Bartimaeus

We arrived in York on Saturday afternoon to find nearly all the moorings occupied.  We managed to squeeze on at the end, but there were only rings for the stern and middle ropes.  Facing upstream with the bow rope not tied didn’t feel very elegant, but it was the only option.  It was secure enough, despite the bow waves from big and fast boats passing frequently.

The weather forecast for the weekend had become a news item, so relaxing about the water levels wasn’t going to be easy.  Monday was going to be particularly wet, but Tuesday was looking bright and dry.  We decided that had to be the right day for our final section of tidal river this season.  It then made sense to move down to Naburn on Sunday in time to have a late lunch with Jude in the cafe there.

There are pontoon visitor moorings at Naburn, but they are tucked away on the other side of the lock island.  I only realised they were there when I saw the last space being taken by another narrowboat.  I reckoned we would be alright on Monday night as long as we left some slack on our ropes.  This morning we were maybe six inches above the level when we moored, no problem, but I’m glad I left slack in the ropes.  (The level went up another foot during the day – we would have had to move.)

We began the day as planned with a trip up the river to York Marina.  We emptied the waste tank and filled up with diesel.  Before filling the tank I dosed it with an additive intended to prevent diesel bug.  The litre bottle was another one of the parcels Jude brought down.  I fashioned a disposable funnel from an old milk carton, but it turned out the bottle was a good pourer.

We were back at Naburn in plenty of time to make contact with the lock-keeper and then have an early lunch so that we were ready for penning at 12.30.  As we were walking back, another boat arrived.  We confirmed that he was going down to Selby today too.  He exchanged phone numbers with Clare – we would be buddying Jonathon on “Dunno”.

The departure time is chosen to meet the incoming tide.  This far up the river the rising flow is negligible, and with the increased flow of “fresh” coming over the weir it was probably in our favour initially.  The river is generally wide but we had to dodge round rafts of sticks and other flotsam, we don’t want too much of that drawn in to the propellor.

The flow against us gradually grew stronger.  The fast engine speed wasn’t matched by our sedate pace along the river bank.  We were making a fine pace all the same, and I was easily able to match the speed of our buddies ahead.  We’d been warned that there were six boats coming the other way.

We met the first group of three cruisers on a bend.  The middle one seemed to come needlessly far over to our side and we bounced around on his wash, but came to no harm.  It was a while before three narrowboats came in to sight.  As we were about to cross with the last of them I saw a large log across our path.  This was a straight section of river so I was able to treat it as if it were still.  By bringing our speed down so that we were “dead in the water” I could match pace with the log and wait until the other boat had passed.  As he came by he shouted a warning of an even bigger log across the river a mile or so away.

We tried to match our pace with our buddy, but on a twisty river it can be difficult to maintain contact.  After that manoeuvre I sped up a little until we could reliably see them again.  Some sections of the river were littered with debris but they didn’t cause us any real problems this time.

There are very few bridges on this section of the river.  The only road crossing between the York by-pass and Selby is at Cawood.  The swing bridge here is staffed, so we got a wave.  We had plenty of clearance and so no need to request a swing.  The headroom does vary though, in floods in 2015 the water flowed over the deck of the bridge – not a good time to be here in a a narrowboat.

After Cawood the river is generally wider and straighter, though there are a few tight corners.  The tide had turned and we gradually picked up speed along the bank.  We were soon comfortably doing 8mph, at least half of which was being provided by the current.

The sun had come out a few times during the afternoon, and the the threatening clouds we’d seen from time to time had passed over us.  As we approached Selby the wind started to pick up so I was glad of an extra layer to keep me warm.  The straight before the final turn in to the town must have been aligned with the wind.  There was a considerable swell, and some breaking waves.  I could hear the propellor spinning a little as it popped out of the water occasionally, and the strange whooshing noise that happens when water laps at the exhaust outlet.  I’ve had enough experience of rougher conditions now, so that didn’t worry me – I was still pleased to find smoother conditions around the corner.

The road and rail swing bridges are close together.  I followed Dunno through the left hand span of both – the keep right rule is there to help with not hitting things, it doesn’t need to be followed dogmatically.  Once we were through the bridges it is quarter of a mile to the lock.  Somewhat to Clare’s surprise I began my pirouette almost immediately.  I could see Dunno starting their turn and wanted to make sure we didn’t sweep down on to them.

Once we were facing upstream I dropped the throttle down to tick-over.  We were moving through the water at about 2mph, and the water was coming downstream at about 4mph.  The result was that we were coming towards the lock at a very comfortable 2mph, but backwards.  I allowed the boat to drift sideways towards the bank as the bow drew level with the lock entrance.   Most of the boat was now in the dead water near the entrance.  A gentle push on the throttle brought us smoothly in to the lock.

The lock-keeper greeted me warmly.  He said he had just been congratulating Jonathon for his skillful entry – one of the best he’d seen in a while.  But his position at the top of the table had only lasted until I arrived.  I had been pleased enough with myself before that acknowledgement!

We chatted about our experiences as we rose in the lock.  It turned out that both of us intended to stay in the basin for a day or two.  This was lucky, because the swing bridge a few boat lengths away had broken this morning.  We can’t go any further for now, but our mooring is not at risk of flooding.  We’ve enjoyed the tidal adventures this year, but we are looking forward to waterways where mooring up is something you can do on a whim.