Barmby Tidal Barrage

Here I am Rune

Distance 11.3 miles

Total 2804 Locks  130 Tunnels

Running total mileage 3951.2 miles 

As planned, we are back to Barmby Tidal Barrage after a relatively benign day’s cruise. The only issues of any note were a small problem with the walkway in Cottingwith Lock and a bit of overhanging vegetation and a poorly moored boat making passage more difficult that necessary. The problem with Cottingwith walkway was that it was too wide. If I tried to nudge the bow of the boat up against the lock gate, my usual practice, the walkway would have hit and broken the cratch so it was a bit of a balancing act with ropes trying to hold the boat in the right position whilst the lock emptied. Not too far forward because of the walkway and not too far back otherwise we’d hang up on the cill. Eventually we got through OK.

The vegetation issue was more to do with the boat moored directly opposite which, with the ‘assistance’ of the wind, made getting through the gap quite difficult since, due to the location of the pontoon, it wasn’t possible to turn to get past the boat. I have hacked the vegetation back to widen the gap but it still wasn’t possible to get through without making contact with the moored boat. Well as someone has said before, this is a ‘contact sport’ and if you insist in mooring in dumb locations you increase your likelihood of people making ‘contact’.

Tomorrow we have a sort of early start. We need to be in the lock at Barmby by 7.00am since there is a rather poorly positioned bridge over the lock and after that time we wont fit under it. We then have to stay in the lock until about 8.15am to 8.30am by which time the tide should be about right to go upstream to Selby. If we try to go earlier than that, it is a spring tide and the likelihood is that we would end out going straight through Selby (at some speed, Spring Tides can go through there at about 7mph!) and then have to turn around to come back, so we’ll wait for the right time.

Now call me picky............

........but is that really a sensible place to leave your boat?