We eventually arrived in Lincoln
We eventually arrived in Lincoln

Thorne to Lincoln via Keadby and through many and varied bridges called Wykewell, Moors, Maud's, Godknow and Vasin until the ebb tide finished on the River Trent when we cruised around the notorious bend called Trent Port, the bottom had a clay outcrop into the outside of the bend and, despite taking care and reading the charts closely, we went aground on it for a while.

It was a relief to be locked up safely from the Trent at Torksey into the Fossdyke & Witham Canal but we just pressed on along the new and different water course for our destination was Lincoln, mooring in the lagoon known as Brayford Pool in the centre

I got up quietly this morning and let the family sleep in until 7.45am whilst I wrote up my logs and journal. I noticed that the boats either side of us had set off much earlier but it was some time until we were ready to go. We set off after 9.00am on a cool and dull day but at least it was not raining. The way was past several key-operated lift bridges which Daniel opened. Some of them were electrically operated (the lifting variety) and others (to be swung) needed manual effort. The second bridge had a bridge-keeper and it was this that had closed at 4.40pm the night before and caused us the heartache. Past these bridges called such as Wykewell, Moors, Maud's, Godknow and Vasin until we arrived at Keadby and found it a welcoming place with a nice pub for lunch called the "Friendly Fox" which we went to.

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The children enjoyed the pool tables in the bar, Di did a little shopping in the nearby butchers, and I worked on the boat; greasing the shafts and doing the rest of the service to vital levels that was needed after all of this cruising. We had more than three hours at Keadby whilst waiting for the ebb tide to finish on the River Trent beyond and I used this time well for the much-needed attention to the boat. We eventually locked through by 3.30pm, after being held up a little while by an incoming cruiser which had been swept past the entrance and took time to get back. The trip down the Trent started well with a good flood stream in our favour and plenty of water under the hull. We caught up the first flotilla of craft penned through ahead of us and also caught up the tide for we began to worry about the depth.

It seems we were right to do so because, at a notorious bend called Trent Port, the bottom had a clay outcrop into the outside of the bend and, despite taking care and reading the charts closely, we went aground on it. Fortunately, I had a close eye on the depth sounder and went hard astern as I saw the depth drop sharply and so we were not too tightly jammed on the clay and could get off before a tanker barge came by. If we had still been there, it might have washed us further up on to it. It was a relief to be locked up safely from the Trent at Torksey into the Fossdyke & Witham Canal but we just pressed on along the new and different water course for our destination was Lincoln.

It was a long channel with only the village of Saxilby to look at along the route and break the monotony. The sight as we approached Lincoln at dusk was very memorable. The city is on a hill and its cathedral and castle, atop the hill, was lit by spotlight and also surrounded by the everyday lights of this civilisation amongst the fens. In many ways, it is similar to Ely in this respect. We edged our way past the British Waterways and marina and boat club moorings until we came into the lagoon known as Brayford Pool where there are the well-served moorings of the Brayford Trust right in the centre of the city. We moored up as darkness fell and had just made this long journey comfortably. I could only investigate the moorings by torchlight before we went to bed.