was required and my jar was deemed to be past it. There was a distinct shortage of ground ginger in town (apparently something to do with the pandemic) so I thought I’d have a go at making my own. I red up about it and a large root that had arrived a week earlier was peeled (with the aid of a spoon handle), sliced up in the Kenwood chef and then spread out on an oven tray. This went in a very low oven for three plus hours to dry out, it then got ground in the spice mill.
Whilst the ginger was doing it’s thing there was a popping noise from the main oven that I’d just turned on to cook our evening meal. It stopped warming up, it had stopped working. Top oven where the ginger was being quite fragrant still worked thankfully. The following day we pulled the oven out to see if there was anything we could do. One thing led to another and after admitting defeat we managed to push the oven doors onto the floor. This created a rather sparkly effect as the top oven door shattered and both doors ended up being rather dinted!
With less than two weeks to Christmas we hunted round for a good double oven, finding one at John Lewis that would arrive the following week, not quite as good as our old one, but at the very top of what we were willing to pay. Mick then remembered he’d ticked the accidental damage box when taking out house insurance. A claim was made and we waited to see if they would pay up. On Monday morning they rang us and by the end of the day they had agreed to pay for a new oven, if we hadn’t been under Christmas pressure we’d have ended up with the next model up too! This was delivered a week ago and has been fitted and works wonderfully, thank goodness we dropped those doors!
A trip to see The Snow Queen at the SJT was always on the cards and thankfully Scarborough has been in tier 2 so the show could go on. This was my first live theatre since seeing Alarum in Birmingham back in February and what a treat it was. The show was rewritten as a one woman show and blimey she had to work her socks off! Set designed by Helen who would have been doing costumes for Chippy panto this year. The front of house staff were very good and all covid measures made you feel safer than walking down the street. A great show and chilled medication thrown in as well, a lovely evening. Taking the C&RT line and changing it a touch ‘Life is better with live theatre’.
The wonderful canopy at the SJT
Parcels have been delivered, parcels posted. Cards sent and received, having an address does mean we’ve had more than the last few years, in fact we’re running out of space for them!
I wonder who’s house that is?!
This year we could hand deliver cards to our friends around Scarborough, they were accompanied with a bag of homemade ginger biscuits, the new batch with extra homemade ginger! We had a lovely few hours walking from one side of Scarborough to the other delivering festive cheer and catching up with people on their doorsteps whom we’ve not seen for years.
I’ve knuckled down to do a bit of work. Chipping Norton panto next year, postponed from this year is forging ahead. A new version of the script and some time in my work room, assisted by Tilly of course. Sketches done and approved by the director David, a story board ready to be sent out, I’ll move on to making the model in the New Year.
Today is all about cooking, getting stuff done so as to be able to do less tomorrow. Bread sauce, stuffing, gravy, red cabbage and of course festive sausage rolls. For the last few years these have been enjoyed whilst cruising to our Christmas mooring, this year I half expect Franks nose to be twitching as they go in the oven and the door bell to ring as they come out!
That window sill will just need a final sand, ‘Oh did someone mention sausage rolls!’
Tomorrow we will be joined by Frank for dinner and birthday cake, hope we’ve enough food to go round! We’ve been warned, by his usual hosts, that he can always manage two puddings and then after a little nap he’ll quite easily fit in some cheese too! Maybe I should do Yorkshire Puddings, ‘The one who eats the most puddin’ gets the most beef’ as said by a farmer during harvest to their field hands.
This morning in Goole
This morning Lisa forwarded us a photo of Oleanna. The level has risen some more and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Here in Scarborough Mick has just ventured out to get some carrots as our veg box was lacking yesterday.
Scarborough pm
Well the prep is done and my prediction of Franks arrival was correct, well maybe he was just a few minutes early for the sausage rolls coming out of the oven!
Every ring in use
The house now smells of Christmas, the fire is lit and I’ve managed to keep Frank far enough away from my birthday cake for it to last until tomorrow.
Stockings are out, so we are ready.
Are you?
He comes down the chimney Tilly, not through the back door!
Where Were We
2019 Radford Smelly, Grand Union
2018 Somewhere between Napton Junction and Braunston, Oxford/Grand Union Canal
Originally we’d planned on picking up a hire car, collecting all our Christmas food, then packing the car with presents, things we’d need for a week on board Oleanna and finally Tilly. Then we’d head to Goole unload, have a night in the marina. In the morning Mick would return the car to the hire base, catch a train back to Goole and we would untie and head off most probably to the junction with the New Junction, find somewhere on our own and moor up. Hopefully Tilly would have realised where she was and we’d be happy to just open the door and let her go off to explore.
Well for a couple of obvious reasons that was not to happen.
However we decided we’d still get a car for the day, do our pick ups and then go and check Oleanna over, sadly leaving Tilly to mind the house (this was before the breach happened and our visit on Monday). Having an address now, we’d given a local car hire company a try last week and on returning the car Mick had asked if they had one for today, just for a day. They did but wouldn’t be open for us to return it on Christmas Eve. Hmmm! Well the lady said would we like to have the car until the 4th January all for the same price as a one day hire. Well it turns out this was a very good idea, two weeks for £34.50! Thank you very much.
So this morning we picked up our larger than normal car (at no extra cost either!), headed out to Tree Top Farm where our veg boxes come from to collect our Christmas veg and bird, then into town to wait for Aldreds Fine Cheese to open and pick up our treat cheese. When the doors opened a couple of people were asked inside, then Angela who used to work at the Theatre stuck her head out asking if anyone had any orders to pick up, she spotted me straight away without me having to say a word. It’s nice to shop locally.
Back to the house to drop things off and we were on our way to Goole.
Lisa had sent through a very damp photo of Oleanna still afloat this morning, maybe the level had risen a bit.
Maybe she’s up a bit
With a plastic step to hand it was far easier to step down onto Oleanna. Maybe the level had come up to help too. Nobody was out chatting today, it was far too cold, wet and windy.
Another pair of curtains up
Heating on straight away and we started again on hanging the curtains, having picked up some shorter screws on the way. Sadly the extension bit to the electric screw driver was missing from the box so we had to return to putting the screws in by hand. This was far far easier than our attempts earlier in the week.
The direction of the wind had changed and with slightly looser ropes Oleanna was swinging about a bit. A good sign that she was fully afloat, but it did make us notice that the stern was at risk of getting caught under the pontoon. Not a good thing!
Bedroom curtains back up but no Tilly to enjoy the view
On Monday we’d used a T stud on the pontoon to tie the boat pole to, which was around a third of the way down Oleanna. A plank was positioned nearer the front, but with short pontoons these both were quite close together. The bow was being blown out away from the pontoon, so the stern was sneaking in underneath. The pole needed moving further back. So we moved it along and between us managed to get it secured around the beam below, job done.
Twenty minutes of engine, time to eat our pack up and we were happy to leave again.
Geoff came over for a chat. He’s been keeping an eye on all the boats, he’d slackened ours off some more as our tiller had caught on the edge yesterday. But last night between 9 and 10 the caisson stop gates had been opened, he thought the level went up by 8 or 9 inches fairly quickly, but since then there had been no more progress. He’d heard that at the breach site yesterday they’d been dropping bags of aggregate, the plan was to continue with this some more and then apply clay to seal the leak. This was confirmed later in the day by the following email from C&RT.
Whilst we were there we couldn’t hear a helicopter and it was very overcast and rainy, maybe it’ll happen tomorrow. Geoff thought that maybe the level had been stopped at a certain point so that more work could be done at the breach before raising it again.
I’d heard of boats by Pollington Lock having ended up on the bottom on Sunday, but last night the level had risen and they were afloat again. Geoff suggested that there might be another breach somewhere towards Pollington. He didn’t know where it was, above or below the lock, but rumours were circulating. This was confirmed by a C&RT notice this afternoon. The bank slippage may well have happened with a lack of water pressure holding the piling in place. So another problem for them to solve.
Not a good state of affairs. Hopefully the level won’t drop again. It is very reassuring that people are keeping an eye on the boats. Lisa and Al across the way and Geoff who walks round every few hours to check things over.
Across the marina
Before we left there was one thing we had to do, actually meet Lisa. Lisa and I have things in common, boats, knitting, yarn and Scarborough and today we found ourselves within a hundred yards of each other. We all braved the wind and chill factor for us to have a chat on her pontoon, each of us keeping our distance. Hopefully when things are mended on the canal and when the weather improves we might just meet up on the towpath somewhere and be able to be more sociable and a little warmer.
On our way back to the car we passed the boats that are sat at a jaunty angle. These are moored where an old sideways slipway is. So the steps of the slipway have ended up being closer to the top and hence the sterns of the boats being hooked up. The only thing that can be done is to wait for the levels to rise again.
Another C&RT notice has come through this afternoon regarding the levels above Pollington Lock back to Ferrybridge Flood Lock. They have obviously been stopping water from coming down the bywash to the pound where the breach is. The canal is normally fed from the River Aire at Ferrybridge, so water has been backing up the cut. So air gaps under structures and bridges is currently reduced and caution is needed for craft with high cabin sides.
Still a way to come up
We had a wet journey back northwards with news coming in about more areas going into Tier 4 on Boxing Day. It took a while to find out the details, we were surprised yet relieved that Scarborough wasn’t on the list. This means that whilst we have a car we’ll be down to check things over again. Today the top of the water was exactly 4ft from the top of our pontoon, here’s hoping the next time we visit its’ risen.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 days hire, 12 day with a car, 1 bargain, 1 giant sprout stalk, 1 duck, 2 bags of apples, 0 carrots! 1 bag of treat cheese, 2 butties, 1 bag of coins, 5 windows with curtains again, 0 cat, 1 slipped bank, 8 inches higher, 4 foot, more tier 4s.
News from Goole started to come through from Lisa around 10:30 this morning. All was good, well apart from it looking like the level had dropped some more. If it carries on we might take a plastic booster step with us to make the climb up and down off Oleanna easier.
Oleanna glinting in the morning sun, a little bit lower
A helicopter had been heard, presumably now the weather has improved it had been brought in to move bags of sand and stone at the breach site.
Mick came across this on the ITV website late morning. Sure enough the helicopter was working hard. Tonne bags of aggregate being positioned on the canal side of the breach. There is also a piece from an Environment Agency chap early this morning. They have started to pump water over the caisson stop gates into the docks to help keep the level up.
Reports from Lisa came with accompanying photos every now and then. Geoff has been walking round checking on ropes and making sure everything is fine. A couple of boats in the corner are still at jaunty angles, these will need to be watched when the level starts to come back up.
Sitting at an angle
By lunchtime we’d hoped to hear that the level was starting to rise, but sadly not. Al had made a gauge, from this he could see that the level had dropped another inch. Thinking about how much water has been lost from the pound is a bit mind blowing.
Still okay
From where Oleanna is moored it is 8.5 miles to Pollington Lock, the canal most certainly isn’t narrow and the depth is capable of carrying commercial boats. Then there is the 1.75miles of the New Junction Canal to Sykehouse Lock. Southfield Reservoir may only be shallow, but it and the docks covers quite a large area. With the level having dropped at least two foot, that is quite some water loss! This of course will take quite a bit of time to refill, thankfully from the River Aire and not just a reservoir.
Breach location
The docks are closed ABP having put out a notice to vessels saying there will be no penning in or out of the docks, due to water levels. Last night when we left we had a bit of a drive round and could see no ships.
Roof just about level with the pontoon
Last night on social media there were pictures of narrowboats listing in Goole Boathouse Marina. Many more boats are moored around the edges than in Viking, but it also looks like the marina is shallower, so easier for boats to end up sitting on the bottom.
Before the tiers were announced after lockdown 2 we’d been planning on at least a week onboard, giving all three of us some much needed canal time, even if we couldn’t travel far. But when Goole and the East Riding were put into tier 3 our plans had to change. Its a good job we no longer planned on going for a cruise. We have a hire car for a few days so hope to head back down to check things over ourselves, we deem this as essential travel, checking on our home in exceptional circumstances.
Thank you for the photos Lisa
0 locks, 0 miles, 7 updates, 1 helicopter, 1 tonne bags, 1 dining table ready, 2346836431578064.28 gallons of water lost, I may be exaggerating a little!
There was plenty of standing water on the roads as we headed out of York on the A19, we passed close to Drax Power Station and then the salt and pepper pots of Goole came into view. Our route hadn’t taken us near the breach site, but all the low lying land looked quite soggy, so with several million gallons of water from the canal added into the equation there could be quite a problem!
When we last saw Oleanna 5th November
On Mondays the marina is normally shut, we had our fob ready to open gates, but this wasn’t required as the place was a hive of activity. It took a while to find a parking space, plenty of owners about. Groups stood and chatted, others moved the old work boats back and forth, getting them off the mud. Just about all the boats looked reasonably level, just a lot lower than normal.
The level today
Geoff came over to chat, he’d loosened our ropes, as I think had the chap on Nomad along with Al from across the way. Oleanna sat at least two foot lower than when we’d left her at the beginning of November. The normal level stern was now going to be interesting to get down to.
Close to the cabin side
Al had moved fenders up on the pontoon, but there was still a risk that the end might just catch a window or the paintwork of Oleanna.
We managed to get down by sitting on the edge of the pontoon and carefully lowering our selves down onto the gunnel, the slightly mangie off cut of purple carry mat we’ve been carrying around for years instead of going in a bin came in handy so as not to get a wet bum and to cushion knees when getting back up onto the pontoon.
That’s a long way down
As we stepped on board she rocked, phew we weren’t on the bottom … yet! The Dutch Barge a couple of boats up from us was very much sitting on the bottom, their draught being about 4ft, so Oleanna may have a foot and a bit under her still, but who knows what lurks beneath the surface.
Mick ramped the electric heating up and Oleanna was soon warming up quite nicely. Nothing seemed to have come to harm inside, hard to tell when we’d left every cupboard open, mattress up and the sofa on it’s back to keep everything aired. But the crockery was still in the cupboards and bottles of wine all upright. She’d been looked after well.
Talking to Geoff he suggested that the level may still drop some more. The caisson stop gates by the railway bridgehad been closed yesterday but they were leaking. At the other end the docks are closed, no movements of ships in and out of the docks. On previous visits to Goole when moored on the visitor moorings, we’ve noticed the level change by a few inches as the ships come and go, but the level was soon topped up from water coming down the system from the Aire at Knottingley. Victoria Lock, the older lock at the docks also leaks, so if the tide is out on the Ouse the water would gradually empty out at both ends.
News reports suggested that at the breach site culverts and drains had been blocked stopping the water from heading towards housing, the fields being flooded instead. Hundreds of tonne bags of sand had been brought to site and large bags of stones also sat waiting to be used to block the breach, they just needed a helicopter to lift everything into place. We all waited to hear a chinook but with the site just over four miles away we might not hear it. *It turns out it was too foggy for the helicopter.
Exol Pride with a full load
The water level going down is one thing. Tight ropes, getting caught on something on the way down might have your boat list. Al had said the day before was a bit like juggling plates, loosening ropes here and there, then there and here again. If vents to the engine bay get under water this can let water in, helping a boat to sink. Oleanna and the vast majority of boats at Viking were all sitting level, just lower than normal. An older boat in the corner was listing, maybe sat on something under the water, people were on hand checking her over to see what they might be able to do.
Maybe if people have lots of showers the level will start to come back up
Then there is what happens as water levels are restored. Vents close to the water line are one thing, but the biggest worry for most is gunnels getting caught on the underside of the pontoon, holding one side of the boat down as the levels rise. A few of the pontoons in the marina have planks attached to keep your boat from straying underneath, but others like ours have quite a big overhang. Without some fat fenders our cabin side would have been making good friends with the pontoon.
Will this be enough?
Mick spent his time seeing what we had to be able to keep Oleanna from drifting under the pontoon. Our boat pole was long enough and tied to a big T stud on the pontoon would do one end. But our other boat hooks and poles simply wouldn’t be long enough to do anything. He put our big red buoy fender out towards the middle of the cabin. Hopefully this would do the job, it might rub the paint work, but that is cheaper to sort than a sunken boat.
Bloomin bl**dy screws!
I’d come equipped to rehang curtains. Nicely washed and relined they were a little bit tighter than they’d been when I took them down, but the curtain rods seemed to still fit and the length was okay even if a touch tight. One thing however was a right pain, the f*ing screws! I’d forgotten that they were nearly all Frank screws (just about no head left)! I struggled on for a while, but having had eye drops at the hospital, slightly blurred vision and a headache I have to admit to giving up very quickly. Mick later did better but he gave up too and we will source slightly shorter new screws which will make the job a lot easier.
One set up
Oleanna had her engine run, charging the starter battery was important as this doesn’t get topped up by solar or from the hook up. I checked the damp traps in cupboards, emptied them and topped up the crystals. Need to buy more! The heating on Oleanna is set to come on when the temperature drops to 8 degrees, the advantage of having a boiler that works on both gas and electric.
Next it was time to find the things we needed. We’d left various things on board as we’d planned to have a week or two out before Christmas, but that simply hasn’t happened. I needed lots of things for my work on next years panto. My old sketch books for Aladdin and Puss in Boots have handy information in them. So a full big bag of drawings was removed from a cupboard. We prefer the bread knife on the boat, a gravy boat for Christmas dinner and the most important things our Christmas Stockings.
Stockings! I won’t have to make new ones now
We had our premade butties and cups of black coffee and tea, no milk!
Just as we’d locked up and climbed back onto dry land, Laird the marina owner came past checking we were alright. Mick asked if there was anything we could use towards the bow of Oleanna to keep her from drifting under the pontoon. Soon Geoff returned with a new long plank, 10 to 12 ft long. This was slotted down between Oleanna and the pontoon and then pushed into the mud at the bottom. We found a short length of rope and then tied the top of the plank round a beam on the pontoon, hopefully enough to stop it from moving. People around said they’d keep an eye open.
That’s better
Before leaving we drove up Albert Street to the end, near to the caisson stop gates. The water was higher on the dock side, we could only tell this by the water bubbling up from under the gates on the breach side.
During the afternoon we’d received an email from C&RT
Lisa is heading down tomorrow, Al is staying over on their boat again and hopefully we’ll sneak back across the tier border when we have a car next. With the plank and pole stuck in the mud down the side of Oleanna we felt happier. Just have to hope the levels don’t carry on dropping too much and us end up on a list.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2ft plus (or should that be minus?) drop, 1 breach, 1 pole, 1 plank, 1 new friend met, 1 still to meet, 0 milk, 1 warm boat, 2 sketch books, 1 gravy boat, 1 bread knife, 3 stockings, 2 relieved boaters, 1 boat blog list again!
Last night as we sat waiting for the joint of pork to roast, in our new oven (but that’s a whole different story), I came across a story on a boating facebook group regarding a breach on the Aire and Calder Navigation. Levels had been dropping and were said to be about a foot down.
Hunting round on facebook and Canal World Forum we found more information. The breach, we think, is near to New Bridge 21, between Southfield Reservoir where the New Junction meets the Aire and Calder and where the M18 crosses the canal as it makes it’s way toward Goole.
By Goole Railway Bridge there are a set of stop gates which were closed yesterday afternoon. These are here for such a purpose, to stop the water draining out from the docks.
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings to areas around East and West Cowick who were badly flooded earlier this year. There is a lot of water in the pound which stretches from the River Ouse, to Pollington Lock on the Aire and Calder and then down to Sykehouse Lock on the New Junction, plus all the water reserves in Southfield Reservoir.
Photos of the closed stop Gates looked like the level had dropped by about a foot, but reports from boaters at Goole Boathouse Marina were saying two foot. We are all well aware that in such circumstances people tend to exaggerate and currently 2 meters tends to be more like 4 foot for many!
Not sure how fast news travels so I contacted Lisa (a friend yet to be met) who’s boat is moored just across the way from us. She was aware of the situation and her partner Al was at their boat.
He’d been loosening ropes around the marina, the level having dropped by about 18 inches. At 9pm the level seemed to have stopped falling.
Al headed over to Oleanna, loosened our ropes, adjusted fenders and reported back to Lisa who forwarded news to us.
Today we’d booked a hire car for me to attend a hospital appointment in York. We’d already planned to then head to the marina to give Oleanna the once over and run the engine.
Apparently there are police manning the border between tiers 2 and 3, but we have a very valid reason for crossing the border today.
Our gunnels were level with the pontoon.
During our trip to York this morning Lisa was forwarding photos from the marina. The view from Oleanna’s starboard windows won’t be much, but thankfully she is upright. Big thank yous to Al for keeping an eye on her overnight.
Coming out from my appointment Mick had BBC Humberside radio on with a report on the breach. Aggregate is being dropped by helicopter to try to block the breach.
We’re heading there now and will report back later, maybe tomorrow on what we find. A huge big thank you to Al and Lisa for keeping us informed.
Only one window now requires some attention in the house, the others are undercoated and waiting for a warm day for top coat. We celebrated Advent Sunday with roast beef and Yorkshire Puddings. The gluten free batter put in a bread tin, my only option and willed to rise. It did a little but by no means rising and curling over like my Mum’s used to, it was still tasty.
Advent Sunday Roast Beef
Mid afternoon my inbox chimed to the sound of new mail arriving. The annual Happy Official Birthday email from my wonderful 90 year old God-Mum Betty. We always used to have Sunday lunch with Betty when I was a child, roast beef. This was when I received my first Christmas and more importantly my first Birthday present of the year. I then had to wait ALL those weeks before I could open them.
We’re still here
For the last couple of years we have been gradually making our way up the Oxford Canal at the start of Advent. Chippy Panto open, some Christmas shopping attempted before leaving Oxford, our progress northwards slowed by stoppages. Banbury our next port of call for the bulk of our festive shopping, a trip to London to gather the family and then on towards Braunston to pick up our bird for the big day.
Queueing for our bird in Braunston
Being in Scarborough isn’t quite the same. Looking out of the windows on a morning with the central heating going, isn’t the same as popping more coal on the stove to get it springing back into life watching the ducks and swans floating on by. But, this year is what it is.
Chilly paws
Unwrapping boxes of kitchen things, isn’t as exciting as presents, although rediscovering things you’d forgotten you owned is quite nice. But then I also know we don’t need any of these items having lived on a boat for six plus years. Their only purpose really is to fill cupboards. The only way to make use of them is to have a big party, a thing we don’t do very often, but maybe next year.
King Sutton Lock Cottage
My work rooms have now just about been reclaimed there is SOOoooo much space. I’ve gone from a table and the end of a two seater sofa to the equivalent of the whole boat plus more! Blimey I used to be a proper designer! How many paint brushes did I need?!
Loads of room
Last night I moved my model making and paint box from the boat into my work room and as the sun faded away the bluey glow came through the arched window by my tables. My first Advent window.
1st Advent window
No chocolate calendar for me this year, nor a candle. But there are other treats waiting to be opened.
There is of course the Herbie Awards for 2020, always worth keeping track of for good pubs, moorings and gadgets.
Animated Objects are showing some of their projects through the years, many wonderful glowing lanterns to cheer up the evenings.
This morning I’ve opened another window, one to book tickets for The Snow Queen at the SJT next week. Tomorrow our new hob will be installed. Another treat will be opening up a sketch book and starting work on the design for Rapunzel, opening night 17th November 2021.
Rapunzel escaping her high window
Then planning our route for next year, should we go down the Trent heading to London? Head to York to see those people we missed this year? Head back over the Pennines? Will the Figure of Three Locks be open in time? The Weaver? Middle Levels?
