Our first trip to York aboard The Paxton Princess
Our first trip to York aboard The Paxton Princess

The day trip on a very warm day from Naburn to York City Centre where we moored at King’s Staithe, had morning drinks at the Danish Café and lunch at the Pizza Hut whist shopping for supplies and collecting Angela from York Railway Station. The steering seemed to be all right today.

Tea on the Paxton Princess bridge under the top canopy. The news is of Middle East peace moves with the spotlight on Israel now that the USA is putting pressure on them to negotiate with the Palestinians

 The night was very peaceful and we slept well until I was awoken by the radio automatically turning on for the shipping forecast. I turned it off but was then up soon after 7.00am to go up to the marina block for a shower and then, once back on board, I used the hose to wash off all of the dirty mud and sea water stains that we had picked up from our sea and estuary cruise. Then I mopped the boat clean, and it soon dried off in the morning sun. We have certainly been very fortunate with the weather which has been fine and sunny for the most part. Naburn Marina is very quiet and serene place and I was watching a Heron fishing when I first woke up. We were rather slow to get going and then I radioed the Marina and arranged for a toilet pump out after which we set off on the hour’s cruise to York.

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I was the only one on deck to see the beauty of the river as we went under the first river bridge and then moored right in the city centre at Kings Staithe. It was warm by now and we were glad of morning drinks at the Danish Cafe. For the rest of the morning, I took the girls to the library and Di did the laundry and some other shopping. After meeting for a late lunch at the Pizza Hut, we hired a horse-drawn landau for a tour around the city with the driver giving us a running commentary on the way. We also chanced upon a street entertainer who did some juggling tricks and humoured an appreciative crowd for an hour or so. Daniel then went off on his own and the rest of us took a walk around the shops, eventually meeting up with sufficient supplies for our next few meals on the boat. Once back at the Paxton Princess, Di cooked Della and I a couple of rainbow trout and it was good to see her eating again after having nothing but water yesterday.

Then Daniel collected Angela from York Railway Station and we took the slow cruise back to Naburn, hooking up to shore power when we arrived. Debbie tried the marina showers this evening and I managed to type up these last two days' eventful journal. The weather was very warm again today which suited us fine. We had our tea on the bridge under the top canopy which is proving to be a very useful purchase. The steering seemed to be all right today, and I planned a couple more days of trials before having to venture back into the tidal zone again. the news is of Middle East peace moves with the spotlight on Israel now that the USA is putting pressure on them to negotiate with the Palestinians.