Monday 7 August Newark to Gunthorpe (13 miles, 3 locks)
We took time to relax. John has liver, bacon and egg for breakfast - yum! Then we walked around Newark’s interesting, quite historic and improving town centre. Setting off about 1100, we passed through Newark Town Lock, but our VHF radio elicited now response again. Newark Marina is having major improvements and enlargement. Abergavenny Weir preceded the developing power station, now using gas turbines. At Farndon, we came across NB Valhalla grounded on shallows On the bend opposite the marina. The man was standing up to his waist on the sandbank, next to the boat! As Liana passed them a line, a tug appeared, so he asked us to carry on and leave it to the tug. We hope they don’t get a big bill!
We admired the modern looking house just before the Crompton Arms at Fiskerton.
John ran Annie onto a sandbar at the entrance to Hazleford Lock, but Jane the lockie opened lock paddles to flush Annie off, with throttle in full reverse, too! Apparently two out of three buoys had been torn away so there was little warning. Once in the lock, Jane told us all about the sandbar and warned us about another upriver at Stoke Bardolph Lock. John explained what had happened to Valhalla, when Jane said she had expected her before Annie. Apparently a dredger is due later this week. It rained on the five mile trip to Gunthorpe, so we stopped above the lock for the night. The lockie told us that Valhalla’s poor skipper had fallen in at Hazleford Lock, so it really wasn’t his day! He eventually arrived and moored safely, with help from the lockie. We hope their misadventures haven’t put them off boating.
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