Going Home at last!

Wed 20 January 2016 Leaving the Erewash Canal for Nottingham

So the flood waters have passed and the indicator is (just) in the amber. Brothers John and Mick at Kingfisher Boats saw us off after receiving suitable thanks for their kindness! The river was much lower as we left Cranfleet Lock (compare the picture with a recent post). On New Year's Day, you couldn't see much concrete below the sign.

Leaving Cranfleet Lock



A frosty but gloriously sunny morning down the River Trent

Liana at the tiller on the way to Beeston

Arriving at Beeston Lock to leave the river. You can see the weir on the right

Passing Trevethick's Boatyard near the junction of the Beeston and Nottingham Canals

We moored at our usual spot outside Sainsbury's, near Castle Marina, followed by a 7 mile cycle along the mainly asphalted Trent Way riverside path back to Trent Lock, to collect the car in the gathering dusk. We took the opportunity to visit Liana's mum nearby, always a pleasure.







Torksey Lock, Trent Lock and fuel filters!

7 January 2016 Checking out the Trent again

Torksey flood gates closed, the river high.

On the way to Nottingham, we visited Torksey today: As you can see, the flood gates are closed as the river levels are high. The lock keeper reckons that the Trent will be closed to narrowboats for weeks. He also said that the broken boom at Cromwell lock would not get fixed on Monday next as the anchorage points are under water.

Reaching Trent Lock later, we discovered that the water was even higher, just three feet below the canal level above the lock.

Annie's powerful 55HP Isuzu engine already has a fuel filter on the engine, plus a second fuel filter near the fuel tank. As we take Annie on rivers quite a lot, we decided to fit an extra fuel-water separator (agglommerator), which has a fuel filter with a deep metal bowl below it to hold any water. This water can be drained out every so often. Diesel fuel can get water in it, especially if the tank is left half empty, so we try to keep it full. When wind and current cause waves, the boat's movement can stir up sediment and water from the bottom of the diesel tank, so the separator should collect these and prevent the engine from getting damaged or stopping due to water in the fuel. Kingfisher Boats Fitter Paul made a bracket plus pipework and fitted it for me. We once stopped half a mile into the Netherton Tunnel due to this problem on our old boat Osprey, but very luckily had our diesel engineer nephew John Price with us to sort it!

New Year on Annie

New Year 2016

Liana at Cranfleet Lock and the Yacht Club

Liana and I have just passed a relaxing couple of days on Annie around Trent Lock and Cranfleet Cut, near Nottingham. We have done this for the last few years, after enjoying the Christmas festivities with friends and family. The water is flowing fast and deep, so only kayaks brave the river. The weather has been wet at night and breezy during the day - nice for shortish walks. Health and Happiness in 2016 to you all!

Annie with hull blacked at Kingfisher Boats, Trent Lock.

Daffodils out on New Year's Day! Whatever next!

 

In the Red

Annie moored at Kingfisher Boats, Trent Lock

River Trent in spate at Trent Lock, Long Eaton

Boxing Day, 2015 at Trent Lock

The river is high, with the levels in the red, so no one is travelling on the river at the moment. Trees float by at several miles per hour ..... but Annie is safe in her moorings at Kingfisher Boats, and her batteries are now charged up again. She looks good with  new black bitumastic on her hull.
I am keeping an eye on river levels and Cromwell Lock below Newark, hoping to travel down through Newark and Gainsborough to West Stockwith and the Chesterfield Canal soon.

..... "We have a problem here!"

December 15 2015 Marooned on the Erewash ...

Kingfisher Boats  have been absolutely great. Thank you, John, Mick and Paul. While the closure of Newark Town Lock has marooned Annie at Trent Lock, near Nottingham, from 19 October to 14 December, Paul has mended the bracket holding our bowthruster pump and drive belt. Having never used a bowthruster (which pushes water left or right at the front to help Annie turn), we haven't missed it, but it seemed a good chance to get it sorted: We will report on its use later.

The plan was to set off on 15 December and travel down the Trent to the Chesterfield Canal, reaching our moorings at the Retford and Worksop Boat Club, Clayworth in time for their carol service on 18 December 

.... so when I checked the stoppages, the River Trent in spate, with flood gates closed not only at Cranfleet Cut, Trent Lock but also above Newark Dyke ..... hopefully for just a few days. 

More importantly, the boom above Cromwell Lock Weir, on the Trent below Newark, has come adrift, so the Canal and River Trust has closed the Newark nether Lock and Cromwell Lock so boats cannot get washed over the weir. CRT intend to fit a temporary boom by 10 January, then finish the job in February, they say. We hope other boaters aren't stuck, too!

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/5961/river-trent-between-cromwell-lock-and-nether-lock

.... so it looks like Annie is staying put at the moment ... :(

Meanwhile, we have been busy back home, Liana sewing all sorts for Christmas Presents and John helping Santa to see children before Christmas and raise money for Market Rasen Lions Club charities and good causes  (you can find our club by searching on Google or Facebook).

A windy trip up the Trent

Friday 13 November  .... and back to a safe haven and victory!

As it was dry and mild, John got the angle grinder out and cleaned rust and paint of the Z bar (tiller) down to metal and put a coat of iron oxide primer on it to weatherproof the new weld and improve looks. After winding (turning round) in front of the Clock Warehouse, we headed homewards, blown by a very strong wind.

Trent Lock is under the bridge, with Cranfleet cut to Nottingham ahead, to the left of the yacht club

Trent Lock. Left to the Erewash, ahead to Nottingham and right to the River Soar and the South

Despite the date, our short voyage ended safely as John turned Annie to face upstream just before entering Trent Lock

Liana definitely needed her coat in the cold wind, despite the winter sunshine

The Steamboat, Trent Lock as Liana crosses over

After a second coat of paint, we journeyed homewards to compete in our local church quiz at Market Rasen, always a good night out ..... and our team won!  :)

Thur 12 November Giving Annie a run

Great to be back on the boat! The day turned out better than the dire weather forecast predicted, so Liana operated Trent Lock to take us from the Erewash Canal down onto the Trent.

John dressed to cope with wind, rain and (hopefully not) total immersion!

Turning upstream in the sunshine, into the wind, we headed up to Sawley River Lock, where Liana hopped off and operated the push buttons herself to open the hydraulic mechanism. The strong wind was bringing lots of dark clouds, past which the bright, low sun peeped. Having popped into Sawley Marina chandlers recently, we idled through, looking at the boats, and headed though the flood lock back onto the river. Soon we passed through Derwent Mouth Lock up onto the start of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Mooring  at Shardlow, on the bend next to the New Inn, we met the Sheffield fender maker Wayne and Jo Fearn, who we bought our new front fender from last year. We bought a front fender with two Turks Heads to hang low down near the water, to protect the bow from lock sills when going uphill. After a walk around  Shardlow in the twilight, enjoying all the old original warehouses and wharves, we had a very pleasant and cheap meal at the Clock Warehouse pub.

Back to the Erewash canal for Blacking the Hull

Fri 16 October 2015 Annie has a black bottom!

Mick and John at Kingfisher Boats are putting on the second coat of bitumastic today, then leaving the hull to dry for 48 hours over the weekend. We visited Annie to admire her hull. John's knee seems better after his op, if a little stiff. Jobs to do include servicing the diesel and cleaning off rust around the engine compartment, when John is able to. It will be nice to see more of our friends at home, now we are back.

Fri 9 October 2015 At Trent Lock

So we are here! Annie is moored up at Kingfisher, for which we are very grateful. As Newark town Lock is closed from 19/10 to about 14/12, we would be unable to get back to our home mooring at Clayworth. We will enquire if there is a brief window when we can pass through Newark, of course ...

Now back to reality! Fitting a dutch airer at Sarah's and celebrating her birthday; fitting bathroom cabinet and new loo plus washing machine plumbing for Rachel; and doing some of our own jobs, too, before John's arthroscopy operation on Tuesday.

Thur 8 October 2015 Sileby Mill to Trent Lock

Liana at Sileby Mill, with Annie in the background

John and Annie moored at Sileby Mill

Liana joined at Sileby Mill (with a decent little chandlery shop) for the trip to Redhill Marina, where she walked to Parkway to get a train back to Sileby Mill, then joined John at Trent Lock later. Barrow on Soar is a lovely scene as you pass through the watermeadows, contrasting with the caravan park at the lock to the north. Pillings Lock was closed, but with a paddle open at top and bottom, as it is really a flood lock.

Annie in Loughborough basin

Loughborough basin - handy for the town centre, shops and market

Maffi has a blog, too

Reaching Loughborough, John moored Annie in the basin, after which we both visited the large, thriving street market. Remarkably, we met Ian Sharpe, recently retired, who lived in Market Rasen twenty years ago. It's good to know his family are doing well. Setting off, we were asked to wait for a narrowboat by CRT workers, so did so. Yvonne and husband David Pullen on NB Rhoda Ellen accompanied us all the way to Trent Lock, making for an enjoyable trip as we chatted. There happen to be many similarities and common experiences, as they live at Scothern, near us, are Christians at the church my ancestors are buried at, and have similar interests. Aren't canals wonderful! They moored on the wall before Cranfleet Cut, then David kindly helped John lock up onto the Erewash. Later on, after liana arrived, the four of us met up for a drink at the Steamboat pub. A good time was had!

Wed 7 Oct 2015 Leicester Castle to Sileby Mill (8 locks)

As Annie set off, John and Maureen on NB Cor Blimey! (They said they weren't Pearly King and Queen when John asked!) asked to accompany him. The Mountsorrel area is very pretty.

What a team! John made sure he helped with gates and paddles, and the two boats made great progress all the way to their base at Sileby Mill, where John moored for the night and watched .... rugby.

Tue 6 Oct 2015 Singlehanded from Kilby Bridge through rain to Leicester (12 locks)

Annie moored opposite the services at Kilby Bridge

After night rain, John had a windy but fair start to the day. I have to say that some of those wide lock gates are  pretty stiff when you are on your own! On the good side, Annie is travelling down hill and northwards, so the top gates are often blown open for easy entry, due to the North wind! On the bad side, at least one of the bottom gates blows open after you leave the lock .... hmm...
John had a nice chat with the chap living at the nearby lock cottage below Kilby Bridge, but only saw two boats the whole day until Gee Lock. Here, heavy rain forced a halt for a couple of hours around lunchtime. The sun came out and surprised him into continuing through the southern approaches to Leicester. Every time we return to the river Soar and Leicester, we like it more and appreciate the countryside and green corridor into the city.
Robin Linklater on NB Corinthian kindly let John breast up, as the Castle mooring pontoon was fully occupied. Then tea and Rugby World Cup on the tv!