Sunny Sunday mornings

Don't you just love a lazy sunny Sunday morning? 

In the Garden

As the sun is shining we will take the opportunity tonight to finish off tidying up the gardens at home.

Last week we attacked the hedges and lawns in the front garden and tidies up a few borders and pots as well as the herb garden. The fruit trees were also treated to a quick trim to keep them from getting too unruly.

Tonight it is the turn of the back garden. The hedges need a good trim and the lawn is ready for a good cut. We also need to thin out the plant pots. Some of the potted plants too a dislike to the cold last winter and have not recovered so it will be as good a time as any to compost the plants and reduce the number of pots on the decking. Next week we can then buy some new plants and shrubs to replace the deceased.

It will be nice to see both gardens finally tidies up and looking much better. The rubbish weather over the last couple of summers has seen us lose interest in the gardens and they have become a little neglected. This year we have made a big push to get them sorted and the front garden is already looking much better and loved again.

Hopefully the same can soon be said for the back garden!

Naughty-Cal's Big Adventure 2014

I know it is really very early to start looking forward to 2014 but we have just found out that next year we will be having an enforced summer holiday due to the garage where Liam works having a new roof, shutting the place for at least two weeks. Helpfully they have agreed to do this during July of next year. With this in mind we can start to plan for Naughty-Cal’s next big adventure.

We are doing the Norfolk Broads again next month for a couple of weeks so really want to do something different for next year. As we seem to have a bit of a habit of turning right and heading down the coast we have decided that for next year we will be heading north into waters we have yet to explore.

This trip will obviously be very much weather and sea state dependant but the plan so far is along the lines of:

• ·         Grimsby
• ·         Whitby
• ·         Newcastle
• ·         Amble
• ·         Eyemouth
• ·         Amble
• ·         Hartlepool
• ·         Scarborough
• ·         Hull

Now we are not stupid and we know that the chances of getting two weeks of perfect boating weather during British summer time is fairly slim so we will be flexible with how far we manage to cruise and how long we stay at each harbour or port. We are also well aware that should the weather turn we may well be leaving Naughty-Cal somewhere and getting the train home before weekending her back to her own berth in Lincoln over a number of weeks.

We have tried to keep the distances between ports fairly sensible with the longest legs being the ones closest to home, Burton Waters to Grimsby at around 100 miles and Grimsby to Whitby and Scarborough to Hull both at around 75 miles, all well within our safe cruising range. The remaining legs vary in distance between 30 and 55 miles.

If we do manage to pull this one off it will be a round trip in excess of 600 miles and will (just) cross the border into Scotland which won’t be bad for a little boat!

A day of relaxation

So today is a day of chilling out, relaxing and recovering from last nights party. Wooly heads all round this morning. 

So with this in mind we made the epic journey of a few hundred yards from the boat club mooring to the waterside moorings in the centre of Lincoln. 

A great spot to chill out and unwind with a few beers. 

Stormy Weather

It's a stormy day here in Lincoln today. We are still moored on the boat club mooring after our shift behind the bar last night. We plan to stay here tonight as it is handy for the shops in town. 

Newark Festival 2013 - Part 3

Newark to Burton Waters

28 Miles, 3 Locks
Total 56 Miles, 6 Locks

 Under blue skies we leave Newark and head downstream.

 Cruising unhurriedly past the magnificent church at Muskham.

 Waiting for the tide at Cromwell.

 On the tidal river at last.

 But there is no hurry today. It is the start of the fishing season and every avaliable inch of river bank is taken.

 The junction of the old Trent meets the new course of the river.

 The storm clouds gather as we approach Torksey.

Back on the Fossdyke and the storm clouds still threaten rain.

Newark Festival 2013 - Part 2

Newark

0 Miles, 0 Locks
Total 28 Miles, 3 Locks

 Steve behind bars!!

 Moored on Newark Castle moorings just 50m from the main stage in the Riverside Park.

 Excellent moorings right in the heart of the town.

 Newark Dyke.

 The Kiln Moorings situated right outside the regional CRT offices.

Newark Festival 2013 - Part 1

Burton Waters to Newark

28 Miles 3 Locks

 The approach to Torksey in the late evening.

 Blue Pearl on the Tidal Trent.

 Follow my leader with Blue Pearl and Devocean chasing down Naughty-Cal.

 Stormy skies ahead as we head further upstream towards Cromwell Lock.

 Blue Pearl under dark skies.

The approach to Cromwell Lock under heavy skies and you guessed it the first rain of the day was in Cromwell Lock.

Waiting

Tide and time wait for no man but they also don't hurry for no man either. So here we are enjoying the sunshine and waiting for the tide which will take us back from Cromwell to Torksey. 

Rain in Newark

In complete contrast to yesterday it is a wet day here in Newark today. Plenty of showers some of which have been pretty heavy and in response the river has come up a couple of inches. 

Sunshine in Newark

As the title says we are being treated to some glorious sunshine this evening in Newark

A Busy Weekend Ahead

We seem to have had a busy few weekends of late and the upcoming one is set to continue the trend. 

We have an extra day off on Friday as we are heading to Newark for the annual Newark Festival weekend and want to get a decent mooring for the duration.

We plan to head to the boat on Thursday evening picking up another 60 litres of fuel on the way. Once refuelled and the bedding has been changed we will take a gentle evening cruise to Torksey. 

Our tide for Friday to get us up the Trent to Newark isn’t while 1pm so we can have a steady morning of pottering around, refilling the water tank and having a leisurely breakfast all in our town time. There should even be plenty of time to fit in a short stroll to the village post office to stock up on their amazing duck eggs.

Assuming we can get a mooring as intended we will be moored in Riverside Park, Newark by 4pm and plan to spend the rest of the weekend here enjoying the atmosphere and hopefully soaking up some sun, although the weather forecast looks to have let us down. But as we all know this can soon change.

Saturday should be spent sitting on the boat listening to the many bands playing with Madness headlining the evening line up. Then on Sunday it will be a steady run back to Burton Waters. Another afternoon tide so there will be no rushing about on Sunday morning.

Accidents Do Happen

Our weekend was slightly marred by the sad news that our neighbours from the marina had been involved in a major boating accident on the Humber on Sunday morning.

They had been participating in an organised cruise in company with the intention of gaining some experience with their boat. This was their first proper cruise and they had been looking forward to it.

From the information we have found out it would appear that their lack of experience was the root cause of this accident. They somehow became confused about which side to pass the lightships and appear to have changed their mind at the last moment broadsiding the lightship in the process. The resulting damage to the boat quickly causing it to sink.

The two crew were quickly rescued onto a larger vessel in the group and from there were transferred to hospital. They are understood to have suffered broken bones and be badly shaken but not to have any life threatening injuries. As of last night the male crew member had been discharged from hospital whilst his partner was kept in for further treatment.

The boat is a total write off and was towed to Hessle sands where it was recovered yesterday by a specialist team.

Thankfully the pair are not badly injured and are expected to make a full recovery. Whether they ever feel that they can make a return to boating remains to be seen.

The striken Sea Eagle being towed to Hessle

 Sea Eagle beached at Hessle

Humber Rescue in action

Humber lightships

Wells next the Sea - Part 5

Wells next the Sea – Part 5

The Round Up

Total 180 miles, 6 locks

So the trip to Wells next the Sea was a resounding success with Naughty-Cal proving herself to be in fine fettle, running smoothly and unstressed for the whole journey. Everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable time and have all vowed to head back again sometime soon.

We had a couple of minor issues during the week. The outboard motor for the dinghy suffered an impellor failure in the early part of the week and unfortunately we couldn’t get a replacement at the time. We have ordered a full service kit for it which should arrive this week so by next weekend it should all being well be back up and running again and freshly serviced.

The other minor hitch, which is still unexplainable, was a failure of the batteries on the day we came home from Wells. Admittedly it was a lumpy ride home but the following morning the batteries were really struggling and reading 12V which is the lowest we have ever seen them. Somehow after we managed to get a hook up for the night and leave them on charge for 24 hours they seem to have made a recovery and are back to normal. We still don’t have an explanation for this but all now seems to be well again.

All in all a great first coastal trip of the year. Now we can look forward to our next coastal cruise next month when we head to the Norfolk Broads for a couple of weeks. Before we head out on the next cruise we will change the engine oil and filter and generally check everything is operating at its optimum.

Wells next the Sea - Part 4

Wells next the Sea - Part 4

Wells next the Sea to Burton Waters

90 Miles 3 Locks
Total 180 Miles 6 Locks

 After a wet and lumpy ride home the crews settle in at Langrick Bridge waiting for a massive steak at the Witham and Blues American Diner.

 Next day and its a short hop to Dog Dyke. A short walk down the road and we arrive at RAF Coningsby just in time to see the Dakota preparing for takeoff.

 And the Dakota has take off.

 Kev is happy to be back safe and sound after yesterdays trip.

 The peace shattered by the Euro Fighters flying over head.

 A steady jaunt back up river. Here we are approaching Tattershall Bridge.

 With the sun out the miles are soon eaten up as we cruise unhurriedly through the Lincolnshire countryside.

 BBQ Time at Bardney Village.

 With a fly by from the Vulcan.

 Back on the Fossdyke and almost home.

With a busy scene Waterside, Lincoln

Wells next the Sea - Part 3

Wells next the Sea - Part 3

Wells next the Sea

0 Miles 0 Locks
Total 90 Miles 3 Locks

 Naughty-Cal and Nitty Gritty on the town quay pontoons.

 Busy moorings for the bank holiday weekend.

 Fishing vessel on the fish quay.

 Pretty cottages in the village.

 The remains of old boats in the creeks.

 The Wells salt marshes.

 High and dry with the tide out.

Heading for home on a dull and damp day.