Knottingley

Here I am Rune

Distance 10.7 miles

Total 2781 Locks  130 Tunnels

Running total mileage 3814 miles 

Another fair day’s cruising brings us to Bank Dole lock on the outskirts of Knottingley. Generally a fairly quiet day’s travel, with not a lot of other boats on the move up here. The weather was a bit changeable with sunshine and heavy showers but we managed to see them during stops (lunch) so didn’t get too wet. The one constant during the day however was the wind which was causing us to ‘crab’ along the canal, constantly pointing towards the left hand bank but still going straight ahead.

Tomorrow the plan will be to get to Selby hoping to travel up to Naburn on the Wednesday tide.

Sykehouse Lift Bridge

Here I am Rune

Distance 9.6 miles

Total 2781 Locks  130 Tunnels

Running total mileage 3803.3 miles 

After a ‘proper’ day’s cruising we now have got a decent tank of hot water again so no more boiling kettles to wash up. The canal was surprisingly quiet from Thorne to Bramwith Junction given that the weather was pretty good and it was a Sunday however it became a lot busier up New Junction Canal to our overnight mooring here at Sykehouse Lift bridge. Of course all of these boat cheered the fishermen up no end as they clearly had a competition on, and it was raining by then!

The aim for tomorrow is to get to Bank Dole lock where the River Aire goes off towards Selby.

Thorne visitor moorings

Here I am Rune

Distance 0.7 miles

Total 2778 Locks  130 Tunnels

Running total mileage 3791.7 miles 

After nearly a month away from the boat, we are back aboard and on the move again, albeit only the short hop from Thorne Marina to Thorne town visitor moorings. This has enable us to complete all the domestic duties, we now have a full tank of diesel, a full water tank, a replacement gas bottle and all of the elsan cassettes are now empty. We are now ready to press on towards York

Thorne

Here I am Rune

Distance 6.8 miles

Total 2778 Locks  130 Tunnels

Running total mileage 3791.0 miles 

We have now arrived at Thorne after a fairly easy sort of day, with one small highlight of someone falling into the canal from our boat. Thankfully it was neither myself now crew but the crew of another boat who had hitched a lift to their own boat at Bramwith Lock. The lock moorings below the lock were a bit restrictive and the first boat out of the lock went a bit too far into the permanent mooring area and her crew couldn’t get through the gate to her. We stopped at the actual lock mooring where I picked up crew and offered the other crew a lift to her boat, which she accepted. I headed towards her boat with the intention of swinging the stern in so that she would be able to step across but she didn’t seem to understand what was going to happen so walked along the gunwale towards the front of our boat. Unfortunately she stepped on one of the rubber tubular fender on the gunwale,  lost her balance and pitched over the side between the two boats. This was a point of some peril since the two boats were now coming together with her between them and there wasn’t a lot of time to do anything about it. I gave our boat a quick burst of reverse to take some of the momentum off the boat but then had to put it in neutral to make sure that the woman in the water didn’t get caught up in the prop. The eventual solution was to drop the life ring down, firstly for the woman to hold onto and secondly to keep the boats apart. Once that was done it was just a case of getting the woman back out of the water, not always easy but she eventually managed it. It was a good example of how things can go from nonchalance to danger in a matter of seconds.

We will be remaining here at Thorne for a little while now.