Naughty Cal

We use it a lot. It's a nice spot and only a short walk into town. The Swan is the better of the two pubs.

The shallow bit on the Witham is only the stretch from Bardney Lock heading upstream to Fiskerton weir and pump house. They dredged it a couple of years ago so it is better than previous but still shallow. The EA keep having issues with the slice that regulates the water level. There was never a problem on this stretch until the EA diverted more water down the weir and onto the Old Witham to appease the fishermen. Prior to that it was always deep enough.

3

I wish I was still under 30!!

There are not many companies offering marine mortgages now so it wouldn't take long armed with the boat name and hull number to find out if any finances are owing. A friend of ours had a near miss on this score. The vendor through a private sale claimed there was no finance owing. Suspecting something fishy he rang around and found out that there was indeed still £26k owing in outstanding mortgage payments. The boat was for sale for £34k and they had agreed a sale price of £28k. In the end they agreed that he would pay the finance company off and give the vendor the remaining £2k in cash. Turned out the boat was on the verge of being repossessed. So buyer beware.

Low Water Levels - Bellfurrows to Ripon Basin Notice Details From Date: 23rd June 2017 at 10:00 To Date: until further notice Type: Navigation Restriction Reason: Water resources Description: Due to low water levels within the River Skell, which feeds the Ripon Canal, it is necessary to restrict passage along the canal. Passage along the canal is still available from Oxclose to Bellfurrows Lock. Passage from Bellfurrows to Ripon Basin therefore will not be possible until such times as the water levels recover. The visitor moorings within Ripon basin will not be available, however the nearest alternative moorings are at Ripon Racecourse Marina who also have pump out facilities, which are chargeable. Alternatively Boroughbridge Sanitary Station also provides pump out facilities. We will continue to monitor the levels over the weekend and provide a further update early next week. For further information please call 03030 404040 Rentons Bridge - water resources Notice Details From Date: 19th June 2017 at 09:00 To Date: until further notice Type: Advice Reason: Water resources Description: Due to the current dry weather we have raised the water levels of the Ripon Canal and therefore there is a reduced air draft at Rentons Bridge close to Ripon Motor boat club Marina. This will be ongoing until such time as the levels of water in the River Skell increase which is our source of water for the Ripon Canal. Skippers of large craft to slow down and approach the bridge with caution, checking the water level indicator on the side of the bridge to calculate the current air draft.

Notice Alert River Witham Starts At: Lock 2, Bardney Lock Ends At: Lock 2, Bardney Lock Friday 23 June 2017 until Friday 30 June 2017 23:45 Type: Advice Reason: Information Original message: The Environment Agency are trying to manage water levels upstream of Bardney Lock, but at present the water is around 150mm below normal. Please proceed with care. You can view this notice and its map online here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/…/1…/upstream-of-bardney-lock You can find all notices at the url below: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices Please do not reply to the email. It has been automatically generated. To unsubscribe from this service please go to: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/my-trust/notices and uncheck the relevant box.

We could bimble around on the tidal Trent, Tidal Ouse, Humber, Tidal Witham, Tidal Great Ouse, Tidal Nene and Tidal Welland without paying a licence fee. However we would use far more fuel getting too and from the boat then the cost of a licence. I'm sure there are many more places where a licence isn't required.

You could run down on the ebb and meet the incoming tide just before Trent End. It will get shallow though as you get in the lower reaches so you will need to strictly follow the channel. The other option which many use is waiting for the tide at Gainsborough on the pontoon. We don't use this method though so can't comment on timings. Just one note if your boat is as you say capable of 36 knots running at 10 knots will be a very uneconomical speed to run at and you will use loads of unnecessary fuel. It wants to be on the plane or in full displacement mode under about 6 knots. Not inbetween.

According to the ABP Humber bylaws you need at least two persons onboard. I would ring up and check with Ocean Lock that they will be happy for you to go through single handed.

If we are doing Torksey to Goole we tend to leave Torksey a couple of hours before high water and punch the tide and dawdle down to Gainsborough at 6 knots. Once below Gainsborough we open the throttles and give her a good blast to Trent End before anchoring up for lunch to wait for the incoming tide. We let the tide run in for 20 minutes before lifting anchor and heading round to Goole on the plane again. I know you have stated that you don't want to anchor at Trent Falls but it really is a nice spot to spend an afternoon waiting for the tide into Goole. The free hours for penning in at Goole are 3 hours before high water to 1.5 hours after high water. In recent years they now insist that leisure craft rope up in the lock behind a yellow line they have painted in the wall. This means that you have to lock through when they have a linesman on duty which is now only during the free locking hours which reduces the time leisure boats can use the lock. Don't forget to inform them well before your planned arrival so that they can let you know the best time to arrive to avoid the shipping movements. Radio them on CH14 as soon as you are close enough for them to receive your signal and they will have the lock ready for you.

There are of course also those who just tie up wherever they land and don't even think about the gaps they have left.

I thought they did that so us little boats can squeeze in

Have you ever had a feeling a trip was doomed to fail? The guy who is towing us to Scotland had his Dodge Ram break down yesterday whilst towing a clients boat! Luckily he has a couple more tow cars to hand but it will seem like a long way in a Land Rover compared to the comfort of the Dodge!

Boats have a habit of doing that. They pick their victim then lure them in.