Cromwell Lock To Keadby Lock. 2 Locks Two Days.






Never again.........unless we get more control of our destiny!!









Leaving to drop through Cromwell lock on Monday morning, the sun was out the sky was blue and there was even an hot air balloon over head. T shirts and life jackets were all that was needed.
Half way through the trip I was in my fleece with my winter coat over the top and Thinsulate gloves on. The wind had got up!

The boat on the left of this picture had only been owned for three days by the man on the tiller and he was trying to get to South Witham.
Could he follow us down as he didn't know where he was going? was the question.
Neither do we was the answer, but follow us he did.







Once through the lock we were out on the tidal river, and yes that is a wall of water, the largest weir on the Trent.

From here on in we had three and a half hours to get to Torksey. It was about two hours in to the trip when I started to doubt the passage times given to us by the lock keeper.

You have to trust these people to put you right but to cut a long story short they were at least four hours out on the whole trip. That might not seem to be too much but when you consider that you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to get into Keadby Lock at a certain time as if you miss it there is no other option.

By no other option, I really do mean NO other option. There is no plan B or C, Its plan A or nothing.

The first leg of the trip started to go wrong when the following boat ran aground in the middle of the channel on a falling tide. We had to make a very dodgy turn to try and get back to help him. Thankfully he came away easily and we were off again.

The time errors started to creep in as we were supposed to carry the ebb tide all the way to Torskey but ended up fighting against a strong spring flood tide for over an hour while we dodged the ships that were following the flood tide up the river.

We made the mooring cut at Torksey with a sense of euphoria and a very warm Ubique.

Our following friend commented that he thought this life was supposed to be relaxing and that was one of the most stressful things he has ever done.

D is here masterfully pointing out just how high the water levels can reach around here








Blot or what?
The Trent valley is full of power stations, this one is connected to London...... of all places.



Determined not to get caught out by bad advice again, I really questioned the lock keeper at Torksey who told me that the lock keeper at Cromwell is always doing that, sending boats out with no time to make the trip.
He then told us that the next leg would take us four and a half hours and to leave at midday tomorrow.
Twenty seven miles in a narrowboat, punching the tide for at least two hours how is this going to happen?
Don't worry you will make it...... no problem!!!!

We set off at half eleven but after three hours we still had seventeen miles to go!

Phoning the lock keeper at Keadby we were expected to have covered those ten miles in an hour and we were now behind schedule. In reality that would have meant Ubique running at ten miles an hour into a strong spring tide.

She might make that flat out downhill with the wind behind her............ at a push.

All confidence in the clowns that they have for lock keepers along here evaporated at that moment and the shouting down the phone began.

Q: Are we going to make it then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Q: What is the latest time we can enter the lock then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Q: What do we do if we don't make it then?

A: I cant tell you that.

Click!



We went for it, if only to get hold of the twit on the end of the phone.

We were soon playing with the big boys around here.











This is our entrance to Keadby lock, it is under the bows of that ship. What you also need to know is that there is a five mile an hour tide sweeping us down past it.

A narrowboat broadside in the tideway is something else, more power Scotty.
Still no opening though.
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There it is.........even more power Scotty







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We shot into the lock where we listed over at about twenty degrees as we ran up onto the build up of silt that is actually inside the lock. This left us with our stern inches inside the lock gates and hard aground.
Another minute and you wouldn't have made that says the lockie/water idiot from the safety of his eerie.
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Complaints are flying to BW about this nonsense, It probably wont make a blind bit of difference as you are the master of your vessel.
That said, you are normally bound to do what the lock keepers tell you to do.
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That wont be me the next time though.
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Until next time..........................










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