Bartimaeus

We left York and continued up the River Ouse. It was feeling a lot cooler and I felt putting shorts on may not have been the best choice.  It was bright though and an egret was coping with the cold on its bare legs.

We arrived at Linton and pulled in on the jetty labelled “for lock use only” only to see it had a water point on it, so surely you were also allowed to use that. While the water tank was filling Shane went to see what was happening at the lock. He could see someone there. It was a bit away, since there were some other mooring points closer to the lock. I couldn’t quite work out what was going on and wondered if we were going to have a quick lunch or have to go through the lock first as someone coming the other way might be leaving the gates for us. But I was hungry. A boat was approaching but the lock was slow to operate. Shane was lending a hand. After a chat where we discovered they had a 60 foot boat and he said he was too long for this waterway but was managing in this lock but they were shorter ahead. The higher they were, the shorter they were and the waterway was designated a fifty seven foot limit. We are fifty eight and a half. This longer boat had not made it into the last, shortest lock and had been a bit tight in the one before it.

Meanwhile we realised the water tank might be about full. I hurried back and it was cascading over the tank filling point. I switched off, put the hose away, while Shane helped with the lock.

We moved forward to the other mooring and had lunch. We were happy to stay here at Linton, but when Shane spoke to the boat already moored there he was greeted with “I don’t think it’s safe to stay here”. This might have seemed like he was wishing we weren’t there and being unfriendly, but it was the opposite. He said the water had been rising fast. He had been here a while and it was a rapid change just that day. Water coming down the Dales was arriving. He was going out in the evening and wasn’t keen on moving but didn’t like the rate it was rising at on the fixed bollards. Both he and Shane had slackened the ropes to allow for the boat lifting, but that would not be enough. He reluctantly decided he should move to the lock landing as it was a floating jetty and would rise with the water, rather than flooding. We went to see if there was anywhere else we could moor. At the lock who should we see but Lingalonga, returning from Ripon, wondering if he should come through.  The rise in water levels was discussed and he said he would stay where he was on a floating jetty and if we wanted to come through, we could moor on to him, if we wanted. We waited until we felt no other boats were likely to come through and as the jetty was longer on that side of the lock we both fitted on it.

Overnight there was more rain. When it stopped I went to look at the fixed moorings. Indeed the bollards we had been tied to were now under water. Disembarking would have been a sploshy experience.

The sun was out now and a grasshopper was sitting on the post of the stair rail. I should think it prefers grass normally but when the grass is wet and the sun is out, climbing the post might be the better bet.

Shane tried going to a convenience store on his map as we had run out of milk. The store had actually closed down some time ago. He drank black coffee and started to make bread. He hadn’t realised how long it had been since he had made it and the yeast was less active than it should be so his dough didn’t rise as well as usual. He baked them anyway. We had small rolls for lunch. 

Lingalonga had been in a dilemma about leaving, but wanted to press on as he had a train to catch in York but was worried about mooring there too. The predicted rise was levelling off though. We promised to help him through the lock so he didn’t need access to the lock landing to tie up and he was handling the boat solo. Mid lunch we saw him opening the lock gate, so we stepped out to work the lock. He moved into the lock and we pulled Bartimaeus back into his space leaving the lock jetty free for any other boat that might appear. In the middle of opening the paddles, Shane asked me to go back and get the bread out of the oven. It had risen a bit more while cooking so Shane was pleased with that.

Now that we got him safely off, Shane decided to cycle to a different shop and came back triumphant with milk (and other things). In the evening the pub was open and it was pizza night so we ate there and found the pub a boating hub and there was much chat about water levels on the Ouse and Ure, and the best place to buy pies! The pizza was delicious so with the anxiety we had about rise in water subsiding, we were very glad to have stayed and experienced the advice, camaraderie and excellent pizzas in Linton.