Category Archives: River Ouse

The Goole Escape, Hiding In The Shadows. 22nd 23rd May

Selby Basin

As each boat came up the lock off the Ouse on Friday, Lock Keeper Nigel chatted away. He’d been talking to the Lockie at Keadby and all looked good for a departure on Sunday morning, this had been the original plan. The amount of fresh on the Trent shouldn’t be a problem. Once we were all moored up in the basin we had a boaters conference.

Swimming

We’d all enjoyed the cruise to Selby. Our concern as to whether Lulabelle had enough power was unfounded. This was Martin and Wendy’s first stretch of tidal water, they’ve done rivers before but mostly canals, so they took today at a steady pace, enjoying it out on the river. Lulabelle had more power if required, but they’d hung back to give more space at the lock knowing we’d not all fit in together.

Nigel’s news that we’d be able to pen down on Sunday had been a little bit of a surprise, but everyone was happy to hear it, although the forecast hadn’t looked so good for down at Trent Falls. We’d check the weather apps and reconvene tomorrow, David mentioned another new one to us Windy which we later downloaded.

Standing

Saturday morning we checked the weather, we checked the river levels, we checked the wind at Blacktoft for Sunday. We’d be penned out from Selby around 06:30 make our way down to Trent Falls, anchor there until the tide turned. The wind looked strong down there between 17 and 20mph southerly. Once the tide had turned the wind would then be in our faces and being over tide this would make the cruise up to Keadby a lumpy one.

Giving up!

After our weekly Geraghty zoom the escape committee convened. Not looking good. Tuesday the weather looked more promising, maybe even a touch of sunshine. We decided to postpone our departure from Selby. Monday wouldn’t be possible as there wouldn’t be a lock keeper available to pen us down.

Billy no mates

Mick rang and left a message here at Selby for Nigel, then called Keadby who later called us back. All three boats now booked to pen up at Keadby Tuesday afternoon. They also talked about what time we’d be able to pen back out on Wednesday to make it to Torksey or beyond. A late tide would see us arriving at Torksey a little before dark, or Thursday morning as soon as the Lock Keepers shift started which would be a touch later than they would normally pen you out, so not getting the full effect of the tide.

We’ll be on our own from Keadby as Sea Maiden and Lulabelle will have achieved their goal of being on the other side of the breach. A late finish, or an early start pushing against the tide for some of the way? One to think about.

Selby Abbey

A walk into town to post a birthday card. A visit to Boots Opticians, my new reading glasses have been hurting after five minutes so the kind lady made space for me in the shop and took my glasses away to adjust them, much better.

A recky for suitable places for Sunday lunch. I took photos of nice looking cafes and pubs to look at later. Then we called in at Sainsburys to do a top up shop. We’ll most probably have to do another before we leave as I want to be prepared should we get stuck on a flooded river, after all we know that Cromwell Service Station on the A1 doesn’t do much food with any nutritional value.

In the afternoon I repainted parts of the Town Square model for panto. A pale chrome green and peach substituting the blues. The outcome isn’t quite a bright as I’d wanted but will go with the costumes better. To brighten things up a touch though I added some bunting to the windows and that did the trick.

New version

Photos done and uploaded for people to see I could now pack away my model making equipment. Hopefully the model is now finished and all that remains is to update technical drawings, oh and see if we can afford to have it built!

Old version

Sunday. Instead of heading out onto the river this morning we busied ourselves having a good tidy and clean through. Yep we were expecting visitors.

Today I kept a very tight hold of my mobile phone as Bridget and Storm arrived. They were to be our first visitors inside Oleanna since restrictions have been lifted, in fact they were the last visitors we’d had inside in August last year.

They both were very well and there was a lot to catch up on. Sunday lunch all round at The George Inn by Selby Abbey, we’ve known better but it was still nice to be out with friends. We exchanged news of travels, they’ve just spent a month touring Wales in their motorhome and family news.

Bridget and Storm

A very lovely afternoon spent, much better than clinging on for dear life at Trent Falls.

A quick look at the river level about six hours after high tide suggested there was a LOT of fresh coming down, the height looking more like high tide and the speed at which the water was passing, eek!

Beans on toast with a light dusting of cheddar

This evenings dinner, well a rare plate of food, yummy all the same.

All three boats currently booked to pen down Tuesday at 08:00.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 flooded river, 1 change of booking, 2 arms bent, 6 bananas, 1 pack of bacon, 2 chocolate flapjacks, 2 roasts, 1 pork (with failed crackling), 1 beef (quite dry), 0 Yorkshire puddings, 2 lovely friends, 1 pot of chutney, 3 boats biding their time, 1 bilge pump not pumping, 1 extreamly bored cat, 1 Heather on standby.

The Goole Escape, Scaling The Wall. 21st May

Goole to ……

Can you see us?

The River Ouse is so vast in Goole you just have to keep looking forwards so as not to be swallowed up by the expanse of water.

That Mick he’s always been a speed merchant!

With a choice of charts, Ripon or the Boating Association, we decided to follow the red line on the later. Popped in a plastic folder the book wouldn’t stay dry if it rained but it would have some protection. We’d rather these got damp than the useful book from Ripon, so that stayed on the Nicholson’s shelf by the back door in case we wanted it for reference.

Tucked away behind the flood bank

However we were close enough to Sea Maiden to see what course to follow, David having produced the Ripon book should know his way along the river.

Goole Railway Swing Bridge

First landmark was Goole Railway Swing Bridge. With wharfs further upstream the bridge swings to let big ships through, no need for that today. David did take a different span of the bridge than our red line suggested, as Sea Maiden is deeper droughted than Oleanna we had no problem following.

The bridge is also known as Hook Bridge,  it is a large viaducted hogback plate girder bridge with a swing span that was built to connect Kingston Upon Hull to South Yorkshire in 1869. There are four fixed spans crossing from the western bank then the two that swing on the east bank. The pivot point is vast.

Lulabelle following

At Howden Dyke large wharfs stand with their bucket cranes ready to off load. We looked out for green markers here, but then realised these were actually quite small and are lights rather than big posts with brushes on the top as they are on the Trent.

The second wharf is where you change course quite dramatically. Straight ahead would seem to make sense, taking the shorter route round Howden Dyke Island.

But this course is shallow and the channel heads off at a right angle to the south of the island. Paul from Waterway Routes had mentioned this in an email a day ago, we stuck to our red line and followed Sea Maiden up ahead.

Here they come

Looking behind us, would Lulabelle see which course to take? They came into view and took the sharp left following at quite a distance now.

Left!

As we finished rounding the island Mick’s phone rang. It was Nigel at Selby asking on our progress. We’d only been out on the river for about half an hour. Maybe he thought we’d been let out earlier from the docks, but he’d hoped we’d be further on and not still south of the M62 bridge.

At Selby there hadn’t been a noticeable change of tide this morning due to the amount of fresh coming down. He was concerned that we’d soon be loosing the effect of the incoming tide and then struggle against tide and fresh water to make headway. The river appeared to be peaking a day earlier than expected. All we could do was continue, we seemed to be doing 6mph which we thought was reasonable.

We messaged up ahead to David, Oleanna could go faster, but could Lulabelle who seemed to be keeping up but a long way behind. Did their engine have enough umph to push on upstream.

M62

Nebo showed us doing between 5 to 10 knots only slowing to below 5 knots when changing direction around Howden Dyke and as we approached the M62 Bridge, well we had to have chance to have a good look.

Wonder if anyone saw us?

Just how many times have we been over this huge spanning bridge which opened in 1976. This is our preferred route south from Scarborough and at times it was too from York. On crossing the bridge we always look out for boats and comment on the state of the tide. Today the tide was still coming in and there were three boats pushing their way upstream.

Boothferry Bridge

Next Boothferry Bridge. A landmark of Micks childhood, long before the M62 bridge was built! Living in London and grandparents living in Hessle near Hull they would make the journey northwards by car. Crossing the bridge was a sign that they were nearly there! Excitement would build on the back seat of the Humber Hawk.

Another for good measure

To the south of the Ouse the River Aire joins shortly before a bend. Now up ahead the cooling towers of Drax Power Station rose, new wind turbines in the foreground. Was there a faint whiff of wood smoke in the air? Drax burns biomass to generate power now, just like wooden cat litter.

New and old power generating

I had wondered if we’d be able to see Eggborough Power Station too along this stretch. The thought of a photo with Drax, Eggborough and the depleted cooling towers of Ferrybridge a goal of mine, but sadly this wasn’t to be.

Lulabelle still there

Next time we cross the Wolds on a clear day we’ll have to stop the car to get all three power stations in one photo.

Is this Barmby?

Round another bend and Barmby Barrage came into view. The River Derwent heads off north east from here. A while ago we’d considered stopping here to save the full journey up to Selby. Maybe our progress was starting to slow now the effect of the incoming tide was waning against the amount of fresh coming down, we’d been on the river now for an hour and a half. Was this where we should be?

It is

Mick called Nigel at Selby to give him an update on our location. Thankfully he was happy with our progress, he wouldn’t be sat at Selby waiting for us until 9pm as he’d once thought.

Next year

Barmby Barrage has to be booked with the Environment Agency 24 hours in advance. Heading up the Derwent and onto the Pocklington Canal is one trip we want to do, but for now it will have to wait for another year, maybe next year.

Drax

The red line on our charts was now becoming intermediate. Keeping to the outside of bends, but not too far over as the flow pushes you even further out as we’d discovered on our first trip up to York seven years ago. As we reached Hemingbrough our speed was certainly dropping, Nebo showing it now under 5 knots.

24 to where?

We’d been wondering where all the debris was that usually accompanies you from Selby up to York. Last year it had been like a log flume. Our first tree came into sight bobbing along, a browning Christmas tree. Was this all there was going to be?

26

Sea Maiden up ahead was slowing. The river getting narrower the flow coming towards us stronger. This is where the floating debris started, no wonder David had slowed down. We’d lost sight of Lulabelle a while earlier, but with each of us on Nebo we could see where each boat was. Martin and Wendy were maybe ten, fifteen minutes behind, but they were still moving.

How now

Red markers on the western bank counted upwards. 26 being called Brown Cow on our charts was surrounded by sheep grazing the river bank. From here it was only 5km to the swing bridges of Selby, channel 9 to contact the bridge keepers, but we’d not need them to swing for us, we’d only one to go under Selby Bypass Swing Bridge.

A large tree lay on the bank, was this the tree we’d seen last year on our way up to York? At Roscarrs the river narrows and we could see the water bubbling away, lumpy water. We pushed hard against the flow here and up to the next bend where things calmed down somewhat.

Lumpy water

As Sea Maiden passed under the Bypass Bridge we heard David contacting the lock keeper on the radio. Nigel asked if all the boats were together, there was no reply from David. We waited for him to answer but none came. So Mick radioed our position as we passed under the bridge. Sea Maiden would be penned up the lock on her own, Nigel would then drop the lock ready for us. Mick reduced our speed, a gradual approach to the lock better than having to tread water nearer it. Martin on Lulabelle then followed on the radio with their position, still about ten minutes behind us.

Selby Bypass Bridge

But where was the lock? If this was your first time on the river you’d need guidance as all you can see is trees along the banks and Selby Rail Swing Bridge up ahead. Sea Maiden carried on ahead, then just disappeared out of view.

Finally the red brick flats came into view, these are just after the lock so we slowed our progress even more. The water could be seen dropping from the lock. I made my way to the bow before any manoeuvring by us was needed.

Nigel at the lock

Nigel stood by the lock mouth, handy hand signals as to our position on our approach. The temptation to turn in as you would on a canal is great, especially as we were facing the flow. But holding our course upstream meant we’d not get swept into the bank or the lock walls. Stay out, stay out, NOW!

Approaching the lock

Mick swung the tiller hard over and Oleanna responded nicely straight into the lock. Phew!

Thank you Karl for the footage.

Safe in the lock

No need for ropes as we’d be on our own in the lock. Nigel opened up paddles bringing us in towards the wall where we stayed as we raised up to the Selby Canal.

Two of us up

Sea Maiden was already moored. We winded and pulled in behind them. The lock already being reset for Lulabelle. More hand signals and Martin and Wendy turned faultlessly into the lock, big grins all round.

Keep coming!

All three boats safely in Selby. In the last twenty minutes it had started to rain, but other than that we’d had a pretty dry cruise. We’d found the gap in the weather, pushed against the fresh water. David’s original calculations had had us arriving at Selby around 16:30. We’d arrived at 17:30 after pushing against the increasing amount of fresh coming down stream. So we’d not done too badly and had a pleasant cruise up the river.

Three of us up

All that’s left to do now is head back the way we’ve come. Turn up the Trent, using the tide to help us upstream. Passage is currently booked for Sunday at 06:30.

Can I go out yet?

2 locks, 15.84 miles, 1 wind, 3 lefts, 1 straight on, 0 ships, 38 litres, 2 fenders, 3 boat flotilla, 12 knots maximum wind speed, 3 hours 10 minutes on the river, 1 worried Lockie, M62 and Boothferry Bridge gone under, 1st stage of the escape achieved, phew!

https://goo.gl/maps/FRk1AbMS5SM9Wuq39

The Goole Escape, Knotted Sheets. 21st May

Viking Marina to…….

Not much impetus to get out of bed this morning due to rain and thinking our escape plans might be postponed, we drank our tea and looked at weather forecasts, river levels after the recent rainfall. Wind looked to be dying down this afternoon, would this give us an opportunity to make our first move in the escape plan?

Oleanna behind the fence

A phone call from Nigel at Selby Lock brought us news that the River Ouse was starting to come up, due to peek on Sunday morning at 3.5 m. Today passage would be possible but not tomorrow as the amount of fresh coming down the river would hinder our progress upstream even with the tide. He also thought that our trip round Trent Falls currently booked for Sunday 06:30 would be unwise as we would likely be fighting our way up the Trent to Keadby too. If we weren’t going to go today he was suggesting waiting until Tuesday to head to Selby and then head back the way we’d come continuing to Trent Falls on Wednesday. The tides would just make it possible to arrive at Keadby within working hours.

Out to meet the flotilla

We needed to chat to the others and see what they thought. Better to do this face to face rather than on Whatsapp. We got dressed and paddled our way round to the moorings past the big work boats to convene the escape committee.

Shower now full leaving the well deck clear

David had also talked to Nigel, he had also spotted the dip in wind speed this afternoon, which hopefully would coincide with a drop in rainfall too. The wind forecast actually showed it changing direction around about the time the tide would change, the important bit about this was that the wind would be going in the same direction as the tide, reducing the possibility of waves.

Goodbye pontoon

Four out of six of us were happy to give the plan a green light, the other two were still in bed, hopefully they would agree. We headed back to Oleanna for breakfast and to prepare for departure.

Mind Lisa’s boat!

Water tank filled, well deck cleared of everything other than the anchor and chain, rubbish in the bins. The trip computer was set, Nebo started. Just as we were untying the chap from a few boats away started telling us of doom and gloom stories of when he’d been through Ocean Lock, his wife nearly being thrown overboard! Blimey, that didn’t sound good! But we have learnt to take such tales with a pinch of salt.

All of a sudden everyone in the marina had come out, the rain having just about stopped along with a boat moving brought people out from beside their stoves, all nicely timed with us reversing off our pontoon and trying our best not to hit Lisa’s boat whilst the wind had other ideas. Other members of our flotilla were at the services on the other side as we pulled out and turned towards the docks, mooring up at the diesel point at Viking Marina. Time to fill up the tank and check out.

Only 38 litres used in 8 months! Mick gave Laird an electric meter reading, handed back our gate key fob. Then we treated ourselves to two new rope fenders a bit chunkier than the one’s we’d found in a skip a few years ago. These were our present to Oleanna for having a quiet winter and to celebrate leaving Goole.

Escape pod at the ready

Time for lunch, last checks, winter waterproof trousers, life jackets on and Tilly’s escape pod zipped up ready just in case. David and Karl came down to tread water alongside us, shortly followed by Martin and Wendy who had finally been convinced that the weather should stay dry for the trip.

David radioed through to Ocean Lock to ask permission to enter the docks. Radio checks were done all round, all working. We pushed out behind Sea Maiden and Lulabelle.

No need for any bridges to swing for us, David had dropped his masts knowing that then he’d fit under. Plenty of head room for the two of us following.

Past the Tom Pudding hoist (footage of it in use). Oleanna wasn’t quite smiling as she normally does, maybe pensive for her entrance onto the River Ouse. A kind word and a slight adjustment of the cable between her horns and she was reassured, smiling back at us again.

No ships to dwarf us

Such a shame the docks were empty of ships today, nothing for us to feel really insignificant alongside.

Sea Maiden pulled into the port side of the lock, followed by Lulabelle. We were directed to the starboard side of the lock. No ropes required to hold us into the side. The huge gates closed behind us.

We all just bobbed there, plenty of space for loads more boats of our size.

Down we go

Then gradually the water emptied from the lock, the tide was a lot lower than we’d expected it to be, 8 maybe 10ft lower than the canal.

The gates opened in front of us. No need for the chap in the control tower to tell us the ‘gates are in the recess’ as he does for the big ships. The chap who was on the lock side just said we could go as the gates were opening.

David and Karl led the way in Sea Maiden, Martin and Wendy next in Lulabelle then we pushed out from the wall and followed on behind.

Ahead a huge expanse of water. Each boat exited the lock and did a sharp turn to the left, the flow of the incoming tide pushing us slightly as we turned. Blimey it’s wide, it’s really wide.

David pushed on ahead, we waited for Lulabelle to pick up speed, but soon we passed Martin and Wendy, Oleanna wanting to go faster to stretch herself with the incoming tide.

Bye bye Goole

Behind us the Salt and Pepper pots along with the spire of St John’s stood tall, Goole was overcast and getting further away by the second. We’ll see them again when we come back in a few days, but for now it was rather nice to be seeing the back of them. The first part of our escape completed, we just had to reach Selby now!

Plain Bounty. 20th May

Viking Marina, Goole and Scarborough

Presents!

From the above photo you can see we were early to rise this morning. There were presents to open first thing and then a train to catch.

I’d not managed to do terribly well on the present front, Goole had let me down. But Boyes did have a supply of Plain Bounty bars which Mick loves, so at least that brought a smile to his face. A new boating cap which he already knew about and some clips for hanging t-towels, I know how to treat my boy!

At 8am I was out of the door and on my way to the station. It’s about a twenty minute walk from Viking Marina, but there is always the chance that the swing bridge in the docks might be opened for a ship, the only way round would be over the gates of Ocean Lock which might also be in use. So adding an extra twenty minutes to the walk was wise as I had a booked train to be on. However it wasn’t needed.

Today was the first time I’ve been on a train since I came back from Vienna, I was relieved that there weren’t too many people on it so managed to have plenty of space around me. The two ladies across the way kept me amused with their gossiping.

Humber Bridge

My destination today was Scarborough. Up to Brough, along the banks of the Humber and in to Hull Paragon Station. I think the last time I came to Hull on a train was when the country was totally snowed under in 2010, the car was buried under a couple of feet of snow out the back of Hull Truck for a week or two and the direct train line was closed due to snow drifts.

Part of the longest station bench in the world at Scarborough

The train then backs out from the station and heads its way northwards stopping at numerous stations which always seem to come in the wrong order to me. A glimpse of the sea and lots of green fields and only one gnome visible at Seamer Station amongst all the weeds.

There was now time to call in to Sainsburys to pick up another present for Mick before hopping onto the No 9 Bus out through Scalby to the Rugby Club. The place was heaving again as it was about ten weeks ago. I joined the queue which moved quickly into the sports hall. My card had another sticker added to it, then I was sent to stand in line for my jab. Last time all nine booths had queues of four people waiting for them, but today I seemed to have timed it well as I was the second in line, then got moved over to an empty booth. My appointment had been 12:30 but I was done and jabbed by just gone 12:00.

What is the monster guarding?

No stickers on offer today. I had however brought my own badge to celebrate the moment. A few months ago I’d seen that a friend of a friend was selling a limited number of covid vaccination badges in aid of Gavi, the vaccine alliance. I made a donation and had received my badge which I’d saved opening until today, the monster sticker guarding it until the right time.

Jabbed

The next bus back into town meant I had loads of time to kill before my booked train back. I stocked up on various things from real live shops, got told off for taking a photo of the shutters pulled down at Debenhams and wondered how long there had been a cat cafe in Bar Street.

With my packup lunch I headed to a bench in front of the Town Hall to say a final farewell to Scarborough for a while.

Scarbados

By the time the train got back to Goole it was raining so I got soggy on my walk back to the boat. Back to Mick’s birthday and bakewell tart birthday cake.

During the day the Goole Escape committee had been Whatsapping. The weather forecast still not good for tomorrow. We decided to wait and see how things were in the morning, will there be a suitable window as the very wet weather front goes over?

Will we be going under this bridge tomorrow?

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 cap, 5 clips, 2 chunks of plain chocolate and coconut, 2 trains, 2 buses, 1 tablet stand, 1 polo shirt, 5 minutes, 2nd jab, 1 last look at the light house, 2 slices of birthday, 4 paracetamol (not all together) just in case.

If you are into yarn and knitting Lisa, from across the way in Goole and Scarborough, has just started to vlog about her hand dyed yarns and all things wool, along with a bit of boating. We even get a mention along with Tilly sitting on her shelf, thank you Lisa. So todays link is a bit boaty and a lot woolly.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAQNhaXP75jBRuOb9GFpBbQ

Secret Baking. 19th May

Viking Marina, Goole

Mick was off on a train late morning, heading back to Hull. This time it was for his second Covid jab. He’d booked it through the NHS website at the Late Night Pharmacy which is just on the eastern side of the River Hull. Yesterday he’d had a phone call from his doctors surgery in Scarborough offering him one on Friday, which obviously he turned down.

Shhh baking

On arrival he had to wait outside until he was called in, after seeing several people he was given his jab and sent out the back door on his way, making room for the next person. A much smaller operation than we’d both been to at the Rugby Club in Scarborough.

Shh jam

Whilst he was off the boat it gave me the opportunity to do some secret wrapping and start to bake his birthday cake. Thanks to Christine (Mick’s sister) for sharing a rather tasty looking apricot tart the other day I’d decided to bake a Bakewell tart this year. The pastry base made by substituting gluten free flour and then the almond filling, ground almonds with lots of eggs, sugar and butter.

Shhhh Bakewell Tart

On his way back to the station he went in search of The Bay Horse on Wincolmlee. No longer a pub sadly, so he couldn’t stop for a pint, but at last he’d seen where Tom Geraghty his Grandfather lived in 1901 at the age of 10.

Once The Bay Horse

Not far away he stopped by The Charter House too. The Master of the Charter House was Mick’s Great Uncle, Arthur Kent Chignell, during WW2. So it wasn’t just a trip for a covid jab.

I finished off making the giant strawberry and took loads more photographs of what I hoped would be the final model, although after passing them onto the costume designer I now need to amend one colour choice as it would clash with her costumes. Yes it is panto, the brighter the better, but sometimes it’s better to be a touch more harmonious.

Strawberry

A little while before 7pm there was a knock on the boat roof. It was Joan’s husband delivering our pre-birthday dinner. Peking Duck with pancakes for Mick and lettuce for me with a green onion sauce that she’d made with gluten free soya sauce.

Lots of boxes

This was followed by crispy lamb ribs which came with roast potatoes and stir fried veg. All very very tasty and highly recommended. If we get the chance for some more food from her I’m hoping the sweet and sour seabass will be on the menu as that looks very interesting. Not your normal Chinese takeaway, but real Chinese home cooking.

Yesterday a new notice about Selby Swing Bridge was put out by C&RT.

Update on 18/05/2021:

We anticipate it will take around 2 weeks for our Contractors to carry out the temporary footbridge installation and the damaged bridge lift, though we are awaiting a precise date from our contractor for this work to commence. There will also be a short closure to reinstall the bridge in around 3 months time (date to be confirmed).

This is good news as it means the route to and from York will be open, just a shame it won’t be in time for us. David called ABP this morning to book all three boats to pen down at 14:30 on Friday. Goole Docks will need to be called on VHF Channel 14 at around 14:00 to request permission to proceed into the docks. He has suggested a channel for ship to ship comms and done loads of calculations as to speed and time of arrival at Selby. Then he has forwarded pages from the Ripon Motorboat club book. We have a copy of this which I bought for Mick years ago. It turns out that David produced the edition we have. So our flotilla will be in good hands. We just have to pray for good weather now.

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trains, 2nd jab, 0 2nd job, 1 colour amendment, 1 bridge to be replaced, 1 yummy Chinese, channel 14, 6, 9, 74, 28 beacon, so many fingers crossed for good weather.

Here is playwright John Godber talking about the upcoming production of Moby Dick. I designed the premiere production of this show about twenty years ago for Hull Truck in their old home at Spring Street. John and Hull Truck are my Hull theatrical roots, I think he’s a bit excited.

https://www.facebook.com/jgodberco/videos/170127981597400

The Big Wash. 18th May

Viking Marina, Goole

Late yesterday a boat transporter arrived, backed into the maintenance area opposite us and stayed parked up overnight. This morning Geoff was busy with the boat lift.

Getting ready to go

The wagon pulled forward, then Geoff followed with the yellow cruiser. The boat suspended over the trailer, inched forward. Pads were moved around, adjusted to fit the shape of the hull, then gradually the boat was lowered. Straps added and eventually the wagon pulled away, turning round the buildings to exit the marina.

This wasn’t where Geoff stopped though. He seemed to spend much of the remainder of the day moving cruisers about. We now have two small cruisers just in front of us, each one taking quite some time to get sorted with wooden supports which had to be brought by forklift.

Onboard Oleanna Mick busied himself with the washing. The washing drawer already getting full after being back on board for a couple of weeks. Being on shore power he was going to make the most of what time we have left. I’m not sure how many loads went through the machine during the day, but it seemed to be going round constantly.

One whirligig full

Mick cycled to Boyes to buy some oil and antifreeze. This meant he could now change the gear box oil, another maintenance job ticked off the list.

Then once the next load of washing was finished Mick put up the whirligig. This is most definitly (am I ‘H’? I can never spell the word!) a blue boy job. Hanging washing out on the whirligig when attached to the tiller is just that bit too high for me to manage. Tippy toes maybe, but over stretching ones back is not a sensible thing to do in my experience. So Mick gets to do the washing.

I busied myself working through my A4 sheet of model notes. A painted archway needed to be lowered, this was my biggest job. I still can’t decide whether to fade my cyc out to the sides with black or not. But by the end of the day the box of finished pieces was full, only a giant strawberry to finish off. This may not look that big, in fact it’s actual size is around about a standard strawberry size. But theatre models are made at 1:25. So this strawberry will end up being half a meter wide and nearly as high as a dining table!

Could it be too big, no it’s panto!

During the afternoon David/Paul and Karl came to top up with diesel. Mick had quite a chat with David. It was decided that they would call ABP to book all three boats in to pen down on Friday. One phone call much better than three. We’re already booked in at Selby with the Lockie there.

Now all we have to do is finish the washing and pray for a calm day. We can cope with rain, hail even, but not wind! Currently the forecast is not on our side especially for when we plan to do Trent Falls. Postponing this leg of the journey though means that the tides get later and higher, which also means lower. All our digits are crossed hoping that all the weather people have got it wrong and that the jet stream will whisk away the on coming front leaving us with a nice calm day.

Panto bits and bobs box

On a brighter note, we decided to book ourselves a meal for tomorrow night. Sometime earlier this year on arriving at the marina we’d noticed a big sign had gone up just outside the marina gates. Joan’s Home Kitchen collection point. What was this?

May be an image of brick wall, outdoors and text that says "JOAN'S HOME KITCHEN COLLECTION POINT Tel: 07402667478"

We had a look round on the internet and found her on facebook Joan’s Home Kitchen. A Chinese takeaway menu is published every couple of weeks with a limited amount of dishes, all of which look tasty. The only problem being that Chinese food isn’t always so good for a gluten free diet, but I really like it.

Sadly she isn’t open on Thursday, but is tomorrow. Mick gave her a call to ask about gluten free options. She was making suggestions of dishes that she could make gf for me, in the end we decided to have a chat in person. Well Joan’s boat is only about 25m away for us. There in the wheelhouse window her 5 star hygiene rating sticker.

A tasty sample to try

We chatted through dishes that I could have without too much extra work for her and placed our order for tomorrow evening. Joan handed over a sample of her seafood dumplings for Mick to try. Blimey four! I have to admit I did try them despite their flour content. Very very nice. We are now very much looking forward to our meal being delivered tomorrow.

0 locks, 0 miles, 3 maybe 4 loads of washing, 10 litres oil, 1 shower brewing, 1 very bored cat, 1 empty box, 1 full box, 1 whacking great big strawberry, 0 digits left uncrossed, 4 dumplings, 1 chef across the way.

Here’s a little bit of footage from my Scarborough theatre roots about their reopening.

https://www.facebook.com/BBCRadioYork/videos/320055276136892

A Weekend Away. Breach 49. 13th 14th May

Goole to Newbridge

This morning the marina was busy. A big cruiser was lowered into the water, then backed away from the slings on the lift. It reversed it’s way out of view before an older yellow cruiser came to replace it, ready to be lifted out. Once on dry land Geoff set to jet washing it’s bottom.

Preparing to move the outside is very exciting for our second mate

With no need to be in Goole for the next few days, we decided to have a weekend away. So after doing the chores, filling the water tank, emptying the wee tank, disposing of the rubbish we untied our ropes and pushed off.

Our normal routine of me giving the bow a BIG push did not work today as the wind was coming from the wrong side. So the stern was pushed out past NB Summer Wind into the gap between pontoons. Once we’d got so far the wind then caught the bow and started to push that round enabling us to turn without getting too matey with any neighbours.

Busy today

It was busy out there! A narrowboat heading in to the diesel point at the Boathouse, David/Paul and Karl tucked into the corner and the boat formerly known as Harlequin just pulling out from the water point. We headed past waving to everyone as we left, maybe next time we pull away from Viking Marina it will be for the last time.

Wharf at Rawcliffe Bridge

It being a grey day the four miles back out to Newbridge was a little bit dull. A few fishermen to break up the long straight lengths of the navigation. I wondered what industry had been along this stretch. Two wharfs opposite Rawcliffe Marina and another a bit further on by the Sugar Mill Ponds. Now that name was a clue, but not to the industry that started on the site.

Another wharf outside Croda Chemicals

In 1838 Rawcliffe Brickworks stood on the site, the clay was dug by hand from the adjacent land. In 1873 the works were modernised and a 30m high chimney was added to the site. Rumour has it that the two clay pits filled with water in the 1870’s overnight creating the ponds. 1890 the site was sold and sugar was refined here, made from the local sugar beet. By 1900 the factory was completely modernised, but the bottom had fallen out of the sugar industry, so the factory never opened, although locals were still employed to keep the machines in working order.

By the Sugar Mill Ponds

After WW2 the factory produced glucose, closing in 1963. Then Croda Chemicals who had a plant on the other side of the village used the site for storage. By the 1980’s the site had become redundant and derelict, but since 1996 the ponds have been rejuvenated into a wildlife haven. Further info on the Sugar Mill Ponds.

Cofferdam ahead

We pulled in on the southern side of the cut, a short distance behind WB Lullabelle.

Hopefully at the end of the wooded area we will get some sunlight for our solar panels, Tilly can climb trees and we won’t be in the way of any fishing matches over the weekend (14 orders for Sunday breakfast have already been placed).

Forth time lucky!

A forth attempt at the Inn backdrop was started during the afternoon along with baking Mick a loaf of Country Grain bread and preparing gluten free pizza dough. It had been slightly chilly in the boat so Mick lit the stove, but by the time the bread was cooked followed by two pizzas it felt like we were in the middle east, even Tilly ended up sitting on the bathroom floor!

Tuna pizza

Yesterday Mark visited the breach site, the first opportunity to fly his drone safely for a while.

13/5/21

We’d noticed on our walk the other day that rusty piling had been removed from the bank and some rather long lengths of new piling were sat on the access road. Today we could see what they were being used for.

13/05/21
2/5/21

The hole in the grass has gone and there is now access for machinery on the western side of the drain.

13/5/21

Here the large piling is being put in on the drain side.

13/5/21

The size of it can be appreciated by this photo of three men sitting on one length.

13/5/21
13/5/21 Old piling left standing by the yellow digger
24/4/21

You can also see that some of the concrete (?) behind the old piling has been removed, leaving a narrower stretch of the original concrete above the drain.

13/5/21

Thank you Mark.

In other news a C&RT notice came through this afternoon saying the following regarding Selby Swing Bridge

Update on 14/05/2021:

Contractors and other parties involved in the works have conducted a site assessment and decided on plans to install a passenger footbridge. Assessment have also been made for the safe removal of the Road Bridge and these works are looking to be done as soon as possible.

Once the road bridge has been lifted the navigation will be reopened. Please expect some disruption when the passenger footbridge is installed which we are anticipating maybe for a couple of days. The expected duration of all the works involving the removal and installation of the footbridge will be 3 months.

York is going to be quiet this summer.

0 locks, 3.92 miles, 1 windy wind, 1 escape flotilla met, 6 hours! 4th go, 0 oil for the gear box, 1 loaf, 2 pizzas, 1 extreamly toasty boat.

Empty Nest. 12th May

Goole

This morning we could hear high pitched long cheeps alongside Oleanna. A fairly standard bird call from young when they can’t see their mum.

Empty Nest

With camera held tight and wrist band around my wrist I took photos of under the pontoon. Had our nearest neighbour become a mother. The nest was empty.

There’s some great weed to eat on this boat over here

The cheep moved away. Then Mum could be seen leading her one and only chick across the marina. Mick had spotted an egg the other day, but we’d thought there would be more laid as nest building had been on going.

Moorhen chicks make me think of pompoms, small black pompoms. As much as moorhen chicks are babies, therefore the most adorable creature in their mothers eye, I find them a touch ugly when newly hatched. The bald red head doesn’t help, in fact they remind me of a comedian/variety artist from my early years, Max Wall.

Today has been a serious panto painting day. My Inn backdrop came back out again. I tried various methods of adding swags to a painted cloth, found a solution I liked, proceeded to add them, then decided to put it to one side. I seem to have a block on this scene and it maybe needs a rethink!

Cream tea joust scenery

So I distracted myself with the jousting scene and ended up being quite pleased with the outcome, although tomorrow I’ll revisit the interior of my marquee as the cucumber sandwich walls are not quite right, a minor adjustment required.

Mick did more tidying of the engine bay and Tilly after being annoying for a while resigned herself to a day asleep on my cardigan.

During the day several cruisers have been out of the marina to stretch their legs as it were, but all have returned an hour or so later. Then this evening a different engine could be heard. Was it a tug? Sure enough there it was heading for the docks. The VHF radio was switched on to see what we could hear.

Mick saw three ships

Mick earlier in the day had counted six ships in the docks and this evening some were about to depart and one was heading upstream to penn in before high tide. We watched on vessel tracker as the incoming ship came closer. Two ships penned down onto the river and we could hear the tug heading out to meet with the incoming ship.

It was maybe a good chance for Mick to listen in to radio protocol as he has his VHF exam tomorrow. Well we kind of knew that the docks, ships and tug wouldn’t be using the official radio protocols.

‘Okie dokie’, ‘Ay ay’ were heard and not one hint of an ‘Over’ or ‘Out’!

The incoming ship had a pilot on board, the Yorkshire accent a give away. Despite Ocean Lock facing downstream, ships coming in on a rising tide will wind just upstream of the lock to face the tide, this makes for a more controlled entrance into the lock. Then they turn in, quite an acute turn. Spring lines are used and tonight’s was of a suitable length without 8m of slack!

This spring line holds the bow in position so that the stern can then be powered round against the incoming water without forward movement. We call this an Andy as we were taught it on our helmsman course (by Andy) for use when the wind pins you against the bank, or is trying to push you away from the bank when mooring up. Here it’s the same principle just used on a far bigger scale.

It’s a real shame you can’t get to see ships doing this manoeuvre from the land, but thanks to Mark for letting me use his drone photos again. These were taken back in March as the Fri Brevik came into Ocean Lock.

0 locks, 0 miles, 8 hours model painting, 1 exhibit in Chippy, 1 clean engine bay, 1 pompom Max, 2 out, 1 in, 0 outs, 2 aye ayes, 2 rain showers only today.

Stormy Weather. 10th May

Newbridge the other side

Tilly was of course eager to go out this morning. The proximity of the Dutch River and the mounting wind gave us reason to move, not far but to the other side of the canal. So before breakfast we pushed off, pootled a short distance westwards, winded and then got blown into the side. Mick did his best to avoid grating the newly painted gunnels on the armco, but it was impossible to stop before the inevitable happened. I have to say I haven’t looked.

Trees!

On our new mooring there are fields that reach out to the M62, no drains for cats to get stuck on the far side of, or tidal waters to sweep her away. But there is also no shelter and the wind was really quite brisk, not ideal hunting weather.

Tilly came and went until she got bored of the blowyness, then resided herself to a sofa day.

Fishing results from yesterday if you are interested, Mick Bower was the winner with 45lbs 8oz of Roach. His win was £165, not a bad Sunday.

A day of panto painting for me. I moved onto the Cotswold Thunderbolt. Opening an art calendar I got for Christmas the other day I came across a painting of a fantastic ship which changed the way I wanted to paint the Thunderbolt. This meant re-making the model pieces to get cleaner colours. I gradually worked my way through the flats and so far I’m happy with it. Hooray!

The wind grew. Rain started. Blimey it got blustery out there!

Rainbows

Thunder started too as large anvil shaped clouds whisked their way overhead. Foot high waves skirted across the canal. Rain blew in down the side of the cratch cover and a small stream of water made it’s way across the well deck. The footage below was after the worst of the wind but the thunder rumbles on.

We were really glad we’d not gone out on the river today as others had. Two boats, one narrowboat and a widebeam had headed out from Ocean Lock with a Pilot. They penned out at 06:50, arriving at Blacktoft Wharf at 08:45. They were going to remain moored at the wharf until the tide turned at 15:05, a long wait in the howling gales and thunder. Hopefully they survived the afternoon and penned up at Keadby safely. We’ve not heard anymore on the group.

Something’s up with our radio

When the weather calmed down a touch, Mick put on his overalls and climbed down into the engine bay. Despite Oleanna not having done 750 hours between fuel filter changes he had decided to clean/ change them. There was a touch of crud and the fuel was a bit emulsified. That’s another check done before our departure.

Just the brown to do

Sadly he ran out of nappies and blue roll whilst doing the change, so nappies were added to our next delivery and a t-towel stuffed in the vent from the engine bay into the main cabin. Yes ventilation is very important, but neither of us wants to sit in a boat stinking of diesel all night.

Mick made a phone call to ABP to book our penning down onto the Ouse. This was his second attempt as there had been nobody suitable to make his booking with earlier in the day. So the second go was timed around high water. This time Mick was told to call back giving 48hours notice, we’re a while off that so will have to note it in the diary.

0 locks, 0.16 miles, 1 wind, 1 extreamly windy day, 5 thunderbolt flats, 1 windy bottom, 12.5lbs in the lead, 1 stove lit, 2 filters, 4 rainbows, 3 thunderstorms, 2 boats clinging on at Blacktoft.

A Round Day. 8th May

Goole

The forecast being dire, we decided not to move today. Well as we used to warn Tilly, ‘Don’t use the outside up too quickly’. As we currently only have four miles that we can cruise staying put in the marina wasn’t a bad option.

The day started out drier than we’d expected, but then it made up for it. Plenty of rain, the wind changing, pushing us away from the pontoon. This did mean that the moorhens had a touch more space to build their nest, under our pontoon. They are being so busy.

They collect sticks and grass, swim over to the pontoon then climb up a rope. Vertical or angled, doesn’t matter which, up onto the top of the pontoon, before dropping down onto the ledge below. It gets quite frustrating when the material they are carrying gets caught under their feet on the wobbly rope from our stern.

Round, a good way to spend the day

If I can find a good place for a camera then I’ll try filming them. Tilly of course has spent a lot of time watching their every move. She is grounded whilst we are in the marina, mostly because of our nearest neighbours. So when she’s not being kept amused she has spent much of the day being round in front of the stove.

The morning started off with the weekly Geraghty family zoom. Topics covered, doughnuts, the London Jewish Bakers Union, the Unicorn Scientists Party which we suspect will do better in years to come at local government level.

Version 2, Too busy

Then I got on with trying to work. I say trying as I seem to have a permanent panto block whilst painting my model. I decided to start on version three of the Inn backdrop. The first had been too dark, the second a touch too busy.

I traced out the design using tracing paper and carbon paper. Remember carbon paper that used to be used in typewriters, well I find it useful when tracing things, very handy when having to do lettering on scenery. You can print out your letters to the right size, lay them out, then use carbon paper to transpose them onto the set, it saves a lot of marking out or scribbling on the back of the paper.

Version 3

I worked away, blocking in the colours, trying to simplify the previous attempt. Then I looked back and realised a minor adjustment would give me a much richer version than I was currently working on! One day I’ll manage to do a scene in one go instead of going round in circles.

Mick had a chat with the Lockie at Keadby today, booking us in for our trip up stream on the Trent. Apparently a boat had left Goole this morning, when they had reached Trent Falls they had pushed against the out going tide and continued on up to Keadby. This boat took around six hours to reach the lock, where as if you waited for the tide to be in your favour it would maybe take two.

We’ve been toying with trying to cover as much tidal water as we can in a day. Could we make West Stockwith Lock instead of going up at Keadby? Yes this was possible, but the next day we’d still only reach Torksey as the tides are too late in the day to reach Cromwell Lock within working hours.

When the rain calmed down a little into the afternoon, Mick had a walk up to the Co-op for a newspaper, some carrots and eggs. The eggs were vital for this evenings dinner.

Lasagne

A few days ago I’d made double amounts of bolognaise sauce. So today I was going to make a Lasagne. I’ve totally given up on bought gluten free sheets of lasagne as they take so long to cook, even when par boiled before hand and turn out a touch pasty. I make buckwheat pasta with yoghurt, tapioca starch, egg, olive oil and psyllium husk. A bit of effort is worth it and today I got to try out the new dish I’d bought at Dunelm. Being pyrex gluten free flours seem to stick less to it and the corners are more rounded so the washing up is easier, so this makes Mick happier.

0 locks, 0 miles, 1 wet day, 1 busy nest building moorhen, 3% of the vote, 0 night work, 3rd go, 2nd one wins, 1 round cat, 1 newspaper, 10 eggs, 2 many carrots, 1 dish approval.