Autumn Cruising

With the onset of autumn and the lack of leave from work our remaining cruising for the year will be restricted to weekends only. Now this does not mean that we will be visiting the same moorings time and time again. We are lucky where we are based that we have many great places to visit all within easy reach for the weekend.

We have of course the Fossdyke to fall back on for lazy weekends when we don’t fancy going too far. With moorings available in Lincoln city centre for nights out and afternoons shopping, The Pyewipe for afternoon and evening drinks, Saxilby for lazy weekends and Torksey, by now a firm favourite of ours for a quiet weekend and great home cooked grub at the White Swan.

Then we have the Witham. We have been caught out cruising out of season on the Witham before so you do need to keep one eye on the weather forecasts. If a lot of rain is forecast it is best to avoid the Witham as the water levels rise very quickly and they quickly close the navigation through Lincoln as they sluice water away from Lincoln into the river below. On nice weekends though there is pleasant cruising to be had with moorings at Fiskerton Fen, another favourite spot of ours, and Bardney Lock. After October the water levels below Bardney lock are lowered to take account of the higher predicted winter rainfall levels. This can pose navigational problems so it is best to avoid the river below the lock.

Of course we also have the Trent to play with. Upstream we have Muskham Ferry, a family pub serving excellent home cooked great value food with a smile. A little further upstream we have Newark and Farndon within easy reach. Downstream on the Trent we have Gainsborough, West Stockwith and Keadby within equally easy reach for a day’s cruising. As with any tidal river the tide times are very much the limitation on these cruises. The lock keepers will be working on their shorter winter hours before too long so it is important to ensure the tide times work to get you home again at the end of the weekend.

Our last option and not one we choose very often is to stay in the marina for the weekend. It is very rare, unless we are iced in, that we spend time on our home berth. Last weekend made a very pleasant change for us and gave us the chance to sort out a few minor faults on the boat and get in some by now much needed polishing. We also had the chance to do a spot of fishing, again something we have not done for a while despite having all of the gear aboard.

As you can see despite our limited available cruising time for the rest of this year we are not short on places to visit. We will make the best of what time we have, and the best of the weather that we get. Come rain, wind or shine we always enjoy our time aboard Naughty-Cal.