Tidal to York

I have not posted for a while so wanted to give you all an update. We left Selby Lock at 11:30. But already that morning at 06:00, I had taken the car back to Boroughbridge. Than caught the 07:30 bus to York. Then the 08:45 train to Selby! Phew! Eventually getting back to the boat for a coffee and preparing to lock out.

The tide was a 7.9 meter tide. Perfect. The one thing we didn't take into consideration was the wind! As we exited Selby Lock, the wind got us. If we were a cruiser, the 13.5 miles to Naburn would have been hell. We were ok apart from the 'breaking waves' on the exposed sections of river!!!! We actually made it to Naburn in record time.  2 hours 50 minutes! Good going for a slow underpowered narrowboat.

Once through Naburn lock we kept on moving and stopped in York for the night. The final push to Boroughbridge is tomorrow.

Day 4: That call to the Selby lockie...

We were back home. I think it was the 8th October. I called the Selby lockie to advise him of our situation and the reason why our boat was there. What he said did shock me and it went a bit like this:-

Me: Hi, our boat Pippin is moored in the basin. We are waiting for a lower tide and we will be on our way to York this coming Friday.

Lockie: We have had a bit of trouble in the basin with kids. Yesterday they threw stones at the house and we called the police. Are you staying on your boat?

Me: No. We have had to come home as we are back to work (for a few days).

Lockie: I would advise you to keep someone on your boat.

Bit late for that I thought. We were 60 miles away and had no free time. What should we do? It was now Monday. We were due back down on Thursday night. Could we take the chance? Would Pippin be damaged, broken into or even sunk? I could not sleep for the next 3 days and we just had to take a chance and leave her all alone. I was happy that I had chained her up. Thursday could not come soon enough!!

Day 3: To Selby...

Day 3: 7th October. We had decided earlier to make the return to Boroughbridge in 2 hops. We would get to Selby and leave the boat there for the week. The reason for this was the tidal conditions. This weekend it was almost a 9 metre tide! A bit much for an underpowered small narrowboat. We didn't want to take any risks. Especially since we had been out since July!

We had a lot of miles to cover but only 6 locks. We set off once again around 10 to cover the 21.5 miles. There were very few other boats on the move. I think we only saw a couple. Good progress once again and we were soon passing the massive Ferrybridge power station. Through the flood lock and down onto the winding River Aire. After about 5 miles on this river it was a welcome change to get onto the Selby Canal. A complete contrast to the river. Narrow, small hump back bridges and a lot quainter. The canal ran for 5 miles and it is susceptible to weed growth which can clog the canal up. In October it was clear. You could even see the bottom!

We approached the lift bridge in Selby. Out with the key. Lights on. Traffic stopped. Bridge up and through. Into the basin and we were the only boat there! It was getting colder and it was dusk but we had reached our temporary stop.

The boat was tied up and I decided to chain her up. Just in case! 

My journey was not over though. I had to catch the train to Leeds and then onto Sowerby Bridge to retrieve the car. 

 By late evening, we were packed up and on our way home.

 A call to the lock keeper on Monday would worry us and I was happy to have chained her up!

Day 2:To the Aire & Calder

Day 2: 6th October. With the days now a lot shorter, we had to make good time. We set off at 10 in nice sunshine. We made good progress through the river sections. We had been worried because we had not been on the rivers for ages and we know that they can easily flood when you get done rain in the hills. It was ok. The river was up but not much. After a good day, we had covered 16miles and done 12 locks. A good day! 

We moored for the night on the wide Aure & Calder near Kings Road Lock. A good mooring with open views onto the open countryside.