So our visit was well timed as the inevitable has now happened with a third lockdown.
Sadly this means few photos from the breach site as things progress and people stay at home. Yesterday Chris Conroy posted the levels in the docks for me on facebook.
‘Dock level today is 5m 98cm as of 14:36 4/1/21 ….Normal levels are….lower level 6m 20cm …Upper level 6m 55cm’
So a 14 inch difference between low and high levels. If we assume that 5.98m is what it was yesterday, hopefully if he keeps giving me readings from the dock gauge we’ll be able to see if there is a problem of dropping water.
No more pack up lunches on board for a while
He also reported that the pumps by the caisson gate have been altered slightly but are still operational to keep the level in the docks up. Limited shipping is allowed into the port at high tide so as to minimise the loss of water. Normally there is too much water coming down the Aire and Calder and the excess is monitored and discharged as necessary.
Yesterday C&RT issued a Navigation Closure Notice for the New Junction Canal as follows. It does however refer to locks on the Aire and Calder Navigation.
To reduce water levels at breach site below Pollington Lock water levels from Ferrybridge Lock to Pollington Lock have been slightly reduced and the locks closed for public use.
This is a short term measure being reviewed on a daily basis. The locks and sections above Pollington Lock will be reopened as soon as this is possible.
The section from Pollington Lock to Goole Caisson and Sykehouse Lock will remain closed.
Towpath closed from Pollington Lock to Went End Aqueduct due to bank slippage
One day we’ll be back to views like this
Today C&RT have issued an update, although you have to go and look for it on their website! Earlier email updates seem to have stopped.
Update 05/01/2021
We are continuing to carry out inspections of the breach site twice per day to ensure safety of the area. These inspections have confirmed that the repair is structurally sound and there is no further flood risk. We have lowered water levels in the canal to reduce the rate of water loss from the breach and the escaped water is being pumped away into the River Don. The water levels in the canal are being managed through the pumps near Goole dock.
Our project team met on Monday 4 January to begin work to repair the breach. The repair work will first require the removal of the water from a section of the canal around the breach point. This will involve the construction of a temporary dam at two locations by piling across the navigation to create a ‘cofferdam’. The design of these temporary works has commenced.
Once the cofferdam is in place, which we expect to be in the next few weeks, the water in the canal can be pumped around it in order to ensure a constant water supply to feed Goole docks. Until the cofferdam is in place it is difficult to be precise how long a permanent repair will take as this very much depends on what damage we find once the water is removed.
The twice daily inspection of the damaged area of canal bank will continue until this cofferdam is in place to ensure public safety. Although we understand that local people may like to visit the site to see the work we’ve done, we advise people to stay well away from the area where the breach has occurred.
From here in Scarborough all we can do is wait, see what we can see on the internet and rely on kindly souls in Goole to keep an eye on Oleanna’s ropes along with many other boats. I suspect the permanent fix will take some time, thankfully we’re not in any big hurry to move. When we do move we may have to cruise new water to escape Goole and go out onto the Tidal Ouse, turning left towards Selby or right to Trent Falls!
Hopefully Oleanna is still smiling
0 locks, 0 miles, 5.98m, 3rd lockdown, 1 builder being put on hold, 2 boaters trying to watch from afar, 4 fingers and 2 paws crossed,1 cat slightly miffed that her itallics are being used by other people!
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.
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!
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.
Sadly the list of things still to do is still long, but there is plenty of time.
All shiny again
Frank has been visiting a few times a week to work his way through various jobs for us. A thumped bedroom door is now back how it should be. The front door lock has been changed back to an old one, rejigged for new keys and I can now open the front door with ease. One window sill has been replaced, the others will be worked on in fine weather, lockdown permitting. Various items of furniture have had the top layer of stains, paint and glitter removed and are now looking much better with a few coats of Danish Oil on them.
Fabric for new curtains was ordered along with lining. Sadly Boyes in Scarborough has reduced it’s stock so this had to be ordered on line. Getting new curtains made was going to be at least another £250, so I’m just hoping my sewing machine is up to the job along with me!
Weekly veg boxes arrive on Wednesdays to keep me being creative on the cooking side and fill our tummies. Sainsburys delivers once a week and we’ve had a second delivery from Dulux with more paint to keep me going. I hopefully now have all I need to get the remainder of one side of the house finished, then we can clear one side of my work room for access to the end wall which needs some attention from builders. It’s still all go.
An early mast
Sundays we head out for a walk each week. We’ve headed inland, climbing up the hills behind Falsgrave. At Irton Moor we tip toed past the GCHQ listening station, making sure we didn’t stray from the path.
Then veered up to Seamer Beacon where we enjoyed 360 degree views, out to sea, inland towards Pickering and Malton and along the coast with Bempton Cliffs leading towards Flamborough Head. Our return route brought us down off the hills along a very muddy autumnal bridleway, past schools that have changed their names and along streets with very posh houses.
Scarbados
Another weekend saw us walking along the ridge above the A64 with fantastic views over Scarborough to the sea. It has always amazed me how certain landmarks in this town have a life of their own. The Castle and windmill move around at will whilst your back is turned always to appear in the wrong places.
We then dropped down into the valley and walked round the Mere, getting a fix of water, ducks and swans. It appears there are unwelcome otters here as fences have been erected to keep them out away from the fish.
Clerk of works keeping an eye on things
With the country looking like every area would gradually creep into Tier 3 we planned on having a trip to Oleanna, before we couldn’t. Scarborough is in Tier 1, Goole and the East Riding had just made it to Tier 2. With all none tidal routes from Goole leading to Tier 3 areas we decided that we’d have a pootle about staying within Tier 2. A week afloat for the three of us would be great, a deserved rest for Mick and myself and some towpath respite away from the urban felines for Tilly.
Have another one
On Friday hire cars and train tickets were booked along with a food shop to be delivered to Oleanna on Tuesday morning. With everything sorted we’d then head off towards the New Junction Canal, Pollington Lock and Great Heck. Not far but far enough.
Friday evening I started to remove the ripped lining from the boat curtains ready to replace it, planning to sit at the sewing machine over the weekend so that we could have some privacy again.
Before that we had tickets booked to see the brand new John Godber play at the SJT with Bridget and Storm on the Saturday. Sadly I woke up in the morning not feeling quite myself, instead of improving during the morning I went downhill requiring to be near to shore based facilities. It was not a good idea to head to a theatre feeling unwell, even though I know where all the toilets are. So Mick headed off to watch the show leaving me with Tilly as nurse maid, a duvet and the TV. Fred Astaire entertained me more than The Trump Show!
Mick Bridget and Storm enjoyed the show very much, I hope I’ll get chance to see it sometime next year when theatres can reopen again.
News had filtered through that it was looking very likely that the country would be entering another lockdown in a few days. We waited patiently and not so patiently for Boris Johnson to announce his plans. These of course were not in line with our plans which now would have to change.
Unfinished curtains
So instead of a week on board we headed to Goole on Monday in the first hire car, just Mick and myself, leaving Tilly very disappointed holding the fort at the house. She had tried to sneak into a vacuum bag of clean bedding, but had been spotted before I sucked the air out.
Living in an upside down world
The Wolds are greener than they were when we moved to the house. The stubble in the fields has gone and the earth has been turned over, new crops are starting to show their heads.
Sat patiently waiting for us
We let ourselves into the marina and pulled up close to Oleanna. There she was still tied up well to the pontoon, maybe a little bit dustier than when we’d left her, but that’s only to be expected close to the docks.
A day of boat jobs.
Eergh!
I chose to attack the shower sealant, the corners long gone black. This is a job I really do not like doing. Baths and showers in the house have been my nemesis through the years. But I was determined to get the job done, especially as Tilly wasn’t around and we wouldn’t be using the shower today.
I’d brought various tools with me. A window scraper, craft knife and a piece of wood with a blunt point to it. These all gradually worked to clear out the mangy sealant from the corners.
Meanwhile Mick did a firmware upgrade to the inverter. Hopefully he’ll still be able to remotely turn the inverter on and off. Time will tell.
Masked up
After some lunch I then set to masking off the areas that needed sealant. Originally the corners of the walls and where the shower screen met the tray had been sealed with translucent and the shower tray to the walls with white. I decided to change the tray to screen to white as even though the sealant had been okay here it had started to turn orange. White would be better.
I started with the translucent and that went on nicely. The white however had a slightly different quality to it, so it splurged a bit. I smoothed everything off doing my best to avoid making a mess then removed the masking tape.
All done
The sealant behind the galley sink had also seen better days so I’d dug this out, masked it and then applied sealant. This went on better and once the masking tape was removed I decided to smooth it off with my finger, so that it matched the rest of the galley. This worked a treat so I returned to the bathroom to smooth everything off there too. A skin had already started to form, but it was still suitably squidgy to get an okay finish to it. Infact this is possibly the best sealant job I’ve ever achieved, looks wise, time will tell if I’ve sealed it well enough.
Mick had attached a remote heat sensor to the boiler so that the thermostat wasn’t in the electrics cupboard. Our Aldi boiler can work off both gas and electric. Whilst we are hooked up it will work off the electric and Mick has set the thermostat to 9 C.
A second coat of Danish oil was applied to all the window frames, another job to do whilst Tilly isn’t about. One more left to do and that is a much bigger one, re-oiling the wooden floor. This may require an overnight stay, getting everything clean one day and oiled the next, leaving as I finish.
Everything left airing, including the sofa
Oleanna was given a quick check over. Everything winterised. All moisture traps were checked, cupboards and drawers left open, mattress and cushions left so that air can circulate and the sofa bad was opened up and left on it’s back. We don’t know when we’ll be back next due to lockdown, but if we happen to come back with Tilly she will have a field day!
Bye bye, hope to see you soon
It had long gone dark when we locked Oleanna’s back doors and climbed back into the car. A big shame not to be staying longer as originally planned, but we are glad we’ve been able to visit to check on her, run the engine and do some more jobs. She’ll be sat waiting for us to return when we can, hopefully in four weeks time, but we’ll wait and see how things go. It does mean I don’t have to rush to reline her curtains.
I know I missed a bit! And the tunnel bands need a repaint.
Enough of that painting malarkey, time to do some boating. But first there were some mushrooms that needed eating up which came accompanied by some baked beans.
Not the full works but a nice start to the day
Once Tilly had had a couple of hours competing with a kestrel for friends, she returned home and the back door was firmly closed. Still a chill in the air but the sun made an appearance which made for a pleasant early autumn cruise.
Our mooring had felt like we were the only boat about, with little footfall, apart from a slightly startled horse we’d felt quite on our own a perfect place for Tilly. At the junction though we could see where everyone had been hanging out.
Straight on!
We headed straight on, passing a gull sat on one of the rocks that stops you from going on a jolly into the reservoir.
Keeping an eye on us
Under Beavers Bridge before the bend to the north to face Drax Power Station.
Before the M18 Bridge there was a field of gulls, bobbing on the surface. I set my camera to Burst Mode as we approached waiting for them to make their move. As we ploughed through them they rose into the air, then circled round us to come back in and land filling the surface again.
No 10 is now accompanied by an old tug, showing off it’s fine funnels.
Oooo, red interiors!
The wind turbines stretch off to the horizon behind Rawcliffe Marina, half of them turning, competing with Drax to produce clean electricity.
Windy
A Red Kite (I think) circled over the trees and canal, looking for an early lunch.
Under Goole Railway Bridge and through the stop gates we could see that our chosen Tilly friendly mooring was full. Several boats took the space and what was left was filled with fishermen, we hoped there’d be space for us near the services.
The Aire and Calder Navigation is So congested!
Fortunately there was, just enough room for us on the moorings before the water point, which was half taken up with a little sailing yacht. We tied up and had lunch, followed by topping up on water and disposing of all the rubbish we’d created during the last few days. Sorry the bins are now quite full.
14 day mooring full of boats and fishing
Then a top up of diesel. We winded and came into the gap, the bow breasted up to a boat on the corner who has a large fender positioned for just such moments. Once filled we winded again and returned to the moorings, our space still avavilable.
New yellow neighbour
Across the way alongside Exol Pride a new lick of yellow paint glinted off the side of Fusedale H. Then a huge cloud of smoke came from it’s exhaust, three chaps busy on board.
About to set off
They pulled away towards the docks and our VHF radio crackled into life. The Harbour Master sounded surprised that it was Fusedale, their radio not working as it should. They were asking for permission to enter the harbour waters to wind and then return, their aerial in need of some attention. The Harbour Master commented on ship movements at the docks and that Farndale would soon be making it’s way up off the river.
Duck Island
Fusedale and Farndale are two of the gravel barges that will, next week apparently, be starting to do regular journeys from Hull to Leeds. The chap at Goole Boat House reckons there may be as many as 6 barges in the fleet. Today these two were out doing trial runs.
Later on we heard Farndale come off the river, his radio working better, but their radar a touch dondgy, they needed to fill their tanks to get under a bridge and then would be out of the docks and the incoming ships way. We waited to see if they pulled up alongside Fusedale, but by the time we headed to bed there was still no sign.
Tilly helping to put things away
Under the dinette got a good sort this afternoon. All the painty stuff needed to be stowed away again. The cupboards got hoovered out and a sort, a pair of flipflops and an odd shoe of Micks are now destined for the bins.
0 locks, 7.22 miles, 1 straight on, 2 winds, 1 full water tank, 52 litres diesel, 1 gravel barge, 1 tug, 0 mid aft line, 1 dodgy aerial, 3, 1 shoe, 1 duck island, 0 shore leave for Tilly, 1 last lamb curry.
