The Keadby lock-keeper wanted us to leave at 8:30 this morning. Leaving Torksey is not critical per se, but Keadby is accessed on a falling tide and at some point there is not enough water to get in, so timely arrival is important. We had company in the name of narrowboat Emma which was good. Leaving Torksey the timing is generally about 1 - 1 1/2 hours after the flood, so for about an hour and a half against the tide. This is an important hour because maintaining good speed is significant in the overall trip time. High power is necessary, whereas later it does not make so much difference when the tide turns. It is interesting how significant the change is with speed increasing decimal points over a few minutes. In latter stages we were making 8.9 mph at one point, however about half an hour from Keadby the overheating alarm went off. Pulling back on the power sorted it fairly quickly and checks later showed no problems and no loss of coolant.
Arriving at Keadby the lock is of course at right angles to the river which is running well in ebb so getting in is tricky. Last time I made a real mess of it, so this time I turned the boat before the lock and then drifted back keeping pace with the lock and using the flow to side slip towards it finally completing the turn in. It worked!
Moorings are beyond the swing bridge and were getting quite busy in the late afternoon with boats arriving for early locking down in the morning. The weather has been a total contrast today with warm sunshine this afternoon good enough to actually sit out with a beer! Amazing. Had a look at the central heating boiler, but can find nothing wrong with the electrical feed. Looks like a service job, though I might just try hitting it first in case its a fan brush problem.
Comments