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The Great York/Ripon adventure


Naughty Cal

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All looked good as we set off on our first proper holiday on board Naughty Cal. The weather although still a little gloomy for our early morning start was set to get brighter. After an early morning dash to Torksey to hit the tide we set off on the Trent with plenty of time to stop off at West Stockwith for fuel before then heading on to Keadby for the evening. All was looking good we got in and out of West Stockwith with no problems and then back in at Keadby not an issue. Found a lively pub for a few drinks then settled in for our early start the next day.

 

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So 6am arrives and we are set to leave Keadby. Canopies off, engine warmed up and off we go. Locked out with no problems and hit Trent Falls just as the tide was turning. As we rounded Trent Falls we just backed off and away she went carried on by the tide. As we were making good progress i headed down to make another round of coffees. I had just finished making these and put them on the dashboard when a huge container vessel approached and sent both cups into the air and coffee all over the cockpit. Never mind there was much worse to come. After a few choice words and much cleaning and mopping we decided not to have another coffee until well clear of Goole docks. So a couple of hours later and we are approaching Selby. There was lots of driftwood and debris in the river and picking a course was getting a little tricky, hit the small ones to miss the big ones. Ten minutes into the driftwood we pick up a tree in the props and smash huge lumps out of three of the seven blades. Great. Now we are crippled in the water with a top speed of around 5mph/1000rpm. Onwards we must press though and our delays have meant the water has risen further than we had realised. Selby swing bridge was the next target (quite littterally). We needed maybe half an inch more room than we had and rattled the ariel and anchor light on the bridge before lowering the arch for the remaining bridges. Anyway nothing too major then!!!

 

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Finally wwe reached the relative safety of Naburn lock and we then inspected the damage first hand before limping into York Marina for some advice. The advise being its bank holiday tomorrow come bacjk in a few days. So off we press with our crippled boat and some very odd looks from people wondering why we were going so slowly. Our final destination being the Dawnay Arms.

 

Next day we were meeting family in York so set off back and had a lovely day moored on Kings Staithe before heading off for Linton Lock for a quieter evening mooring.

 

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Next morning we had a chat with the owner of the marina at Linton Lock who just happened to have a spare set of props. Magic our luck is at last in. After a few hours of messing around pulling the boat into the slipway with people on the bow to weight her nose down they were finally fitted and off we went on our merry way.

 

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Off we set for Ripon feeling just a little lucky until suddenly in the next lock cut bang. Guess what we found the bottom this time and low and behold have bent a blade. So again we limp off into Ripon and survey the damage. Not as bad this time a pipe wrench repaired the bent blade and the vibrations dissappeared. Ripon was lovely and we had a really nice evening in the basin.

 

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So todays trip was to be the reverse and head back down to Linton Lock for another fine evening in the cottage. This time it went without any hitches.

 

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Then the next day was a trip to Naburn ready for our next tidal leg to Goole (or so we thought). We stopped off in York for supplies before stopping for diesel at York Marina. A quick word with the lock keeper soon put our plans of going to Goole aside and it was decided we would have to come in at Selby and do a quick dash through the canal system to Keadby.

 

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So the next day it was a case of sitting and waiting for the tide. 1.30pm we were called in and set off for Selby this time missing the bridges and driftwood and having no hitches on the way. We locked up at Selby and then set off in search of a suitable mooring for the evening. We finally settled on Beal.

 

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Another early start beckoned and we were on the move by 7am. Our final destination being Keadby once again. We were genuinely suprised at some of the nice places we went through on this leg of the journey but i do have one question. What is Doncasters fasination with swing and lift bridges. Why not just build bridges you can go under?

 

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A late start yesterday to wait for the tide so a chance for a lie in. Locked out onto the Trent at 12.00 and off we set. It wasnt long before we ran into trouble though. The low tide level was causing us some serious issues and we had to slow right down in places having just 3ft of water. We finally made it however and got back to home base by 8pm. A long drive home followed and an early start this morning for work.

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So 6am arrives and we are set to leave Keadby. Canopies off, engine warmed up and off we go. Locked out with no problems and hit Trent Falls just as the tide was turning. As we rounded Trent Falls we just backed off and away she went carried on by the tide. As we were making good progress i headed down to make another round of coffees. I had just finished making these and put them on the dashboard when a huge container vessel approached and sent both cups into the air and coffee all over the cockpit. Never mind there was much worse to come. After a few choice words and much cleaning and mopping we decided not to have another coffee until well clear of Goole docks. So a couple of hours later and we are approaching Selby. There was lots of driftwood and debris in the river and picking a course was getting a little tricky, hit the small ones to miss the big ones. Ten minutes into the driftwood we pick up a tree in the props and smash huge lumps out of three of the seven blades. Great. Now we are crippled in the water with a top speed of around 5mph/1000rpm. Onwards we must press though and our delays have meant the water has risen further than we had realised. Selby swing bridge was the next target (quite littterally). We needed maybe half an inch more room than we had and rattled the ariel and anchor light on the bridge before lowering the arch for the remaining bridges. Anyway nothing too major then!!!

Will the insurance pay for that

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Will the insurance pay for that

 

Not going to bother we have sorted the majority of the damage out. The props have gone for refurbing the ariel isnt much and the anchor light is a few quid. No damage to the bridge either just keep finding flakey paint and rust everywhere in the boat :lol:

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I'm not sure I could afford the high maintenance costs, of a fibreglass boat.

I tend to agree!

 

The only boat we saw in distress on the Thames was a GRP one, which had positioned itself to try remaining at the upper level of the lock we were in, even when it was being emptied. :lol:

 

Some fairly interesting flexing and cracking noises resulted, that you'd not get with a steel boat - I'm not sure it did itself a heap of good!

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We have one or two small "war wounds" to polish out next weekend but nothing that wont polish out.

 

Interestingly we found that narrowboat owners were a little unsure of sharing locks with a plastic boat. Didnt bother us and no harm came of it but a few nb owners were worried.

 

I'm not sure I could afford the high maintenance costs, of a fibreglass boat.

 

Some great photos, by the way!

 

There are many more im sifting through them to find the best. I shall add a few later.

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Onwards we must press though and our delays have meant the water has risen further than we had realised. Selby swing bridge was the next target (quite littterally). We needed maybe half an inch more room than we had and rattled the ariel and anchor light on the bridge before lowering the arch for the remaining bridges.

 

You sound unaware of the regulations for navigating the Selby swingbridges.....

 

Not as bad this time a pipe wrench repaired the bent blade and the vibrations dissappeared. Ripon was lovely and we had a really nice evening in the basin.

 

Think with your luck I would be keeping some spare props....

 

Agreed, Ripon is lovely. Not been up for nearly 20 years, I must return sometime to navigate the restored last half mile to the basin.

 

..... but i do have one question. What is Doncasters fasination with swing and lift bridges. Why not just build bridges you can go under?

 

It was built with unlimited headroom. Barges on the local rivers used to have masts.

 

Working the locks and swingbridges is what makes boating interesting for me, though I must admit I once shifted a boat from Thorne to Keadby with friend, a car and a bridge key. :lol:

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Interestingly we found that narrowboat owners were a little unsure of sharing locks with a plastic boat. Didnt bother us and no harm came of it but a few nb owners were worried.

Not our experience on the Thames.

 

As posted elsewhere, we were highly amused that the "white" boats shot away from locks, suffocating us in fumes, but invariably were still waiting at the next lock when we arrived just a few minutes later.

 

Because of this behaviour, the "plastic" went in first, and then had spells of frantically deploying those large "space hopper" fenders, because the nasty black things were being allowed in behind.

 

Most of the GRP boats seemed overpowered for the river, resulting in very "stop start" jerky entry to locks, and the crews were usually far too many feet up in the air to get ropes around lockside bollards at the first attempt, often fumbling very badly, despite their immaculate gloves.

 

I'm not trying to score points, but I sincerely believe the plastic was holding up the narrowboats, rather than the other way about. I had not expected that - I thought we would have to work hard to compete, but we never did.

 

Incidentally even our elderly old engine could easily match the quoted 8 kph speed limit on the Thames, so every one of the plastic boats overtaking us was way above the speed they strictly should have been.

Edited by alan_fincher
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We should have made it under Selby bridge with room to spare had we been on time. However because of our hold ups we were a little too late. Needless to say we lowered the arch for the return journey.

 

Heres a few more pics.

 

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No particular order to these im afraid.

 

I was very taken by Spider T at Keadby. If you ever get the chance a look around it is well recommended. The standard of work they have done to the thing is very good.

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Like I thought, had you been navigating in accordance to the regulations you would have seen there was a problem with clearance and, more importantly, been able to do something about it.

 

If you are travelling with the tide you are required to turn and pass under the bridges backwards, in forward gear....

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Like I thought, had you been navigating in accordance to the regulations you would have seen there was a problem with clearance and, more importantly, been able to do something about it.

 

If you are travelling with the tide you are required to turn and pass under the bridges backwards, in forward gear....

 

When you have no more than 1000rpm and a crippled boat it is easier said than done to turn into the tide.

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Hi Phylis - sorry we missed you at Keadby though 6am was a little early :lol: If you're ever up this way again we're the odd couple who walk two border collies in the Trent Bank just below Keadby. Never managed to find anyone aboard Spider to have a look round by the time we get there they are usually just packing up to go home.

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Hi Phylis - sorry we missed you at Keadby though 6am was a little early :lol: If you're ever up this way again we're the odd couple who walk two border collies in the Trent Bank just below Keadby. Never managed to find anyone aboard Spider to have a look round by the time we get there they are usually just packing up to go home.

 

Maybe next time.

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Nice to see someone else has done this trip :lol:

 

Don't let the miserable gits put you off, they haven't got anything better to do :lol:

 

What was the problem with Goole by the way ?

 

Ocean Lock

 

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Cost me £17.59p to use this massive lock.

 

I know what you mean about those container ships

:lol:

 

Nice report and photo's

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No problem with Goole other than they wanted £50 to let us in as we would be well out of working hours and £50 to let us out as again we would have been out of working hours. So we wighed up the options and decided we wouldnt use anything like £100 worth of diesel to go through the canal system. As it happens we enjoyed the trip through the canals and next time we are up that way we will do the same again. Go out through Trent Falls and come back through the canals. We will leave ourselves more than a day to do it though. It was a long long day.

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nice photographs,how did you get there from Lincoln? i need a river map :lol: a possible trip for me is to leave the nene,enter the wash,sail around to the humber and head up that way.

 

I find my chartplotter a must to help me guage the tide,the facilty on it is accurate on the coast so im hoping that il will work on tidal rivers.One of my mods that im doing this weekend is to interphase the depth tranducer with the CP,that way i can have all the info on the screen.

 

My experience with narrowboats is that it is best to let them into the lock first and for you to exit as it seems to cause some of them concern,mostly is just good people not wanting to damage your gelcoat,on the other hand there are one or two who seem to suffer from the chelsea tractor syndrome,boys with their big tonka toys and all that.All boats have design advantages over others,mine may be plastic but i float in 6ft waves and 30mph winds.I like all boats,i love them all,i really enjoy walking around braunston oogling at the narrowboats,but i also enjoy meandering along with the sails up and no noisey engine.

 

Phylis have you thought about a prop guard?

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Lincoln to York is quite easy. Down the Witham/Fosdyke onto the Trent all the way down the Trent then back up the Ouse. Keep going up the Ouse onto the Ure then the Ripon canal into Ripon. We then did the reverse back down to Selby in at Selby and through the canals to Keadby. Then back up the Trent to Torksey and through to Lincoln. Sounds easy doesnt it :lol:

 

Our chart plotter doesnt do tidal waters. It goes as far as the Humber but doesnt cover the tidal trent or the tidal ouse.

 

Now we know that the other half can repair and change the props and now that we have spares we wont bother with a prop guard. We did enquire but were told not to bother by the chap we spoke to.

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